Open Solicitations: Go – No Go

What you need to know. – What is it? When is it? Am I excluded? Where is it?

In this episode of FedBiz’5 we are hosting Anthony D’Attore from FedBiz Access to discuss open solicitations, and what you need to know to move forward (or not). The key is not to spend time chasing open solicitations that you cannot fulfill.

Solicitations, sometimes referred to as ‘opportunities’, are requests that solicit bids to initiate the procurement process for goods and/or services. These solicitations can take a multitude of forms or notification types.

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Open Solicitations are contract opportunities under full and open competition that are publicly posted and available to all interest vendors. These are typically very detail oriented and need to be followed to the letter. They are highly competitive, and the details matter. I can’t emphasize it enough, the details matter.

Open solicitations are posted in SAM.gov as an RFQ (Request for Quote) or RFP (Request for Proposal). There are databases that can aggregate and sort through this data to help you more effectively research for opportunities, which include the Market Intel Database.

Special Notice is typically a way to post a ‘sole source’ or follow-on contract notification. This usually means you’re not going to win this solicitation since it has been awarded to a single source without going through the competitive bidding process. As an example, this may occur for the acquisition specialized goods or service or in the case of a national emergency or natural disaster.

Pre-Solicitation is not a formal solicitation but usually an RFI (Request for Information). Typically, that means the program manager or contracting officer has a problem they’re trying to solve, and they’re looking for answers from the commercial market to help solve that problem. This is always a good way to introduce your business.

Sources Sought is a solicitation of interest and not an actual bid opportunity. Think of this as the market research phase prior to the solicitation. More often than not, as part of market research, it allows you to speak directly to the contracting officials to discuss the contract requirements and your capabilities. You can even be instrumental in how the solicitation is written.

If two or more small businesses respond to a source sought, when it goes to a solicitation, it will be set aside for small businesses. In addition, many sources sought notifications are automatically set for small business sources and have a ‘set-aside’ requirement. This means the government has set-aside this award for a small business under a socio-economic certification.

It’s also an opportunity to create relationships with contracting officials and make a good first impression with your capability statement. If you can offer something unique, that’s very often how a sole source contract is generated. That means you win, and the solicitation does not even go out for public bid. So, looking for sources sought notifications can be very valuable, especially if you are new to government contracting.

Once you receive the solicitation, you need to determine whether to move forward or not without wasting time on solicitations you cannot win. Since a solicitation can be as much at 100 pages plus, you need to quickly parse though it to make a “Go – No Go” decision.

What is it? – Does the title or abstract pertain to your business? What type of solicitation is it? Can I meet the minimum requirements?

When is it due? – Can you realistically meet the deadline? Are better off getting in earlier in the process (RFI or Source Sought)?

Am I excluded? – Is there a specific set-aside for this solicitation? For example, if it’s for a woman-owned business, and you’re not a woman-owned business, well stop because it’s not written for you.

Where is it? – Where is the place of performance? Can you reasonably service the geographic requirements, or can you work remotely? For example, if you’re a janitorial company and the solicitation is for janitorial services in Japan. Well, if you are in Wisconsin, you probably can stop reading.

If all four of questions line up, the fun begins because you can really start drilling down into the details of the solicitation requirements to make a final determination. What you’re doing is looking for specific things that might exclude you. If none are found, it’s a go!

State and local solicitations are a little different. They’re typically not formatted the same way but are more concise. So, they are easier to read through and the geography is limited to a specific area. They are usually a good way to get started in government contracting and build past performance you can leverage into federal contracts.

FedBiz Access offers research and engagement strategy sessions, as well as marketing packages to targeted buyers at the federal, state, and local levels. FedBiz Access has over 21 years of experience working with companies to help them win business by ensuring their research, engagement strategy, registrations, certifications, and GSA Schedules are current, complete, and compliant.