government contracts is a very lucrative venture. The feds awarded some 300 Billion dollars in contracts in 2007. To get a government contract, you might want to first know whether the government by buys your product or service. Chances are they do. The government buys everything from baseball caps to high tech IT and software.

if you are new to government contracting, you may want to retain am expert that understands federal contracts. Choose one that has solid data and can show you actual information where you can make a decision to move forward.

The government has several programs available to distinct groups of small businesses. For example, the SBA 8 A program is a 9 year program that allows small disadvantage business to get preferential treatment and be awarded government contracts. This can even be done by sole source methods, Meaning that you do not have to compete.  The 8A program is alive and well but satistics show that businesses in this division still do not get government contracts.

Why is this? The simple answer is that although business are certidied in the 8 A program, there is no adequate training  to specifically show you how to be successful.  The status does not obligate the contracting officer to award a contract.

The truth is that you still have to know how to market to the government. Marketing is key and you still need to know how to be competative. Without this know, you are "dead" and you will end up being frustrated like many other small business contractors.

The Service Disabled Veteran program is the new kid on the block. Here, veterans get preferences are can also get sole source opportunities. The above comments still apply.

The government agencies across the united states have billions of dollars forecasted for service disabled businesses for 2008

Unfortunately, they don't. The real question is why not? There is some analysis to this unfortunate result. First, large projects appear to be out of the reach of small businesses - or so they think. Small business should attemtp to seek out teaming partners to plan for the big projects ahead of time.

Contracting Officers and government contract officials frown on small businesses that attempt to bid on the larger projects. If you choose to bid on larger projects you may want to propose a possible staffing plan. This could increase your chances of getting a government contract

most commercial contractors market for government contracts in the same manner that they market to commercial clients. This is one of the biggest mistakes ever. as a former small business contracting official for the government, I've seen both marketing personnel and business owners give a briefing on how good they are and that they offer the best product.

Although this may be true, the truth is that your competitor will say the same thing. One must learn the language used by the govenment contracting officials. What do they really want to know. For starters, you should talk about accomplishments. Talk about your management team, and quality assurance program.

You should also invest in an experience government contracts consultant that has been on the government's playing field and knows how the game is played.

Also know who the end user is with the agency. This can be the begining of a long relationship.

Also develop a capability briefing specifically for the government. Trust me when  I say this, the government procurment olks and the program managers speak a totally different language - learn if fast