In case you are not aware, the federal government’s year ends September 30th of each year. Federal agencies are generally given a budget for a single year at a time. Because of the nature of federal budgets, in the final quarter agencies spend a large amount of their discretionary funds. This varies by Industry, and it is important for 8(a) firms to realize this phenomenon so they know how much time, energy and money to invest in their marketing efforts during the July-August-September time period.
See Table below for Industry Data:
Timeframe |
Construction |
Manufacturing |
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services / Information |
Transportation and Warehousing |
Wholesale and Retail Trade |
QTR 1 |
526,739,640 |
233,370,124 |
1,959,468,026 |
94,658,021 |
22,205,394 |
QTR 2 |
927,119,224 |
351,169,130 |
3,823,102,267 |
126,178,894 |
12,002,425 |
QTR 3 |
1,314,042,416 |
428,991,546 |
4,771,368,445 |
173,970,098 |
28,336,069 |
QTR 4 |
4,138,572,445 |
926,417,355 |
7,225,774,907 |
170,594,827 |
24,177,358 |
Totals |
6,906,473,725 |
1,939,948,155 |
17,779,713,645 |
565,401,840 |
86,721,246 |
4th Qtr Percentage |
60% |
48% |
41% |
30% |
28% |
Construction and Manufacturing 48-60% - Based upon this data, firms in the Construction and Manufacturing industries should focus greatly on agency end of year buying.
Consulting 41% - Firms in the IT and Management Consulting should focus on year end as it would be a great time to jump into the federal market if you have yet to join up to this point.
Logistics / Wholesale and Retail Trade 28-30% – Not as likely to benefit from this end of year phenomenon, with numbers just north of 25% for a quarter.
If you have any questions on how to maximize the potential of your 8(a) Certification, I always recommend contacting an industry expert such as ez8a. They can be reached at (859)442-3300, and do not charge for this initial consultation.
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