If you have ever felt stuck in the classic government contracting catch-22, you are not alone: “We need DoD past performance to win DoD work… but we need to win DoD work to get DoD past performance.” For years, that dynamic has been one of the biggest barriers to entry for small businesses and nontraditional […]
The fastest wins aren’t luck…they’re signal. A few years ago, I watched a small contractor do what most people would call “getting lucky.” They found an opportunity that fit.They moved fast.They won. But when you looked closer, it wasn’t luck at all. It was signal. Most government contractors aren’t short on effort. They’re short on […]
If you’ve been in federal contracting for more than five minutes, you’ve probably heard some version of: “We should team on this.” Sometimes that means a simple prime-sub relationship. Sometimes it means a formal contractor team. And sometimes it means “we’re both panicking because the solicitation is due next Tuesday.” This guide breaks down teaming […]
If you feel invisible to government buyers, you probably are invisible. And in 2026, invisible companies do not win government contracts. That statement is not meant to be dramatic. It is simply how modern market research and vendor discovery works now. Contracting teams still rely on formal systems like SAM.gov and SBA’s Small Business Search […]
The federal government awards over $650 billion in contracts annually, with 23% specifically set aside for small businesses. Yet countless small business owners miss out on these lucrative opportunities simply because they don’t understand the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). If you’re serious about winning government contracts, understanding SAM.gov isn’t optional—it’s the mandatory gateway to […]
If you’ve been pursuing state, local, and education (SLED) contracts for any length of time, you know the feeling: you finally spot an RFP that looks perfect for your business… and it’s already chaos. The due date is tight. The bidders list is long. Your inbox is full of last-minute questions, and your team is […]
If government contracting in 2025 felt like you finally learned where everything is in the grocery store… only for them to remodel the aisles overnight, you’re not alone. The good news is that the “remodeling” is leaving clues. And those clues point to several concrete trends that will shape how small businesses find opportunities, stay […]
If 2025 felt like a year of “hurry up and wait,” you were not imagining it. Federal contracting stayed enormous, but the market’s day-to-day rhythm was shaped less by hype and more by policy resets, compliance acceleration, and a very real push to simplify how the government buys. The result: winners in 2025 were rarely […]
If you’re in the 8(a) program (or you rely on 8(a) partners), you’ve likely felt the temperature change. Over the past few weeks, oversight has moved from “background noise” to front-page reality: Senate leadership has publicly pressed agencies to pause 8(a) sole-source contracting and re-examine past awards, while SBA has initiated a program-wide documentation push […]
As we close out another year, we want to celebrate what matters most: the real momentum our clients created in 2025. If you were in the trenches with us this year, you already know it was an interesting one. Between the federal government shutdown from October 1 through November 12, 2025 and the usual procurement […]