Government Rules You Need to Know

April 13, 2006

	Visited: 315
	Not rated
	Rate:

You've heard it said many times, "Government contracting seems hard--so many rules and regulations. And, if you don't follow them, the government is just waiting to take you down!"

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. The government not only actively seeks out small business participation when it buys products and services, but it also goes to great lengths and spends lots of money in outreach programs to find good, qualified small businesses to be its suppliers. For example, it will provide information that will help you bid with minimal risk. Just for the asking, you can find out how much the government bought the last 5 to 10 times, who they bought from, and how much they paid. Try asking for that kind of information from your commercial customers and see what they say!

In reality, there are many similarities in selling your products or services to commercial customers and selling them to the federal government--the same basic business principles and strategies generally apply. Both want a quality product or service at a reasonable price, delivered on time. And in both cases, you need to know your customers' needs, how they buy and who buys what. You need to do your market research. And whether it is a commercial customer or a buying agency of the federal government, you need to arrange face-to-face meetings so you can better clarify what they want and so they can better understand what your company can do to help them.

However, although the approach to the commercial and government market is similar, the procedures and rules of doing business in the government arena are different--and if these differences are not understood, it is here that problems can occur.

However, all of these problems can be minimized if you take the time to gain some basic knowledge of these procedures and rules and to learn how the process works. (Note that we said "minimized," not "avoided," because Murphy's law is always out there waiting to challenge your commitment to the task.)