How to become a federal government contractor?
Before knowing the process of how to become a federal government contractor, we must know who a federal contractor is. A federal government contractor is a person who signs a contract with any agency or department of the US government and is entitled to be paid for their services. The federal government contractor offers these contractual opportunities to all sorts of business, large and small.
The US government is considered the world’s largest customer. It buys all kinds of products and services and is required by law to offer opportunities for small businesses. At a macro level, there are two major categories of US government contractors. First, is the prime contractor who bids and wins federal contracts directly from any of the departments of the US government. And secondly, there are the subcontractors who collaborates with the prime contractor usually to offer a specific capability, service, or product or just to develop their past performance (learn about the latter on our blog at DigitalSpec.net/blog).
To become a prime or subcontractor of the US federal government you must comply with US federal contracting rules. The US federal government is very particular when it comes to buying products and services. It ensures that competition is fair and open for all bidders, prices are competitive, it gets what it pays for, and all guidelines and US laws are followed. These guidelines and federal contracting rules differ from department to department of the US and the types of federal purchases. The Federal Acquisition Regulation or Defence Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement is the most common rule that applies to most federal agencies, so you being a contractor must know these rules and regulations. Let’s look into a few common rules:
The size standards of a small business vary from industry to industry and based on that it determines whether or not your business qualifies as small.
You need to fulfill certain legal requirements such as the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act
You also have a limit set on how much you can subcontract and who you choose as a subcontractor
You need to document and report all sorts of your daily business activities to meet the federal government’s rules for procurement.
In an effort to support to small businesses, the US government has a minimum quota of contracts that it must award to small businesses. Besides this, the USA federal government also offers a certain percentage of federal contractor dollars to minority owned businesses, such as women owned, service-disabled veteran owned, Hawaain owned, and other such organizations.
The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) Business Development program offers federal contracting opportunities to socially and economically disadvantaged individuals to grow their businesses through one-on-one counseling, training sessions, and other technical guidance. And if you are interested in learning more, be sure to visit the SBA website at SBA.gov.
