Partnering your business with the government

1. Partnering Your Business with the Government

2. Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) grants have delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counselling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses. If your small business is engaged in scientific research and development, you may qualify for government research grants and government funding for sme with the purpose of small business innovation research and small business technology transfer.

3. The government grants and programs for SME grants small businesses to undertake R&D projects that meet their objectives and have high potential for commercialization. This program provides assistances primarily through four programmatic functions. Access to Capital or Business financing provides small businesses with an array of financing for small businesses from the smallest needs in microlending to substantial debt and equity investment capital or venture capital.

4. Entrepreneurial Development on education, information, technical assistance and training provides free individual face to face and internet counseling for small businesses, and low cost training to promising entrepreneurs and established small businesses in many locations. Government Contracting sets goals with other departments and agencies to reach statutory goal of 23 percent in prime contract dollars to small businesses. This office also provides small businesses with subcontracting procurement opportunities, outreach programs, and training.

5. Advocacy which is the voice for small businesses reviews legislations and testifies on behalf of small businesses. It also assesses the impact of the regulatory burden on behalf of small businesses. In addition, it conducts vast array of research on small businesses and the small business environment.

6. Small businesses do big business with the government. There are great possibilities of generating sales and revenue with the government. Remember that the government is the nation’s largest customer and it by law, is required to purchase items from small businesses. They play a major role in supporting businesses that want to work with the government.

7. The size of a small business may seem relative but when working with the government there are standards to meet. A small business is defined either in terms of the average number of employees or average annual receipts over the past three years. It must be organized for profit, it is placed within the locality, operates primarily within the nation or makes significant contribution the economy through payment of taxes or use local products, materials and labor. It must also be independently owned and operated and not dominant on its field on a national basis.

8. The business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form. In determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary to reflect industry differences, such as size standards. The government works with several federal agencies to award twenty three percent of all prime government contract dollars to small businesses. This requirement helps ensure federal agencies meet specific statutory goals for groups including: Women-Owned Small Business; Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business; and Historically Underutilized Business Zones.

9. So you think you're ready to sell to the government, but is the government ready to buy from you? Government buyers are a discerning group. After all, small businesses trust them to make the right procurement decisions with the taxpayer money. Yet, despite the fact that formal goals are in place to ensure that small businesses get their fair share of work with the government, winning a share of the percentage of contracts set aside for small business isn’t easy.

10. Convincing government buyers that you are a viable business partner who can help them achieve their goals requires a different approach that one you’re used to seeing in the commercial sector.