Guides
The parts of federal contracting that quietly cost small companies money, explained without jargon.
How to read a federal solicitation
It can run to many pages, and the parts that decide whether you win are not at the front. The order to read them in, and five things that often cost the bid.
Bid or no-bid: how to decide whether a federal solicitation is worth pursuing
Every proposal costs evenings you could spend on another. The questions that rule a notice in or out, in the order that saves the most time.
How to build a compliance checklist for a federal proposal
The best proposal submitted can still be thrown out for a missed form, a page over the limit or an amendment nobody acknowledged. Where the requirements are, and how to list them.
Federal contracting terms, in plain words
NAICS codes and size standards, set-asides, UEI, the notice types, amendments, wage determinations, recompetes and contract vehicles, each in two or three sentences with its official source.
What is a Sources Sought notice, and should you answer it?
There is nothing to bid and no money attached, so they are easy to skip. It is also the moment the agency decides whether the contract will be set aside.
What a wage determination means for your bid
On a covered service or construction contract, what you pay your people is set by law rather than by you. One of the few mistakes here that loses money on a contract you won.
When does your 8(a), WOSB, HUBZone or SDVOSB status expire?
A lapsed certification does not warn you. It stops you bidding the set-asides your pipeline is built on, and it turns a representation you made in good faith into something to explain.
These are general explanations of how federal contracting works, not legal, financial or compliance advice. Where a rule or a number matters to a decision you are making, each guide points at the authoritative source rather than asking you to trust us.