If you read about big government contracts getting awarded to vendors, and want to get one of those contracts for your business, learn how to get involved in Federal government procurement. You can bid on government purchasing contracts if you know the steps involved.
The bad news is that there is some red tape involved when it comes to bidding on U.S. government procurement contracts. The good news is that the steps are easily navigated. Here are some pointers for the process of becoming eligible to participate in government procurement opportunities.
1. Fill out the necessary forms as required.
2. Thoroughly read each RFP (request for proposal) issued by the government sector procurement agencies as the exact specifications will be in the bid request.
3. Some RFPs state that bidders can meet with the Federal government procurement agency awarding the contract to answer questions about the bids. Take the opportunity to meet with the agency, as it will give you a leg up on the competition.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Register your business to become eligible for United States government procurement opportunities
Vendors who wish to provide goods and services for United States procurement must register their business with the Central Contractor Registration or CCR. In addition to the CCR registration, your business must also submit an online representations and certifications application or ORCA. ORCA in an online filing cabinet that holds your certifications so that you do not need to submit them with every bid your business makes.
I recommend: The bottom line is that without registering with
CCR and
ORCA, your business is not eligible to bid on or get awarded any Federal government procurement contracts. If anything about your business changes, you make the necessary change in one place, and then every federal government agency will have your current information. You must also have a D-U-N-S number that can be obtained from
D&B, if you want to do business with the federal government.
Locate government procurement opportunities
Now that you are registered to respond to RFPs, how do you find the bid opportunities? Luckily there are some websites out there to help you in your endeavor to sell to the federal government.
I recommend: FBO.gov is a website that lists federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. Sign up for a free account with
State & Federal Bids. Complete access to Federal bids is free, but there is a subscription fee if you want to sign up for state bid searches.
Subscribe to government procurement services
It is quite time consuming to read every newspaper looking for the government RFPs that you might like to bid on. To save yourself some time, consider subscribing to a service that will send you the RFPs that fit your business niche. Just landing one government contract can recoup your subscription fee.
I recommend: INPUT is a subscription service designed specifically for vendors of computer technology products.
BidNet allows each vendor to customize the list of RFPs to be delivered directly to your desktop.
Onvia delivers daily leads on purchasing by government procurement agencies.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Vendors must renew their CCR registration once a year to maintain an active status for Federal government purchasing bids.
The official source of Government Procurement is
the Government Procurement page at Business.com
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