The Best Ways to Find Small Business Federal Government Opportunities

Small businesses have a key advantage when searching for government contracts. The federal government provides many resources and programs for small businesses, and in fact aims to award approximately 23% of federal contract dollars to small businesses each year.

By taking advantage of the resources and programs that are designed to help their business, as well as leveraging information on federal government spending and pre-notification opportunities like that provided by GovWin IQ, small business government contractors can get a leg up on their competition and break into new markets within the federal government marketplace.

Using Common Programs for Small Business Federal Government Contractors

Many federal government contracts specify that small businesses must perform a certain amount of the work, and some are set aside entirely for small businesses (or other business categories, like women-owned businesses or service-disabled veteran-owned businesses). For some firms that are new to federal contracting, it can be a challenge to identify the ones best suited for their own core capabilities.

Fortunately, the Small Business Administration (or SBA) offers a number of programs to help small businesses win federal government contracts that are designated for their specific business type. Below are several of the most commonly-used programs, and the amount of opportunity they offer:

• Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting. The government aims to award at least 5% of federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses every year.
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. The government aims to award at least 3% of federal contracting dollars to SDVOSB firms every year.
• 8(a) Business Development. The government aims to annually award at least 5% of federal contracting dollars to members of the 8(a) business development program, a federal program that provides assistance to firms that are at least 51% owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
• HUBZone. The government aims to award at least 3% of federal contracting dollars to HUBZone-certified small businesses every year. A HUBZone is a historically underutilized business zone where the government is looking to foster economic activity such as job creation. Of the small business programs, it is the only program not focused on the ownership of the business, but rather on the location of the business and its employees.
• All Small Mentor-Protégé Program. Small businesses can get valuable business development help from an experienced government contractor through the mentor-protégé program.

Small Business Federal Government Contracting Resources from GovWin IQ

In addition to the many programs run by the federal government that are designed to benefit small businesses, GovWin IQ offers a wealth of resources that small and midsize business (SMB) contractors in all industries can use, including its best-in-class platform of federal market intelligence that provides early notice of federal opportunities.

We’re competing on contracts against billion-dollar companies, and we don’t have those types of resources. But what we do have is tools like [GovWin IQ] that allow us to be competitive with them.

-Heather Kirkpatrick, Business Development Analyst, Pride Industries

Smaller federal contractors that are looking for more tips and information on SMB contracts and market trends can also find valuable information in this series of on-demand webinars. GovWin’s federal market experts break down contracting trends for women-owned businesses, 8(a) contractors and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB).

Ready to learn more about the simplest ways to find and win more small business federal government opportunities? Click the link below to request your free trial of GovWin IQ.