The nine questions below provide a self-evaluation and a preliminary benchmark for business development to help determine if a company could be a viable government contractor or if certain issues would prohibit a company from successfully entering the government marketplace.
Though potentially lucrative, government contracting requires a substantial amount of time and resource commitment. Therefore, businesses interested in entering the government marketplace should consider the following questions to determine their potential for success as a government contractor.
- Do you have steady and/or growing commercial market sales that can support a new market venture?
- Is the company well established and have the necessary experienced staff, appropriate tooling and overall resources to fulfill government contract requirements?
- Do you have an active strategic plan and staff willing to implement government contracting sales?
- Is the company financially solvent with no legal judgments? Do you have available lines of credit, appropriate assets, and set accounting standards?
- Does the company have a defined marketing radius and designated marketing staff?
- Do you have an established quality control program with written procedures and staff designated to implement it?
- Is the company Electronic Commerce (EC) capable? What is the company’s level of computer literacy?
- Are your competitors active in the government marketplace?
- Have you considered teaming with similar businesses to pursue government contract sales?
- Have you considered pursuing government subcontracting opportunities before entering the marketplace as a prime vendor?
To discuss the results of the assessment, and for a more complete marketing analysis, please contact the APEX Accelerator SAP&DC via email at ptac@sapdc.org.
