The U.S. federal government purchases more goods and services than any other entity, making it the world’s largest customer. While many people associate government contracting with defense-related items like ammunition or fighter jets, the truth is the U.S. government buys all kinds of products and services for all sorts of purposes.

Doing business with the federal government is much like doing business with any other customer, except for the fact that government contracting is far more complicated, involves understanding intricate application procedures and following a series of rules and regulations should you win the contract. Basically it’s not at all like doing business with any other customer. It’s much more complex.

Nonetheless, the federal government works hard to set aside large portions of their contracting budget specifically for small businesses. In addition, with the government’s current attempts at economic recovery, contracting opportunities for small business owners are likely to grow exponentially. Securing the U.S. government as a client will add a great deal of credibility to your business, likely helping you secure future clients as well.

The road to winning a government contract is a rocky one. In order to ease some of the pain you really need to educate yourself on the process. Win Government Contracts (the “Getting Started” section in particular) is a great place to start. It clearly lays out each step to winning a contract. I’d lay out the steps myself, but there’s so much information that you’d have to scroll for quite some time to reach the end of this post. So check out the site and remember that the federal government holds tremendous opportunities for small businesses willing to put the time and effort into navigating the system.

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