How To Win a Government Contract: Where Exactly Do You Start?

A 5-Step Roadmap for Business Leaders to Win Federal Government Contracts

You’ve been wanting to expand your business into federal government contracts. You know the opportunity is expansive: with hundreds of billions of dollars awarded annually to private businesses, government contracts offer a stable, predictable revenue stream while contributing to essential government missions. But there’s one glaring problem: you don’t know where to start.

Here are the facts. Roughly 61,000 small businesses won federal government contracts last year – less than 1% of America’s small businesses. Any business that has tried to pursue, knows why so few succeed on their own:

• Federal contracting is a complicated world to learn

• There’s no clear “Start Here” button

• Lots of confusing procurement mechanisms

• It’s hard for newcomers to translate their services to government needs

• Government speaks a different language… and so does each of its federal agencies

Two things are striking about the federal contracting market:

1. Those winning government contracts are simply really good at navigating the contracting system: understanding the market, strategizing bids, writing proposals, pricing, partnership development, and more. Those winning are the best at the contracting process – and that often means, the same businesses just keep winning.

   
   

2. Businesses want to bring their services to government, but many have no idea where to start. Business leaders are busy with their day-to-day priorities: delivering quality services, leading teams, growing the core business. It’s unrealistic to dive in blindly, guess on bids, and end up wasting valuable time on a losing streak due to lack of federal contracting expertise. Government does have educational resources available to help businesses navigate the federal contracting market. But these resources offer limited hand-holding time and require major time commitments to learn the contracting process – slowly and incrementally.

There’s a better way.

For businesses looking to break into government contracts this year, here is your 5-step roadmap and timeline:

Step 1: Federal market analysis.

First things first – understand exactly how the government buys your capability, what your federal market looks like, and where your easiest entry points exist. If you don't understand the market, you can't pursue it. Your goal is to identify exactly what types of contracts, which agencies, which geographical hotspots, and which undersaturated areas will yield the highest win rates. For those needing expertise, we create customized federal market analyses for businesses in under two weeks that you can start executing, tomorrow.

Step 2: Map out your federal expansion plan.

Translate your products or services in the easiest way possible to federal contracts through sub-contracts, partnerships, or direct bids. Create a phased approach for your business to pursue incrementally higher value contracts based on the market research findings that reveal the most viable entry and expansion opportunities.

Step 3: Revamp communications.

Develop your government-facing foundational communications products so government industry customers and partners can easily absorb your offerings. There are three foundational products you’ll need to create:

1. Capability Statement, to include your company profile (NAICS and certifications), core capabilities, featured clients, value differentiators, and past performance with compelling, quantified results.

   
   

2. Capability Pitch Deck, for partnership and government customer discussions.

   
   

3. A new “Government Solutions” webpage to integrate into your website, for when government partners and customers check you out.

Step 4: Commence a government-facing Partnership and Engagement Strategy.

Identify key events, conferences, and industry day opportunities with government customers and partners to build your federal market network, pursue sub-contracting opportunities, or develop relationships for future teaming endeavors.

Step 5: Find, vet, and pursue opportunities.

Establish (or outsource) capture management to find and vet federal contract solicitations, asses for bid/no-bid action, and implement a strong internal bidding process. Along the initial steps to set up your government contracting vertical, there will be clear needs to absorb new functional roles into the team. Dual-hat team members to train on how to search for opportunities. Identify the internal systems you can integrate to bid, manage, and execute new contracts. Establish who on your team will lead on partnership development, who will engage at key government industry days, who will manage proposal writing and submission, and how the contract will be managed upon award. Preparing and practicing the execution of these roles will build your team’s capabilities as you stand up the sustainable system of finding, vetting, and pursuing contracts.

Federal government contracting is not an impossible market. It just takes targeted expertise and a solid plan of actions grounded in setting the right foundation – all of which can be completed in a 16-week timeframe with a focused, methodical approach.

Serellium offers rapid and full-service support to small, medium, and large businesses seeking to enter and expand in the federal contracting market. We exist to bridge the gap between the private and public sectors, offering full-service support to businesses looking to rapidly enter or expand into federal government.

In a matter of weeks, we will position your business for federal contracts by providing a data-driven roadmap tailored to your business. This includes an actionable entry strategy grounded in expert federal market research, refined capability offerings, and a targeted plan for you to pursue the highest demand and most accessible entry points.

Serellium is on a mission to seamlessly connect small, medium, and large businesses to meet critical government needs. By leveraging cutting-edge market analytics, a methodical process, and a deep understanding of private and government sectors, we're eliminating the barriers that have long plagued the $774 billion-per-year government contracting system. Our approach isn't just about winning government contracts; it's about fostering a new era of public-private collaboration that benefits all Americans. 

Book a call with us today to get started.