Federal Contracting Is Possible for Startup Businesses

Federal Contracting is possible for startups. I know that might seem amazing and hard to believe that a startup company can win federal contracting opportunities, but it is true. The US Federal Government has government contracts set aside specifically for small business and looking for ways to fill their federal contracting demands. A start up business can fill that demand if they can meet certain requirements, but before we get into federal contracting requirements for startups, let’s talk about some general requirements that a business must meet before pursuing a contracting opportunities. Yes, it takes effort but wouldn’t it be worth it to have the largest customer in the World come to you for products and services? So, let’s begin.

General Business Setup Requirements

• Although you may be a startup, you must have substantial customer references. If your business doesn’t have any business references, do you personally have any professional references that you can used to represent the work you will do in your new company.

• You need to have financial records that show that you have the ability to meet the demands of the business. If you don’t have the business funds, you will need to show them you are personally financially stable to support your business.

Federal Contracting Requirements

• Aside from becoming a federal contractor, you must also be prepared to participate in the government marketing and communication process. Federal Contracting is not something that happens by taking one step. In fact when you take the right steps in the right order you will find that the process of winning federal contracting opportunities is very simple.

• You will also need to review your business to make sure that you meet all the federal, state, and local requirements to run your business so make sure that is in order before you look at federal contracting. Below are a few area to check first:

o First, is your business registered with the state in which you do business in? In most states you need to register your business with the Secretary of State.

o Secondly, is your business registered with your local revenue office? You will need to make sure you have a license to have a business in the county in which you live. This is very important to establishing and maintaining the legitimacy of your business.

o Thirdly, does your business have a tax id? You will need to register your business with the IRS and receive an Employer Identification Number (EIN).

Federal Contracting for Startups - Summarize it please

OK, so I am going to give you a single piece of advice regarding federal contracting for startups and here it is "customer references". Don’t get nervous and say as a startup how can I have a customer references because you have them put not in the way you think. If you have started a business that is an extension of your professional experiences then you do have references. You do have someone who can speak on your behalf regarding the service you provide. Hopefully you didn’t just start your business and hang out your shingle and hope customer would come, it would stand to reason that you built some type of network that you could leverage to kick-start your business. Assuming you have this professional network in place you will need to go to it and harvest the relationships to create a profile that you can use to market to your government customer.

So if you take away one thing from this article know that federal contracting for startups is possible, but you need a sound business with a customer base that will be a strong reference base!