subject: Government Contracts: Small Business Opportunities [print this page] Government Contracts: Small Business Opportunities
The U.S. Federal Government is spending billions of dollars on various products and services. Sometimes we get overwhelmed just by thinking that the government is a large institution that it will not buy from small businesses and companies. The government transacts with anybody. Small business government contracts have been issued for years, the only problem small businesses don't usually take advantage of the opportunity. As long as you meet the requirements, there is no problem whatsoever that a government contract may not be awarded to you and your company.
The recent economic breakdown has pushed the government to issue and award contracts. This year, the federal government has set aside 39% of the allocation of more than 500 billion dollars to small business contractors. The amount is close to 200 billion dollars. And it's all for small businesses and companies. Larger companies can't compete because these funds are allocated separately for small corporations. If 200 billion dollars isn't much then the government has also released more than 700 billion dollars in stimulus fund.
That is a lot of money going around the economy, 200 billion dollars plus the stimulus package, if we take the opportunity and attempt at going for a small business government contract it may not be a bad idea. The opportunity is there, wasting it would not be prudent.
In 2008, small business government contracts were only granted 21% of the budget. Small business aren't aware that these allocations are set aside especially for small companies. The big boys get a different slice of the pie. Some are afraid that we may be competing with Fortune 500 companies if we go into government contracting. The government has put these safeguards to improve investment balance between small companies and large companies with thousands of thousands of manpower.
Last year though, it seems small companies have been active in government contracts with about 20,000 businesses received their first contracts of over $25,000. It could be the effects of the recession because honestly, the only institution with money to spend right now is the federal government. In a crisis or out of one, the government has set aside funds that only cater to small businesses and we should always take advantage of that. This could be one of the positive effects of the recession, it has given small businesses the opportunity and the confidence that it can supply the government with the goods and services it needs. The federal government is keen on keeping these small business government contracts with or without recession.
