Table of Contents
Securing a GSA contract is a great way to expand and grow your business. If you haven’t considered it as a viable business stream, you should.
Billions of dollars are awarded to GSA contracts through the GSA to commercial vendors who partner through their agency. Small businesses can bid for a GSA contract in order to do business with U.S. federal government agencies.
If you’re new to it all, let’s start off with the basics…
GSA stands for General Services Administration. They advertise federal government solicitations both locally and nationally. This could be local, state, or federal government agencies. The GSA works with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to ensure smaller vendors have a chance at securing solicitations.
Within the GSA, the Office of Small Business Utilization (OSBU) advocates for small businesses for prime and subcontracting opportunities. OSBU also focuses on GSA procurement.
Within the GSA, there are three sectors that handle the majority of procurement actions. These can be referred to as purchasing divisions. They include the following:
Federal Acquisition Service covers a large number of commercial goods and services at the best value throughout the federal government. Almost anything you can think of can be purchased through this division. They offer innovative solutions and procure:
The Public Building Service (PBS) provides:
Small businesses provide:
The Office of Administrative Services provides contracting support for all internal GSA offices.
There are multiple advantages of securing a GSA contract for your small business. They are as follows:
When applying for GSA contracts, you can take relief in the fact that you are guaranteed payment. This is one of the biggest advantages when bidding on U.S government contracts as a small business. This is because the government must act in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act.
When a vendor submits a valid and proper invoice to a federal agency, they must make the payment on time. ‘On time’ means payment is due on whichever of these four conditions applies:
If the agency doesn’t comply, the payment is late. In this case, it will result in the agency paying an interest rate.
The final advantage you get when applying for a GSA contract is that you gain experience. This is crucial, as, in order to progress onto larger contracts, you need to build up experience. Buyers expect two to three contract examples, often within the last three to five years. The examples are expected to be similar in scope and complexity to the ones you are going for.
Securing contracts, such as set-aside contracts, if you’re a small business can build your experience. The more contracts you win and deliver, the more experience you have. The more experience you have, the bigger the contracts you can go for. The bigger the contracts you go for, the bigger your business will grow.
The federal government is one of the largest procurers of commodities in the world. They spend over $500 billion on goods and services via solicitations. Securing contracts can create a pipeline of work for your business.
Other advantages include:
GSA contracts are a viable stem that you should consider to grow your company. The government is also making more of an effort to secure more local supply chains. Therefore, they’re looking to award contracts to smaller businesses. There’s never been a better time to start going for government contracts for bid.
One common form of a GSA contract is MAS. In order to secure a GSA contract and MAS, you will need to complete accurate and complete information about your company.
Offers are submitted and completed through an eOffer system. They are then received by a GSA contracting representative who reviews and evaluates your bid. Competitive pricing is essential when you bid on government contracts.
Bear in mind, comprehensive reviews, potential negotiations, and GSA contract awards may take up to 12 months. Being awarded a MAS contract doesn’t necessarily guarantee that your business will receive orders. You will still need to market your company to do business with federal agencies.
To create as submit an offer under the MSA schedule you will need to do the following:
You must register at several online organizations to be eligible to bid on a GSA contract. These include:
Assembling your offer is broken into two steps:
You will then need to upload documents to the system, or some entered as a text response into the eOffer system. These will likely be quality questions on how you will perform the contract.
When submitting your offer for a GSA contract, you’re required to:
Once your offer is submitted you will be assigned a company representative to review and negotiate your offer. Successfully securing an MSA contract allows you to do business with federal, state, and local government agencies.
Sustainability is an important factor when trying to secure a GSA contract and it’s not something that should be overlooked. In fact, a presidential executive order requires that federal agencies strive to increase sustainability and environmental performance. They do this by purchasing sustainable goods and services via sustainable acquisition.
The GSA and federal government are looking for innovative ways to reduce their environmental footprint. They actively seek environmentally sustainable goods and services.
Sustainable acquisition is an increasingly important aspect needed to:
Sustainable acquisition can be known as green purchasing. It refers to the purchasing of goods and services with these environmental attributes. For example, a janitorial service business may be required to use environmentally safe cleaning products. These could be bio-based, and less toxic cleaning products or items made from recovered materials and other sustainable products.
Your small business can help the GSA and federal government agencies meet their sustainable goals. That’s why it’s worth considering what you can offer them when writing your response for a GSA contract.
Securing a GSA contract can guarantee pay, secure you a pipeline of works for your business building up your experience. Conveying sustainability within your business will give you an advantage over your competitors. Once you’ve completed the multiple stages of registration, you can begin bidding for GSA contracts.
You must price your goods and services competitively, but don’t drastically undercut your competitors. This could result in buyers questioning your legitimacy. If you’re struggling with your GSA contact response, outsourcing it can help optimize your chances of success.
If you’re still stuck on writing your response, we can help. Here at Hudson Outsourcing LLC, we offer three bid writing support packages. This can help you see increased success with your next bid. Our Bid Writing Consultants have over 60 years of bid writing experience across multiple business sectors.
Our RFP Writing service is the perfect solution to ensure that you submit a high-quality bid, even when you’re busy. Our writers will break down the solicitation documents, allowing you to see what the bid and the contract involves. This will help to ensure that you have all the specified evidence and meet the requirements of the contracting authority.
Our RFP Writers will then craft persuasive, high-quality responses, attach supporting evidence and even submit the bid on your behalf. Upload the solicitation documents for a free quote.
Have you already written a bid but need a second pair of eyes to review your work? Our RFP Mentor service will do just that. Simply send over your bid responses and the solicitation documents.
Our writers will then assess your work, ensuring that your responses are in line with the specification. They will also check for any spelling or grammar errors. You can then submit your bid with confidence. Upload your work for a free quote.
Do you need help with preparing a bid proposal? Proposal Ready can help businesses that are new to bidding or those in need of rejuvenating their content. Our Bid Consultants will create:
Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:
All information and data on this blog site are for informational purposes only. Hudson Outsourcing LLC makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity, of any information. Hudson Outsourcing LLC will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided AS IS with no warranties and confers no rights.
Hudson Outsourcing LLC will not be responsible for any material that is found at the end of the links that may be posted on this blog site.
Because the information on this blog is based on Hudson Outsourcing LLC’s own opinion and experience, it should not be considered professional financial investment advice. The ideas and bidding strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional. Hudson Outsourcing LLC’s thoughts and opinions will also change from time to time as the market changes and as Hudson Outsourcing LLC develops.
