Steps 1 & 2 discussed how important it is to know key government websites and register the company in the CCR and ORCA. Steps 3 & 4 discussed the socio economic programs and the importance of NAICS and PSC classifications. In steps 5 & 6, we will discuss how to identify procurement opportunities and understanding the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) used by contracting officers to buy goods and services for the government.
Step 5: Identify current federal procurement opportunities. The following are the key bid notifications websites for government solicitation, request for bids and proposals. The websites are grouped into free and subscription required. The real secret in getting government contracts is to develop relationships with contracting officers and program managers. The first step is to respond to their public bid opportunities. Unsuccessful bidders have three days after the solicitation closes to request a debrief from the contracting officers. It is during the debriefing period that the company starts to develop the relationship for future contract award.
Free:
Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps): the designated government-wide point of entry – is the exclusive official source for public access to notices of federal contracting actions over $25,000.
Federal Agency Procurement: Each agency has a list of its solicitation on their websites. It is recommended to look at each one or the target agency.
Subscription fee required:
Bid Match Service: The system will search new opportunities each day, for solicitations that correspond to your profile. The search includes most federal, state, and many local government websites for open procurement opportunities.
epipeline is the leading online source for federal government contracts opportunity research and government business intelligence.;
http://www.onvia.com/: Onvia tracks, analyzes and reports the spending of more than 89,000 federal, state and local government agencies, giving companies a single source for conducting open, intelligent and efficient business with government.
GOVWin is the single largest source for government contracting information and analysis in the world.
BidNet is a premier provider of government business intelligence, delivering content-rich actionable data to clients across the nation. Tracking government buying and planning at the local, state, and federal level.
Find RFP connects government contractors and government agency buyers. Find RFP is a pioneer in online government purchasing and e-government.
Reed Construction Data can deliver the commercial construction project information you need to get work in these tough times.
Gov Directions can help. This site publishes approximately 96,000 new government bids and request for proposals each month. Test us by registering for a Free Daily Alert.
Government Bid customers obtain direct and instant access to contract awards and advance information about upcoming opportunities at the local, state, and federal levels, aggregated daily from thousands of sites, numerous government publications and public meeting reports, and supplemented and monitored by our team of research experts.
Bid RFP searches all government agencies including states, cities and counties. Our database is updated on a daily basis to include new government procurement sites as soon as they are published.
Bid Data Line searches bid opportunity web sites of Federal, State, County, City governments along with Port Authorities, Universities and other public buying authorities.
Step 6: Familiarize yourself with the government’s contracting procedures. The Federal Acquisition Regulation and Supplemental Procurement Regulation for each agency.
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is the principal set of rules in the Federal Acquisition Regulation System. This system consists of sets of regulations issued by agencies of the federal government of the United States to govern what is called the “acquisition process”; this is the process through which the government purchases (“acquires”) goods and services. That process consists of three phases: (1) need recognition and acquisition planning, (2) contract formation, and (3) contract administration. The FAR System regulates the activities of government personnel in carrying out that process. It does not regulate the purchasing activities of private sector firms, except to the extent those parts of it are incorporated into government solicitations and contracts by reference.