Who should you market your business to acquire contract opportunities?
Starting with top prime contractors in your NAICS code and the city, county, and state where you primarily operate is a smart strategy. These avenues offer your best chances for securing contracts. Prime contractors are often required to subcontract to small businesses on larger projects, making them eager to collaborate with you. Additionally, local municipalities prefer to keep spending within the local economy, favoring local contractors over those from out of state.
What are prime contractors?
Prime contractors are primary entities responsible for managing and executing a contract. They agree with a client or an owner, typically for large-scale projects such as construction, government contracts, or major corporate initiatives. Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Primary Responsibility of a Prime Contractor
Prime contractors bear the main responsibility for the completion of the project according to the terms specified in the contract. They oversee the entire project, ensuring that it meets all specifications, timelines, and budget constraints.
A prime contractor is a business that is the primary contract holder. That’s where the term “Prime” comes from. They hold the primary position and stand to make the contractual decisions as well as most of the revenue.
Prime contractors use subcontractors
However, many contracts require the primary contractor to subcontract a portion of the work to small businesses. This creates a unique opportunity for you.
These contractors face the same time constraints as you do. They often don’t have the bandwidth to seek out new businesses to meet their contractual obligations. Instead, they tend to rely on familiar and trusted connections as their first option.
Subcontractor Responsibility
While a prime contractor manages the overall project, they often subcontract portions of the work to specialized subcontractors. These subcontractors handle specific tasks or services that the prime contractor might not have the resources or expertise to perform for federal contracts.
How does a prime contractor pick a subcontractor?
A prime contractor will look in their database instead of combing other sources for companies that fit their criteria. Becoming part of a prime contractor’s database as a small business opens the door to numerous opportunities for growth and collaboration on large-scale projects.
Prime Contractor Registrations
By registering in their database, small businesses can showcase their expertise and services, making them visible to a prime contractor seeking specialized skills and resources. This inclusion not only enhances the small business’s chances of being considered for subcontracting roles but also builds credibility and establishes valuable industry connections.
Moreover, registering allows small businesses to participate in significant projects they might not have access to independently, fostering partnerships that can lead to long-term success and sustainability. Overall, joining a prime contractor database is a strategic move that can significantly expand a small business’s horizons and market reach.
Award History and Past Performance
Additionally, a prime contractor will seek companies that have demonstrated a proven track record of successfully performing the required tasks or supplying the necessary products. They prioritize small businesses with a history of delivering quality work on time and within budget, as this indicates reliability and competence.
By providing historical evidence of past projects, small businesses can showcase their capabilities, experience, and consistency in meeting high standards. This historical performance data reassures prime contractors that the small business can handle the demands of the project, reducing the risk associated with subcontracting.
Consequently, having a strong portfolio of completed work significantly enhances a small business’s credibility and attractiveness to a prime contractor looking for dependable partners.
Build a Relationship with a Prime Contractor
For companies that are just starting, the only way to get in with a prime contractor is to introduce themselves and build a relationship, as this initial connection is crucial for gaining visibility and trust.
New companies must proactively reach out to a prime contractor through various means such as attending industry events, participating in networking sessions, and engaging in professional organizations. By making these introductions, startups can present their capabilities, services, and potential value to a prime contractor.
It Takes Dedication to Establish Your Business
Building a relationship involves consistent follow-up, demonstrating a genuine interest in collaboration, and showcasing how their unique offerings align with the prime contractor’s needs.
Through persistent effort and by establishing a reputation for reliability and quality, new companies can gradually earn the confidence of a prime contractor, eventually positioning themselves as viable and attractive subcontracting partners. This relational groundwork is essential, as a prime contractor is more likely to consider partnering with businesses they know and trust.
How do you register with a prime contractor?
Select GCR knows how and will teach you for long-term success.
Select GCR’s registration and processing teams know how to register businesses with various prime contractors. Usually, their information is clear and accessible, which at times, makes our job easier. Sometimes, the registration is unclear and requires more research. Our team would then have to make phone calls or send emails on your behalf to find out how to introduce your business as a vendor for future contract opportunities.
Continue Prime Contractor Registration
While we include this service as part of our marketing programs, we also recommend doing this on your own to increase the chance of finding the right Prime to partner with. Not all prime contractors will be interested or could take on another contractor. It’s up to the discretion of the prime as to whether they want to nurture a relationship with you as a subcontractor.
How do you find a Prime contractor?
Utilize Select GCR’s Proprietary Program
By performing market research, you can learn the contact information for various Primes. If you utilize our proprietary software, Select GCR Pro, you can swiftly find thousands of contacts to market your business to. You can search based on NAICS, locations, keywords, and PSC codes.
Other Ways to Find Primes
For those who do not use the software, you’ll have to use online databases to establish who the main money-getters in your industry are and what contracts are available for you to bid on. Then you must find the contact information and begin to introduce your business by sending your Capabilities Statement via email. After that, you follow the email with a phone call to set up a meeting at the contractor’s convenience.
How do you gain an edge over the competition?
Socio-Economic Certification
Not only are prime contractors looking to fulfill their quota of small businesses, but they also have to award a percentage of contracts to certified businesses. These are set-aside contracts that are specifically meant to be awarded to Veterans, Women, Minority, and HUBZone businesses.
The set-aside certifications Prime contractors require include:
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Veteran Owned Small Business
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Service-Disabled Veteran Small Business
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Women Owned Small Business
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8(a) Minority Owned Small Business
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HUBZone Certification
It’s a Requirement
If you can check one of these boxes, getting certified will put your business at the top of everyone’s list. They are required to fulfill an obligated percentage of their contracts by hiring certified small businesses. This not only gives you an edge, but it also eliminates the competition.
You can also register with City, County, and State
Not only does the government operate on a federal level it also has local municipalities that purchase products and services by way of Government contracting. It is a wealth of revenue that these local contacts want to keep within their municipality.
Local Set-asides
Just like prime contractors, these purchasing agents have contractual obligations to set aside contracts for small businesses and socio-economic certified businesses. They want to have your business in their database so they can call on you when they need a bid on a contract.
Register with Multiple Locations
The best part about local municipalities, you can register for whatever location you want to work in. As an example, if you are a business in West Virginia, you can contract for North Carolina and Washington DC as well as your hometown.
Depends on how far you want to travel for work. You can have as many registrations as you can handle. We suggest registering one at a time and concentrating your marketing strategy on that one set of contacts before moving on to a second location.
Select GCR Can Help
With Select GCR’s Client Success Program (CSP), the registration team will get you set up as a preferred vendor for the City, County, and State of your choice. Although we only do one of each, we recommend that you reach out to multiple local municipalities that you would be willing to work in. You can always register with the surrounding area of your business to make sure Government spending stays within your local economy.
