Top Tips for Finding Federal Contracts
April 3, 2012
admin
Tue, 04/03/2012 – 15:33
Searching the web for contracts can be extremely frustrating. If you are not familiar with the process a simple search can present a list of contracts that can take days to review. How can you simplify the effort while still keeping it effective?
Tip 1: Make sure you are registered in the System for Award Management. You must have an active registration in SAM to do business with the Federal Government.
Tip 2: Check out government agencies “Wish List”. The “Wish List” is just that, a list of project/contracts that, if the money is available, they would like to purchase. The wish list is also known as a Presolicitation List. The items on the wish list may or may not ever be let for bid, but by watching this list you can maintain an awareness of planed projects or potential contracts.
There are many helpful web sites available. Acquisition Central lets you search forecasts by agency: https://www.acquisition.gov/procurement-forecasts.
Tip 3: Use Fed Biz Opps. This site lists almost all contracts over $25,000 being solicited by the federal government. There are three or more ways to search on this site. The first method is to search “ALL”. You may do this once just to get a feel, but it can easily cause information overload, too much information to be useful.
With experience you will find the best method is to search FedBizOpps by keyword and enter your product/service or zip code. Using this method you can find all solicitations for “cheese”, or “computers” or “socks” or “food services” or whatever you may wish to sell/provide to the government. You can most easily limit the listing of interested contracts by using the keyword search.
If you are interested in working with a particular agency, you can also Search by Agency. You can then check the site for contracts with the agency that best fits your product or service.
Tip 4: Once you find a solicitation you are interested in … Print it out! Print the page and save all the information you find as a hard copy. You may find a contract on the internet and then lose the site or bookmark “favorite”. When you go back to the site you can’t find it again. If you didn’t print it out it could be gone forever.
Tip 5: You can set FedBizOps up to do searches. You can set up “search agents” based on selected detailed search elements. Search agents can be run on an ad hoc or scheduled basis to highlight newly filed opportunities which align with the designated search criteria.
Tip 6: Keep the name of the Contact person. Call and/or write to them when you have questions. Manage this effort prudently. Read the entire solicitation, write your questions down and submit them all in one letter or email. Before you do this, check the solicitation website to see if these questions have been addressed by other parties. There are times when a phone call can work best, but a written request with a written reply is much more reliable. Do not call them continually with one question at a time.
Tip 7: Check State Agency websites. To do business with state governments make sure you are registered with the appropriate agency.
Tip 8: Check the sites often for updates and amendments. You must make sure your bid reflects all amendments.
Becoming proficient in finding and bidding on contracts is a long journey. Hopefully these items will help shorten the trip.
Learn about Task Orders and the 8(a) Business Development Program
Tom Linnertz has been a Loan Officer and Business Development Specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration since 1989, and the 8(a) Program manager for the North Dakota District Office since 2002. Tom can be reached at thomas.linnertz@sba.gov.
Tags
Procurement Matching, Contracting Opportunities
Established Businesses and Growth
How to Estimate the Cost of Starting a Business from Scratch
November 25, 2011
admin
Fri, 11/25/2011 – 06:28
How much does it cost to start your own business?
Of course, the answer depends on your business model and your chosen industry. However, a useful estimate based on a 2009 study conducted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation puts the average cost of starting a new business from scratch at just over $30,000.
Many small businesses, particularly freelance, online and home-based businesses come in a lot lower than this, often needing only a few thousand to get started.
But averages aside, what can you do to calculate your specific startup costs? Read on.
Understand the Types of Costs a Startup Will Incur
Before you do any estimating it’s important to understand how startup costs are categorized. All startup costs (meaning the period before you start generating income) include two kinds of spending: expenses and assets.
Expenses – These are the costs for operations that occur during the startup phase, although they will continue throughout the life of the business. Startup expenses include deductible items such as travel, payroll, rent, office supplies, marketing materials, etc. Expenses also include initial organizational costs like legal fees, state incorporation fees, etc. You can write off up to $5,000 in business startup costs and another $5,000 in organizational expenses in the year that you start a business.
Assets – Also known as capital expenses or expenditures, these are the one-time costs of buying assets such as inventory, property, vehicles, or equipment as well as making upfront payments for security deposits. These startup assets don’t usually qualify for a deduction, however, some can be written off through depreciation at tax time.
You can read more about the difference between these two and why it’s important to keep good expense records in SBA’s Small Business Expenses and Tax Deduction Guide.
Define What You Need to Spend Money On
To estimate your startup costs, start by creating two lists – one for your startup expenses and one for your assets. Your list should be informed by the aspects of your business that will have costs associated during the startup phase, such as facility improvements or the equipment and inventory you need. But don’t forget to consider items such as brochures, business cards, and website development costs or any security deposits you need to make. Do you need the help of a consultant, tax advisor or lawyer to help you get started? How to Find and Pick a Business Attorney in 5 Steps
Next, categorize these items as essential or optional – do you really need to spend money on these before you start making any kind of income?
Assign Costs
Now we come to crunch time – assigning costs to your startup “to do” list. This process is always going to be the best guess, but be realistic and use past experience, research, and advice from other entrepreneurs to guide your cost estimates. Organizations such as your local MBDA Business Center, SCORE and your local Small Business Development Center can provide valuable advice about how to calculate your startup costs.
Whatever you do, don’t underestimate your costs, or try to force your costs to fit the amount of money you have available. If the costs are too high, consider another approach to starting a business.
Could you run a home-based business?
Instead of buying inventory upfront could you have manufacturers drop ship?
Could you subcontract rather than hire employees?
What about buying surplus office equipment and furniture from the government at or below cost?
It’s All in the Timing
Remember, as mentioned above, startup costs are accrued before you have the income to supplement your business. So develop your budget with this in mind. For example, startup expenses such as rent and payroll are only that until your business is operational, once you reach that point they become running expenses that you take out of your profits as deductible against your taxable income. So you may want to delay some of your depreciable costs until your business is up and running.
Caron Beesley is a small business owner, a writer, and marketing communications consultant. Caron works with the SBA.gov team to promote essential government resources that help entrepreneurs and small business owners start-up, grow and succeed.
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Starting a Business