How small businesses find government contracts

Six steps, in order

1. Step 01

   Register in SAM.gov and get your Unique Entity ID

   SAM.gov is where the federal government keeps its list of companies it can pay. Registering is free, it assigns your Unique Entity ID (UEI), and it has to be renewed every 365 days or it lapses. Without an active registration you cannot receive most federal awards.

   Ignore companies that offer to register you for a fee or send official-looking renewal notices. You can do it yourself, and if you get stuck, your local APEX Accelerator will help for free.

2. Step 02

   Find your NAICS codes and check your size

   Every notice is tagged with a NAICS code that describes the work, such as 236220 for commercial building construction or 541511 for custom software. Pick the handful that match what you actually do. Each code has an SBA size standard, set by revenue or by employee count, and that standard decides whether you count as a small business for that particular contract. You can be small under one code and not under another.

3. Step 03

   See which set-asides you qualify for

   A set-aside reserves a contract for one group of businesses, so you compete against companies like yours instead of everyone. The main ones:

   • Small business: only a SAM.gov registration and meeting the size standard. No certification needed.
   • HUBZone: your main office is in a HUBZone and at least 35% of your employees live in one. The government-wide goal is 3% of contract dollars.
   • Women-owned (WOSB, EDWOSB): certified through the SBA. Goal: 5%.
   • Service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVOSB): certified through the SBA. Goal: 5%.
   • 8(a) Business Development: a nine-year SBA program for socially and economically disadvantaged owners.

   Certifications take time and paperwork, so start with plain small business set-asides while you apply.

4. Step 04

   Search SAM.gov Contract Opportunities, and save the search

   On SAM.gov, open Contract Opportunities and filter by your NAICS codes, the set-asides you qualify for, and where the work happens. Save the search and turn on email alerts. It is free and it is the single most useful thing on this list.

   Pay attention to the notice type. A sources sought notice or request for information means the agency is still deciding how to buy, and answering it is how small businesses get a contract set aside for them. A presolicitation warns that a bid is coming. A solicitation is the bid itself. An award notice tells you who won and for how much, which is useful for the next one.

5. Step 05

   Look where SAM.gov does not

   • Purchases under $15,000 are usually not posted at all. Agencies buy them on government purchase cards, often from businesses they already know. Introduce yourself to the small business office at the agencies and bases near you.
   • Agency forecasts list contracts planned for the coming year, months before a notice appears. The Acquisition Gateway collects many of them.
   • Subcontracts with large prime contractors are posted on SBA SubNet. Subcontracting is the usual way to build the past performance that later prime bids ask for.
   • GSA eBuy carries requests only GSA Schedule holders can see. DLA DIBBS carries parts and supply buys for the Defense Logistics Agency.
   • State and county portals run separately from the federal system. In Hawaii that is HIePRO.
   • USAspending.gov shows who bought what, from whom, and for how much. Search your NAICS codes to see which agencies buy your work and who keeps winning it.

6. Step 06

   Read the whole solicitation before you decide to bid

   The notice summary is not the contract. Read the full solicitation and its attachments for the due date, the deadline for questions, any site visit, how bids are evaluated, and what it asks for in past performance, bonding, insurance, and licenses. Most bad bids come from skipping this. Saying no to a contract you cannot win is part of the job.