GSA Schedules are long-term government-wide contracts that establish set prices and terms for supplies and services.  Because ordering from these established contracts saves government agencies administrative time and money, preference is often given to vendors on a GSA Schedule.

If you are debating on whether or not your company should invest the time and resources in having your company included on a GSA Schedule, consider the following Pros and Cons:

Pros: 
•    A less selective competitive pool (as you will only be bidding against other companies that are already on the GSA Schedule)
•    Access to Request for Proposals and Request for Quotations that are not normally published on FedBizOpps.gov
•    Know who exactly who your competition is
•    An excellent marketing tool for your company—Government Agencies like it that your company has already been pre-vetted by the GSA Schedule selection process!

Cons:
•    Inclusion into the schedule could be a time and resource consuming process
•    The requirements for a GSA Schedule contract award are stringent: you need to demonstrate a history of financial stability, a strong past performance experience, and the capability to meet the service/product requirements
•    The GSA requires prospective vendors to: possess up to date CCR and ORCA records, as well as complete a Readiness Assessment, a Pathway to Success certification, and comply with wage determination labor standards… what does all of this mean?

GovPartners has a 100% success rate in obtaining GSA Schedule contract awards for eligible companies.  We make the process as easy as possible for our clients, providing all of the necessary services for our clients, from the cradle to the grave.  This includes things such as submitting our client’s Open Ratings Reports in the beginning to negotiating acceptable discount terms with the GSA prior to a contract award.

To find out more about our GSA Schedule submission services, click here.

Research is the first key to success. When you are on the outside looking in, you might often wonder what it takes to get from where you are (Point A) to where those, say, on Washington Technology’s annual Top 100 and Fast 50 lists are (Point B). All companies, large and small, have to start somewhere, but you don’t start out on any of those lists.

When you boil it down to its basic elements, there are Three R's that are the keys to success in this government market: research, resources and relationships. While this may be over-simplifying things, the three remain basic building blocks for the market. I’ll devote this article to the first R — research.

Regardless whether you are just getting started or bidding on your 100th contract, research is critical.

The problem for the novice is where to start. Although there are both paid and free research tools, some better than others, some harder to find, and most who are new to the market are overwhelmed by how many tools there really are. They often don’t know which to use or how to use those they select. So it’s better to start with some good, free resources to determine some things about your company before you start paying for resources you may not need.

For the novice, the research must start with answering the question "Does the government buy what you sell?"  Read full article.