SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER
IS YOUR BUSINESS READY
FOR GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING?
BY NANCY DAHLBERG
TCBusiness.com 57
Scotty Wilson, a consultant with
Procurement Technical Assistance
Center, helps businesses examine
their readiness for a government
contract. Strategy, performance,
operations and capital are among
the key areas.
Winning a government contract can
be very rewarding, but getting there is an
extremely complex process, especially if
you’re not prepared beforehand.
Scotty Wilson, a Procurement Technical
Assistance Center consultant who specializes
in government contracting, helps businesses
assess whether they are ready for
government contracting by looking at five
key areas of a business. They are:
1. PAST PERFORMANCE
Past performance, defined by the accumulation
of work completed by a business with
customers in the public and private sectors,
is an essential component in determining
a firm’s readiness for government contracting
because it is a quantifiable metric, like
revenue or years in business. Equally important,
many government proposal requests
utilize past performance as an evaluation
criteria. Therefore, the more relevant past
performance a firm has, the more ready it is
for government contracting. Typically, the
government requires two years of steady
past performance.
2. STRONG FINANCIALS
Strong financials are defined by positive
cash flow and year-over-year increases
in revenue. Therefore, the stronger the
financials a firm has, the more ready it is for
government contracting.
3. ACCESS TO CAPITAL
The more access to capital a firm has, the
more ready it is for government contracting.
Is your company able to access a line
of credit or capital in order to support the
costs to perform on a contract?
4. STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIPS
These are the professional relationships
maintained by a business with other businesses
that offer the same or complementary
services in order to support their pursuit
of government contracts or performance on
government contracts. Therefore, the more
strategic partnerships a firm has, the more
ready it is for government contracting. In
Wilson’s experience, the most effective
method for identifying and creating business
relationships is by attending outreach
events and networking events.
5. AN ORDERLY OFFICE
OR OPERATIONS
A business with an orderly office is efficiently
operated in terms of its administrative,
operational and accounting activities, making
it better able to perform as a government
contractor.
Now that you have a better understanding
of what is required to be ready for
government contracting, ask yourself: Are
you ready?
Procurement Technical Assistance
Centers (PTACs) can provide free assistance
to small businesses looking to compete for
government contracts. You can locate the
PTAC closest to you at the Association for
Procurement Technical Assistance Centers
Website: http://www.aptac-us.org/
contracting-assistance/
Once a company is ready for government
contracting, Florida Small Business Development
Center at Indian River State College
consultants can help small businesses with
a series of next steps. v
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