Answering this question is the first step in tapping into the trillion-dollar government marketplace
The government spends trillions of dollars each year with small businesses and there’s an equal amount of people interested in government contracting.
I know this because I get so many people coming to me, wanting to pick my brain. Some have a lot of questions of which I answer and teach in my Bootcamp. Here are two questions most people ask:
- Does the government buy what I sell?
- How can I find out if they have contracts for the products and services I provide?
Now the government is not a manufacturer. Well, what I’ve realized is that there are two things the government produces themselves MONEY and SOLDIERS, but they still get support from contractors to make that happen.
They contract out everything else it takes to run the VA hospitals, military installations, care for soldiers and their families, administrative buildings, etc. can you imagine it? They probably buy what you sell too! Of course, you can take the time to do the research, just as a double check.
What you can’t do is be lazy and expect me, another consultant, or someone else to do the legwork for you, especially for free. (But no worries, I’m sharing with you just how to do that here in this article, so keep reading.)
Three things you should know about government contracting:
- It’s HARD work
- It’s TIME-consuming
- It’s very REWARDING
If you want that, I’m going to be sharing in a series 3 of the 9 Critical Answers to Questions You Don’t Know to Ask When Making the Government Your Client.
- Does the government buy what you sell?
- Who’s your customer?
- How to get your first contract?
These questions are enough to get you out there and just enough to be dangerous! You’ll know:
- If the government buy your product or service?
- Which agencies should you focus and include in your marketing strategy?
- Where to find your first contract?
This is a very small list of the types of services and products they buy. The government pretty much buy everything like:
- Information Technology Services
- Construction Services
- Professional Training and Development Services and Programs
- Administrative Services
- Medical Supplies and Services
- Office Supplies
- Furniture
- Automobile Parts
- Tools
- Graphic Designers
- Photographers
- Accounting Services
- Staffing
- Maintenance Repair
- Janitorial Services
As you can see, the government has a broad range of products and services they purchase from small business owners just like you!
Not enough for you, yet? Not convinced yet? Yeah, most aren’t. You’ll want to have a conversation with someone like me to get the answer to the question – “Does the government buy what I sell?”
Remember, when I said government contracting is HARD WORK and it’s TIME-consuming? Are you committed enough to put in the time to get the answer?
You can do a search of The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The NAICS industry codes define establishments based on the activities in which they are primarily engaged.
Searching for NAICS will allow you to see if the government has a code already set up for what you do. That’s the first clue that the government buys what you sell.
You can use this link, my favorite place to search for NAICS for my clients: https://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/. Do a keyword search to find your NAICS.
TIP: Make sure to try different variations of keywords because the government may use a different word than you.
Write down the codes that correlate with what you do. I created a template for my clients to track their NAICS.
If you see that the government buy what you sell and you’d like to explore how we can help you get started faster, than going at it alone, as most clients waste anywhere from 6-months to 3 years trying to figure it out on their own before coming to us, where we help them find the missing pieces.
You should start here:
Contractor’s Edge Bootcamp
Don’t forget to come back for the second article in this series where we’ll be talking about who’s your customer. The government has a lot of agencies and all of them are probably not your customer.
P.S. In this series, just follow this link to get access to all three articles.
3 of the 9 Critical Answers To Questions You Don’t Know To Ask When Making The Government Your Client
