What You Can Expect:If you are reading this book, we assume you have already decided to start a government contracting business or have already started one, and you really want someone to tell you what to do next in simple terms and without a lot of fluff. This book is a primer - a general how-to book. We focus on the essentials and explain the steps you need to take, why you need to take those steps, and the order in which you should take them. Where applicable, we cite resource references and websites that provide more detail for people who want to dig deeper.Why We Wrote This Book:We started, own and co-own several businesses. Some are government contracting businesses, and we wish this book had existed when we started our first one. Such a book, with topics and sections specifically for government contractors, would have saved us a lot of time, energy and money. After talking to many new business owners, we recognized that they, too, wished for a book written by serial business starters, who could offer step-by-step procedures to follow and would share their lessons learned.We Love What We Do!We love the business world, but mostly, we love helping others start their own business, achieve their business and life goals, and eventually, write their own success stories. We hope that as you follow the steps in this book, you will be on the way to achieving your goals in business and life, too.

He who knows and knows that he knows is wise; follow him. -ANCIENT PROVERB During a long career of public service as a government procurement and contracting official, I am still surprised to find big, successful corporations making the same mistakes that neophytes in government contracting mak~. And this is particularly true in the matter of writing proposals, which are the crucial element in most major procurement awards. It's true enough, as many suspect, that the big, well-known company has something of an edge over the smaller, lesser-known company com peting for any given government contract-psychologically, at least: The typical government executives, whether contracting officials or program managers, tend to have a bit more faith in the ability of the large company to carry out the program successfully. All things being equal, then, the big company is more likely to get the nod. However, because the large companies are well aware of that, many tend to become "fat, dumb, and happy"-they try to coast or rest on their laurels. That is, they get careless about making a strong enough case for themselves in writing their proposals. And when they lose, often to smaller companies, they are both puzzled and outraged. They have for gotten that all government procurement is a competition-usually both technical and cost competition-and that the "little guy" can win against the "big guy," if he tries hard enough. And especially if the bigger guy is a bit careless and does not put out his best effort.

How to Get Government Contracts demystifies the process of how a company can enter the government market, win its first and subsequent contracts, and then grow itself into a multi-million-dollar government contractor within a couple of years. It offers an insider’s view into the latest best practices that government contractors use to succeed in an increasingly competitive market, and it shows exactly how your company can apply these techniques to build a strong business. Many companies venture into the government market with a certain naiveté and pay a hefty price to find out that there is much more to winning a contract than writing last-minute proposals in response to publicly posted solicitations. To stop the bleeding of precious resources, they need to step back to learn how professionals win business in the federal arena. This book shows you how to find, for example, the best potential customers and opportunities for your company. It also explains the secret to winning consistently by conducting pre-proposal preparation (also called "capture") and practicing a disciplined, process-based approach to proposal development. This book provides a recipe for winning government contracts over and over again, the way seasoned government contractors do it. After reading this book, you will know exactly what to do to position your company to win a government proposal before a solicitation becomes public, including building customer relationships, gathering intelligence, developing a "win strategy," performing competitive analysis, selecting the best teammates, and developing a solution. As a result, you will apply professional techniques to organizing your proposal effort, outlining a proposal document, and writing RFPs that persuade evaluators to award the contract to you.

Learn the crucial ins and outs of the world’s largest market The U.S government market represents the largest single market—anywhere. Government contract tracking firm Onvia estimates that government business—federal, state, local, and education—represents better than 40 percent of the nation’s GDP. While anyone can play in this market, only those with the right preparation can win. Selling to the Government offers real-world advice for successful entry into the biggest market anywhere. Get proven approaches, strategies, tactics, and tools to make your business stand out, build relationships, understand procedures, and win high-stakes contracts. • Every year thousands of companies enter the massive U.S. Government (BtoG) marketplace, and by the end of the first year, most are gone and less than 10 percent make it to year two • Author has advised hundreds of companies, including Apple, Dell, CDW, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, IT, GTSI, and many small firms, on all aspects of marketing and selling to the government From the go/no-go decision, through company infrastructure requirements, marketing, sales, business development, and more, this book offers the best advice from the most recognized authority in the market.

Federal contracting . . . easy? With the fourth edition of Federal Contracting Made Easy, it is! Whether or not you consider federal contracting easy, it is certainly easier with this guide. Used successfully by thousands of contractors and feds, this book offers practical, hands-on, no-nonsense advice. Now in its fourth edition, Federal Contracting Made Easy lays out the entire federal contracting process in a readable and easy-to-understand style. This book covers how government procurement works, what you can do to cut though the red tape to speed your way to winning a contract, who the key players are, and tips for overcoming obstacles. New in this edition: • Discussion of government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) • Updates on women-owned small business • New status of service-disabled veteran-owned small business • Expanded list of relevant websites and resources • Introduction to the new System for Award Management (SAM) Whether you are about to enter the competitive world of federal contracting or have been bidding for contracts for years and are now looking for updated information and ideas, this is the book you need. The federal government awards billions of dollars in contracts for goods and services every year. This book will help you win a piece of that business.