Small Biz Cracking Code For Federal Contracts
In 2006, William Witcher’s company did virtually no business with the federal government. Last year, his Walpole, Massachusetts-based Minuteman Trucks Inc., sold some $1.2 million worth of truck parts to the federal government – primarily the U.S. military – and he expects to more than double its sales in 2008.
“The economy has been slip sliding away,” says Witcher, whose 75-man operation also sells and services big rigs and is the Northeast’s largest supplier of Pierce fire trucks. “We decided we wanted another place we could sell.”
As the economy slows, this is a good time to take a closer look at the federal government, the largest buyer of goods and services in the world. The advantages are clear. The budget is set; the government typically lets vendors know where they stand throughout the bidding process; and, best of all, bills are paid on time, typically within 30 days.
Witcher says he has become a government convert. After hiring a consultant to learn how to navigate the complicated process of bidding for federal work, he shifted his inventory control officer to the full-time task of researching potential contracts and has amassed a database that tracks all the bids the company has submitted – won and lost – to learn from its history.
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Photo by David Reeves.
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