Providing products and services to the federal government is patriotic and can spawn substantial revenue and growth for many businesses.  The government is always seeking to grow its industrial base for product and service solutions for vast and ever-evolving requirements.  An October 2022 North Carolina Department of Commerce report indicates the military alone has a $79.7 billion economic impact on the state representing 12.7% of the entire Gross State Product. There are several steps businesses should take to get started and optimize their success in the federal market.

“Knowledge is power” and this is especially true in government contracting. To gain this knowledge, businesses should start by researching federal market data and info to determine where they fit in the market, who are their potential customers, who are their likely competitors and partners and what is the revenue and profit potential.  This research may seem difficult and tedious but fortunately, there are great sources of free federal government data and information. The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) business development professionals are excellent resources to help businesses obtain and analyze this information.

To bid on government contracts businesses must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) – received when they register with the System for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov.  You should be very thorough and accurate when registering in SAM.  The SAM registration will be much easier and effective if the business is prepared when it begins the registration process enabling the business to complete the initial portion of the registration in one session.

Here are some important actions to be ready for SAM registration.

1. Determine your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code(s). You can view the NAICS code list at U.S. Census Bureau NAICS.
2. Determine your Product Service Codes (PSCs).  You can view a PSC list at PSC Manual.
3. Determine if your business is eligible for government contracts reserved for small businesses.  The SBA assigns a size standard to each NAICS code.  Size standards are available at SBA's Size Standards Tool.
4. Determine your business’ eligibility for contracting assistance programs such as Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Business, 8(a) Business, SBA Mentor-Protégé, Joint ventures, 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance and HUBZone.  More Information about these programs is at Contracting Assistance Programs.
5. Have all required information available when you start your SAM registration.  SAM.gov provides step by step instructions at Get Started with SAM Registration and the Unique Entity ID which includes an Entity Registration Checklist

If you have prepared using the above steps and are very patient and meticulous the SAM registration process should be relatively smooth.  You will successfully register with SAM, receive your UEI and be eligible to compete for and win federal contract awards.  Here is the link to start Get Started.

The NCMBC main goal is to help NC businesses know about, compete for and win federal government contracts.  Our services are free to NC businesses.  For more information and assistance with federal contracting please visit https://www.ncmbc.us/.