An Expert Guide When Registering for Federal Government Contracting
Many small businesses often have problems when it comes to doing business with the federal government. However, with proper guidelines and tips, they can always be in a position to do business with the federal government easily.
How should they register their businesses to do business with the federal government?
Federal government often offer small businesses an opportunity to sell them products and services worth of billions. When you do follow these steps, you will easily get certify your business thus enabling you to obtain registration you need to enable you start to bid on the government proposals.
Steps to registering your small business as a federal contractor and certifying your business as a small one:
- Obtain a D-U-N-S Number
You should get a Dun and Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number. When you get this unique 9-digit identification number for every physical location of your small business. All assignments of D-U-N-S Numbers are free for all the businesses that need registration with federal government for grants or contracts. However, you need to visit D-U-N-S Request Service when registering or reading a quick overview.
- Register your small Business with System of Award Management or SAM
You should register your small business with federal government’s SAM (a primary vendor’s database doing business with federal government). The registration is sometimes called as “self-certifying” personal small business. In addition, Federal Acquisitions Regulations often require all the prospective vendors to register in the SAM before being awarded a contract, basic ordering agreement, basic agreement, or even blanket purchase agreement.
Using SAM, your business should be able to register its size as well as socio-economic status at the same time completing with the needed solicitation clauses as well as certification. This will also prove that you are doing a legal business in within the country to enable you supply what you offer in within the whole of market.
SAM is a marketing tool for small businesses. SAM also allows Government agencies as well as contractors to do research for personal company based on the ability, location, experience, size, and ownership among others before making their choice on when to award the given contract. This will help in transparency for the people who need these options whenever they bidding for the contracts.
- Find Cage Codes for Your Small Company
You should be able to get Cage code for the contracting, administrative, and tax purposes. This code often classifies the given economic sector, country and industry of your small business. For the Federal contracting purposes, the business owner will have to identify the SAM (industries) that are applicable to your small business before awarding a contract.
- Obtain Past Small Business Performance Evaluations
Businesses procurement need your small business to have past performance that would gauge your ability to offer these products/ services for those people who need them in within the whole of market. Through the process, you will be able to get contracts thus supply the federal government with your products.
Here are the items you will need to enable you complete registration processes.
- NAICS codes
- Data Universal Numbering System or DUNS
- Federal Tax Identification Number (EIN or TIN )
- Standard Industrial Classification/ (SIC) codes
- Product Service codes
- Federal Supply Classification codes
In conclusion, the information should inform small businesses of the proper registration to do business with the federal government.