Small and medium-size businesses in Oregon may benefit greatly from obtaining government contracts to give the company a steady flow of secure income. This area of income development may work well also for minority-owned companies and those owned by military veterans. The government is tasked with considering these minority businesses for government contracts where appropriate.
Because the process can be daunting to a newcomer, the company’s business law attorney may be particularly helpful in assisting the company over some of the humps. There are several preliminary steps and other principles to follow in seeking government contracts. First, the company should register with the government at its applicable website. The types of products or services can be selected and described and the general introduction of what the company has to offer can be initiated.
One difficult task that is required is the preparation and submission of a written proposal for the job selected. This requires knowing some of the government language that is used, and how to maneuver that language and the inner secrets of the government proposal-writing protocols. Help for learning that process is available online through the Small Business Administration and private companies. There are also government offices, such as a local Procurement Technical Assistance Center, that can aid in the process.
Once contracts are awarded, the company must fulfill them precisely. A company will benefit at this stage in having employees who are tasked with learning and knowing the fulfillment process to satisfy all requirements in an acceptable manner. Doing a good job the first time is obviously a must-do kind of goal for obtaining this kind of business in the future. To fulfill a government contract, everything must be precisely to order or it may be rejected. What an Oregon company may learn is that the government is a special kind of customer, one that can be sharply demanding but well worth the effort in terms of company economic stability.
Source: USA Today, “How to score government contract work for your small business“, Jackie Zimmermann, Sept. 27, 2017