Tools To Help Grow Your Small Business In Federal Government Contracting
- Ken Larson
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
SBA
“The U.S. government is the world’s largest customer. It buys all types of products and services — in both large and small quantities — and it’s required by law to consider buying from small businesses.
Learn about government contracting assistance programs to help small businesses sell products and services to federal agencies.”
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“Contracting assistance program benefits
The SBA provides several programs to help small businesses win federal contracts. Participating in these programs helps small businesses:
Win a fair share of federal contracts
Qualify for exclusive set-aside and sole-source contracts
Partner with established contractors to win contracts
Get business mentoring and education to learn how federal contracting works
Learn about federal programs that help woman-owned small businesses access federal contract awards
Learn about federal programs that help veteran-owned small businesses access federal contract awards.
Learn about federal programs small disadvantaged businesses access federal contract awards.
Your small business can learn from an experienced government contractor through SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program.
Joint ventures allow certain businesses to compete together for government contracts reserved for small businesses.
The HUBZone program fuels small business growth in historically underutilized business zones with a goal of awarding at least 3% of federal contract dollars to HUBZone-certified companies each year.
The government sells large amounts of natural resources and surplus property. SBA works with federal agencies to channel a fair share to small businesses.
Program structure
Small business contracting goals
The government works to make sure small businesses get at least 23 percent of all federal contracting dollars.
Additionally, the government tries to award a certain percentage of all federal prime contracting dollars to small businesses that meet certain socio-economic conditions.
For some large contracts that can’t be awarded directly to small businesses, the government requires a small business subcontracting plan as part of the award. A small business subcontracting plan directs the prime contractor to subcontract out parts of the award to small businesses. A subcontracting plan is required when these conditions are met:
The contract is worth more than $700,000 (or, more than $1.5 million if it’s for construction)
There are capable small businesses who could do subcontract work at a fair market value, without significantly disrupting performance
The rules that govern subcontracting plans are set forth in Subpart 19.7 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
Set-asides
To help provide a level playing field for small businesses, the government limits competition for certain contracts to small businesses. Those contracts are called “small business set-asides,” and they help small businesses compete for and win federal contracts.
Some set-asides are open to any small business, but some are open only to small businesses who participate in SBA contracting assistance programs.
How to participate in contracting assistance programs
To participate in any of the SBA’s small business contracting assistance programs, you’ll first need to qualify as a small business. The SBA’s size standards determine whether or not your business qualifies as small.
Most of the socio-economic programs require some form of certification. Many programs use the certify.SBA.gov website to let you certify or do a preliminary check to see if you’re qualified.
However, each program has its own standards and process for certification, so make sure to read carefully.
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