Navigating the New Landscape of Federal Contracting

As federal contractors, staying informed about changes in government procurement policies is crucial for your business. The recent announcement of the Better Contracting Initiative (BCI) by the Biden-Harris Administration marks a significant shift in federal contracting, aiming to enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This article delves into what the BCI means for you as a federal contractor and how you can align your strategies with these new developments.

Some of our most effective small business clients succeeded in federal contracting by adopting a multifaceted approach that combines working with prime contractors and having their own contracts, such as GSA multiple award schedules (MAS). This strategy allows small businesses to diversify their revenue streams and increase their chances of winning federal contracts.

Introduction

Let's face it, running a business isn’t easy. Every year presents new challenges - growth, planning, cash flow, workforce development - and the past few years have thrown some extra curveballs our way with the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and inflation. Now 2023 isn’t going to be a cakewalk either. The risk of recession, finding new revenue streams, and keeping our workforce stable looms large. Moreover, these challenges are likely to linger into 2024! But don't worry, TurboGSA explores these challenges and shows you how getting a GSA contract can help you tackle them head-on.

So what is a Capabilities Statement?

A Capabilities Statement is a document that provides a detailed overview of a company's capabilities, experience, and qualifications to perform a specific type of work. If you have attended any procurement conferences or agency training sessions, you undoubtedly have heard people recommend developing a capability statement.   A government capability statement is an essential tool for federal business developers to use in developing a relationship with federal agencies, prime contractors, or potential teaming partners. It has become a marketing prerequisite for talking with federal buyers.

You will likely make several different types of changes to your GSA Contract during the 5 to 20-year period.  Your agreement with GSA is intended to be a living document, keeping up with changing times.

You will want to update the contract frequently in order to:

• update pricing
• add or remove products or services
• update your company information
• comply with regulations
• take advantage of new opportunities

We tend to look at the modifications in three different ways:

• Refresh
• Revise
• Reinforce

The Federal Buyer’s Journey

Many contractors face the challenges of determining their place in the federal market and identifying how to pursue business. An important step in figuring this out is:

A GSA contract can help you increase government sales. You know it, your salespeople know it, but sometimes the boss does not. As your firm’s business development manager, you know that GSA schedules are a critical tool to have in your business development toolbox.  But your boss is reticent. She prefers to wait until the next quarter or the quarter after. Or perhaps they prefer to have you focus on chasing RFPs, which is about as effective as playing Powerball!

I have received a few calls and emails from a few clients about an email they received from the SAM Administrator at SAM.gov about potential fraud.  Some were concerned about whether this was real or some registration scam.

GSA Schedules have been a popular contract vehicle for large and small businesses alike, but in recent years, small business has grown its share of GSA schedule sales significantly since 2013. That year, the height of sequestration, cutbacks, and reduction of wartime spending, the small business share of GSA sales was 32%.  For fiscal year 2016, that had grown to 43%; sales have grown from $11.4 billion in FY2013 to $13.5 billion in FY2016. Remarkable!

GSA has modernized its multiple-award schedule vehicle for human resource services to address contract redundancy and streamline the acquisition process for such service offerings.