A largely known website for federal procurement opportunities is Federal Business Opportunities, it can be located at www.fbo.gov This site has government contract opportunities greater than $25,000. There are several ways to utilize this site and search for potential government contract work and conduct market research. For catching opportunities in the early stage it is best that you locate the presolicitations or sources sought. Within the search engine you may use any one of these methods to locate potential contracts for supplies or services, you may also use specific keywords.
•Solicitation Number – The agency advertising contract work for supplies and/or services provides a
solicitation number that more than likely begins with the federal agencies acronym.
•NAICS Code – Products or services that is provided by your company is classified under the North
American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).
•Dates – You may search for a potential federal contract that was posted within three days up to sixty
days.
•Procurement Classification Code – This code is also known as the Federal Supply Classification Code
(FSC), you may also use this code to conduct market research.
•Agency – If you are aware of the agency that has posted the federal contract opportunity you may
locate the solicitation.
Once you have located a potential RFQ/RFP you will see several links on the web page. For example, there could be a solicitation with an original synopsis, a solicitation, and modification. These terms can be confusing to a newbie in the federal field. I have provided a short list of terms and their meanings that could assist you.
•Synopsis – Brief description of the requirement which includes the original date the agency posted.
•Solicitation – Elaborated description of supplies and/or services required by the agency
•Modification/Amendment – Changes that have been incorporated into the solicitation.
•Award – A contract that has been provided to the selected contractor.
Each action that is made to the solicitation provides a date the action took place. You should also take notice to key information within the solicitation that will assist you in your proposal submission process, such as:
•Solicitation number
•Date the response closes
•Classification codes
•If any set asides are listed
•Statement of Work (SOW)
•Type of Contract
•Length of time the contract award will be in action
•Estimated value of the contract
•Clauses
•Delivery dates
•Point of Contact
FedBizOpps is not the only site used to research opportunities, although it is the most utilized. As I said before if you want opportunities that are not preselected you need locate search for sources, request for information, presolicitations or sources sought.
For more helpful information like this contact Ilene Giles your, “GSA Proposal Maven” at gsaproposalmaven.com