The document provides five tips for businesses to better position themselves to win government contracts: 1) familiarize yourself with the rules for selling to the government, which differs from the private sector; 2) understand what each government agency and department is looking to procure; 3) focus on agencies that have not met their small business goals; 4) research existing and upcoming contract opportunities through various government websites; and 5) get help from the Government Contracting Specialists at the Florida Small Business Development Center.

1. Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
March into Spring by Winning
Government Contracts
Five tips to better position your company
to do business with the government

2. Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
Familiarize yourself with the rules
Familiarize yourself with what’s involved with selling to the
government. It’s quite different to the private sector with longer
lead times and strict bidding and product requirements.

3. Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
Understand what the government is buying
Every agency and department has unique goals. Identifying these
can help you target a niche or opportunity for your products or
services.

4. Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
Zero in on agencies that aren’t meeting
their small business goals
Each year the SBA negotiates formal goals with individual
agencies to ensure that small businesses get their fair
share of federal contracts.

5. Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
Research existing and upcoming opportunities
Once you’ve identified agency initiatives that align with what
your business has to offer, register and start tracking contract
opportunities and solicitations through the following websites
• FedBizOpps.gov www.fbo.gov
• US SBA Subcontracting Network (Subnet) web.sba.gov/subnet
• Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) www.fpds.gov
• USA Spending.gov www.usaspending.gov
• Local and state databases for local opportunities

6. Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
Get help from Florida SBDC’s
Government Contracting Specialists
A crucial resource for winning and managing government
contracts are the Government Contracting Specialists of the
Florida SBDC.
They provide no-cost, one-on-one consulting to ensure your
business is successful with bidding and managing your
government contracts

7. Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
Florida SBDC at UCF
3201 E. Colonial Drive Suite A20
Orlando, FL 32803
www.sbdcorlando.com
407.420.4850