Certifying as a small business is an important step for GSA contractors who qualify, and some small businesses can even go further to certify for one of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) socioeconomic programs. This includes the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) programs. This certification allows small businesses access to exclusive set-aside opportunities. Women Owned Small Businesses make up 5% of the government’s acquisition goals, and it’s important all businesses that qualify know how to certify.

With inflation rates rising and supply chains continuing to be disrupted, it may not seem like a great time to start a new business venture, but getting a General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) can be valuable for businesses looking to grow their sales even in this economy.

GSA Schedules offer the opportunity for contractors to provide their products and services to federal agencies at pre-negotiated rates, making it easier for the government to acquire what it needs and for commercial companies to secure reliable contracts. However, securing a GSA Schedule is not simply a matter of filling out paperwork and submitting it to GSA. Rather, vendors must ensure they are offering fair and reasonable pricing to the government. Once this pricing is determined in the award process, contractors must maintain their established rates and report their GSA sales quarterly or monthly.

Frequently known as the “Amazon” of the government contracting world, GSA Advantage! is an important tool that government contractors use to publish their pricelist and market their approved GSA products. Within GSA Advantage!, you can find a wide variety of contractors who offer anything from printers and shredders to drones used to map the world. Government agencies frequent this site because they can easily search for and order products within a few clicks, meaning it’s a crucial site for contractors to learn how to navigate.

System for Award Management (SAM) registration and renewal is one of the first steps in the GSA Schedule acquisition process, and is an important part of managing your contract each year. However, since there have been major updates to SAM recently including an update in the entity validation process, there have been a lot of delays causing frustration among contractors. Entity Validation may be just one step in this process, but it’s not one to be underestimated. In order to avoid any hiccups, it's important to make sure you understand the recent changes and have some tips to make the SAM registration and renewal process go smoothly.

Getting a GSA Schedule can be very rewarding, but where do you start? Before your company makes the decision to go through the process of acquiring a GSA Schedule contract, we highly recommend that you take the time to review all of the necessary qualification requirements to make sure it’s right for your company. This is done through a careful review of the MAS Solicitation document, which provides guidance for both prospective and existing contractors for obtaining and maintaining a GSA MAS contract. Within these instructions you will find the specifics on the types of documents you’ll be composing, forms that you’ll be signing, as well as the necessary steps to take to submit the offer to GSA. The solicitation not only provides guidance, but it also provides regulations you need to be mindful of as you go through the process.