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Growing
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Growing Your Business - Win
Government Contracts
Take Advantage Of Federal Contracts For Your
Business Startup
by
K. MacKillop
The
American government, at all levels, spends billions of dollars per year on
everything from spy planes to pencils. Just about every purchase requires a
government contract, and most government agencies require that a portion of
these contracts be set aside for small businesses. Getting on board with
federal, state, or local government contracts can be a boon to your venture's
bottom line. The process to get started on becoming eligible and ultimately
competing for these contracts is not too difficult. It just requires a little
time and effort to open an entirely new target market -- the government.
Before
you are eligible to bid on government contracts, you need to register your
company as an approved contractor. The first step is to acquire a Dun &
Bradstreet DUNS number. This is a 9-digit identification number that can be
obtained for free through their website. Dun and Bradstreet are the credit
bureau for business entities. If you plan to seek loans in the future under your
company's name, having an up-to-date DNB file is important. However, the full
file costs $599 to set up. For now, you can just get a registration number for
free.
The
second required registration is with the federal government's Central Contractor
Registration (CCR). This is the primary database of businesses that can work
with the federal government. You will need your DUNS number, your federal tax id
number and name, your banking account number, and certain statistical data about
your business. This data includes each location of your business, the number of
employees at each location, and the average sales for each location over the
last three years. The process is free and it takes a day or so to receive your
registration number from the CCR.
Finally, you will need to complete the Online Representations and Certifications
Application (ORCA), another federal form designed to collect additional, more
detailed information about your company and what you offer. Required data
includes a description of your products, price and discount rates, any
warranties you offer, and past performance information. This application is used
to evaluate your company and offerings.
Once
all the registrations are completed and approved, the final step in preparing to
bid on federal contracts requires your company to undergo a past performance
evaluation through Open Ratings, Inc. While not all government contract bids
require this report, many do and many others will request (though not require)
that you submit one as well. The filing fee is $125, and a list of customer
references will be used as the basis for your evaluation. While only four
references are technically required to complete the process, the company
requests that you submit 15 to 20 references in order to ensure they receive
sufficient response and data to complete your evaluation. The report takes
approximately 20 days to complete, if you register online and all goes well.
Obviously, you only want to submit positive references, so it is a good idea to
check with your references before you include them in your application. These
ratings are only good for 6 months, so be sure to check any contracts you intend
to bid on to see if you need this report at all. If you are going after multiple
contracts, having the report sent will cost you, as well. The first two are
free, then any additional report requests are $25 each.
Once
your registrations are complete, you can start bidding on appropriate government
contracts. Most available contract solicitations are listed at
www.fedbizopps.gov . Each entry includes
the how and when and requirements of bidding on the contract. If you are
offering products that would qualify under the GSA long term contracts, those
solicitations are found under www.GSA.gov . Be
sure to review these sites before registering -- if the government does not have
a need for your services or products, don't waste your time with the process.
About
the Author: K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur, is founder of LaunchX and
authors a small business startup blog V . The LaunchX System includes
step-by-step business startup procedures, small business software & more, to
help entrepreneurs start a
business based on their idea. Visit
LaunchX.com for a free
Business Readiness Assessment and get on the road to owning your own business
today.
Article
Source:
ArticlesBase.com
    
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