How to do business with the government

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Dear Professor Bruce: I keep hearing about doing business with the government. I have a small business and would like to learn more about this. Where should I start?Answer:There are many places you can start to learn about doing business with the government, and you can start at your computer without leaving the office. According to Mark Amtower, author of "Government Marketing Best Practices," start your "homework" by going to a few Web sites that offer good information for free. Onvia is a good place to start (www.Onvia.com). Onvia provides bidding opportunities from government (federal, state and local) agencies throughout the U.S. Give them a call and tell them what you sell, then put a geographic boundary on the sales territory. This is so you can actually visit some potential buyers -- not to limit where you sell. The face-to-face visit will get you more acquainted with the buyers and the process. Like any other market, relationships help. Onvia also has several excellent articles on doing business with the government on their web site.Next, get some training in the procurement process. The Procurement Technical Assistance Programs (PTAP) is sponsored and funded by the Defense Department, and there are 93 Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) around the country. These offer low-cost and no-cost classes in the procurement process at the federal level. For a complete list of PTACs, go to www.GovernmentExpress.com and click on "Resources". The PTAC list is near the top. Take a basic course at the PTAC nearest you on the government procurement process. This will include information of the bidding and contract process, GSA contracts and much more.While you are there, look for your state under resources in the listing for "Doing Business with Links: State". This has direct links to all 50 state procurement web sites and outlines the regulations for procurement for each state. Amtower suggests you start local for several reasons, the first being you can actually go meet people without added expense. More often than not these people will be helpful in many ways, including introducing you to others in their office as well as telling you about other government activities nearby. And don't simply target federal business. Combined, federal, state and local government business accounts for 25 percent of the GDP - over $1 trillion annually.Winning government business is an incremental process - it does not happen quickly.Bruce Freeman is president of ProLine Communications, a marketing and public relations firm in Livingston, NJ and co-author of Birthing the Elephant (Ten Speed Press). E-mail questions to Bruce(at)SmallBusinessProf.com.