How to Respond to a Sources Sought Notice
Responding to a sources sought notice is not bidding, and treating it like a bid is the fastest way to waste effort and annoy the reader. The agency is doing market research. It wants to know whether capable firms exist, what they can do, and whether its requirement is realistic. A good response is short, […]
How to Find Sources Sought Notices on SAM.gov
A sources sought notice is the federal government’s way of asking, before it writes a solicitation, whether the market can do the work and who can do it. For a contractor, it is an early warning system. The agency is telling you what it plans to buy, roughly when, and under what conditions, months before […]
How to Follow a SAM.gov Opportunity and Get Amendments
Following a SAM.gov opportunity is one of the smallest habits in federal contracting and one of the most consequential. Solicitations change after they are posted. Deadlines move, specifications are corrected, questions are answered, attachments are replaced, and entire sections are rewritten. A bidder who never follows the opportunity misses those changes, and a bid built […]
SAM.gov Place of Performance Filter Explained
The place of performance filter on SAM.gov answers a simple question that can save a firm a great deal of wasted bidding: where will this work actually be performed? A solicitation may be issued by an agency in Washington, performed at a base in Texas, and open to firms anywhere, or it may require daily […]
How to Filter SAM.gov by Set-Aside Type
Filtering SAM.gov by set-aside type is the fastest way to see work reserved for firms like yours, rather than wading through every open solicitation in your field. A set-aside filter shows you only the opportunities where competition is limited to a specific category, which is exactly where a certified small firm has its strongest advantage. […]
SAM.gov Keyword Search Tips That Actually Work
Most contractors search SAM.gov with the words they use to describe their own services, and then wonder why they miss opportunities. Agencies write solicitations in their own language, and the same service can be described in half a dozen ways across different agencies. Keyword searching works, but only if you search the way agencies write, […]
How to Search SAM.gov by NAICS Code
Searching SAM.gov by NAICS code is the most reliable way to find federal work in your field, because NAICS codes describe what the government is buying rather than how a contracting officer happened to word the title. A keyword search can miss an opportunity whose title never mentions your service, but a NAICS search catches […]
How to Prove Your Small Business Status in a Bid
Claiming small business status in a bid is easy. Proving it, when a contracting officer or a competitor checks, is where firms get into trouble. Size status is not a label you choose; it is a determination based on your firm’s size under the solicitation’s NAICS code, including all affiliates, at the time you submit […]
Small Business Set-Aside Goals by Agency
Every federal agency has a small business contracting goal, and those goals shape where set-aside work actually appears. An agency that is behind on its goal is more likely to set work aside for small firms, to break large requirements into smaller pieces, and to look harder for small vendors. This guide explains how set-aside […]
SBA Affiliation Rules: When Two Companies Count as One
Two companies can look independent on paper and still count as one business under SBA rules. That principle, called affiliation, decides whether your firm qualifies as small, whether it can hold a set-aside certification, and whether a contract award can survive a size protest. Many small firms discover affiliation only when a competitor protests their […]