Certification Guidance

History of Federal Contracts

The United States federal government is the largest customer in the world, spending more than $630 billion on goods and services each year. The U.S. government understands that America’s 33 million small businesses, including our nation’s 8 million minority and diverse-owned businesses, are the backbone of the American economy. For this reason, federal law requires that the U.S. government provide services and support for small businesses to seek and obtain contracting opportunities.

Government contracts can seek services from a vast array of industries. Bloomberg Government reports that the top markets to watch for federal contracting for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 are cloud computing, artificial intelligence, logistics and supply chain, business management and financial services, facilities management, and digital services.

Despite these statistics, in the last decade, the U.S. government has reported a decline in the number of small businesses in contracts with, down to fewer than 60,000 small businesses in 2022. At the same time, it reported a record $159 billion in government spending on small business contracts. This means that fewer small businesses are obtaining larger and longer-term contracts, which makes it all the more critical to understand how to land a federal government contract as a small business.

Step 1: Register as a Contractor

After becoming familiar with how to do business with the U.S. federal government, the next step is to register your business as a contractor.

To register as a contractor, you must create an account for your business or entity on the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) System for Award Management (SAM) on SAM.gov. This will allow you to obtain your Unique Entity Identifier, formerly known as your Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.

The documents required to register your business or entity on SAM.gov are divided into the following sections:

Unique Entity ID: Legal Business Name, Physical Address, Date of Incorporation, and State of Incorporation
Core Data: Employer Identification Number, General Information, Financial Information, etc.
Assertions: Types of goods and services provided by the business, its size, etc.
Representations and Certifications: Additional required information to conduct business with the federal government
Points of Contact: Contact information for primary business representatives

Click here to view the “Entity Registration Checklist” which contains details on the required documentation to register on SAM.gov. You may see questions labeled “FAR Response”, which are asked by the U.S. government in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

You will also need to find the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes that match the goods and services that you sell. To find your NAICS code on the U.S. Census Bureau website, click here.

Once you have compiled the necessary documents, registration on SAM.gov can take approximately one hour. Upon submission, registration can take up to 10 business days to become active. To check the status of your registration, click here.

Step 2: Find your Contractor Bid Opportunity

The System for Award Management (SAM) is the U.S. government’s official website to register and pursue federal contract opportunities. There is no cost to use SAM.gov.

Click here to browse current contract opportunities currently available on SAM.gov.

To subscribe to updates, you must create an account for your business or entity on SAM.gov, perform a search, “save” the search, and set up notifications on the saved search. For details on this process, click here.

Local procurement assistance centers may also be able to provide support for your small business to navigate federal contracting opportunities. These include:

These assistance centers are located in communities throughout the country, with tools available on each website to find the one closest to you.

Finally, you can conduct your own market research using online tools provided here by the U.S. Small Business Administration to learn more about U.S. federal government agencies with contracts, the contractors they purchase from, and the goods and services being purchased. These include the Federal Procurement Data System and USASpending.gov.

Business Certifications

As a small business, it is important to obtain any licenses, permits, or certifications to conduct business in your industry as applicable. Certifications are also available for a variety of fields, including project management, supply chain management, and Salesforce administration, among other areas, which help you stand out among other competitive businesses bidding on your same contract.

There are a variety of organizations that certify businesses of different backgrounds. These certifying organizations can belong to the public sector or private sector, such as the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) or the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) respectively. Business certification is important in both the public and private sectors because contracting organizations will often have initiatives or legal mandates to contract with businesses of diverse backgrounds as part of their commitment to social responsibility and equity.

Business owners should also consider applying for certifications available for business owners of diverse backgrounds, some of which include:

Government-Issued (Public Sector) Business Certifications

Private Sector Business Certifications

Please note, in order to do business with state or local governments you will need to seek certifications in your home state or with your local government.

Certifications are usually valid for a period of time, meaning you will have to re-certify to maintain your status as a diverse-owned business.

Once you have finished creating your account on SAM.gov and your have uploaded any applicable licenses and certifications, you are ready to start placing bids.

Step 3: Apply or Place Your Bid

Make sure to customize the content of your bid to meet the specific needs of the contract opportunity. As you pitch your business, it is important to highlight your unique value proposition, including and certifications of your technical capacity or background as a diverse business owner.

Additionally, business owners can consider partnering with other businesses in pursuit of government contracting opportunities. This will typically involve explaining the rationale behind filing a joint bid, clearly outlining roles for each party, and primary responsibilities falling on the principal applicant to the bid opportunity.

Once you have applied for a contract, it is critical that you track the progress of your bid. Keep in mind that government contracting processes are usually long. Once the contract is secured, it will be very important to deliver on every committed service in the contract. This is of particular importance given common reporting requirements at the end of each government contract.

Additional Support

As a small business owner, it can also be very helpful to get familiar with the federal government contracting landscape. One way to do this is by attending professional networking events aimed at connecting small and minority-owned businesses with government contracting opportunities, such as procurement events, conferences, and workshops. Additionally, many chambers of commerce and business associations at the local, state, and national levels host events that train and prepare small business owners to bid for government contracts through ‘business matchmaking’ opportunities. A few examples at the national level include:

Resources for My Business

Federal Guidance

Certification Guidance

Funding Guidance by State