If your goal for 2020 is to accelerate your firm’s growth rate, consider obtaining a GSA Schedule at the same time that you obtain your 8(a) Certification. If you already have your 8(a) Certification, culminate your business development efforts for your firm’s future by getting on GSA Schedule as well. A GSA Schedule on average produces more than $1.2 million per year in federal sales. The best time of year to begin the process for obtaining a GSA Schedule is January. This has to do with the factors below:  

1. Timing. From the day you start, it will take roughly between 4-6 months to obtain a GSA Schedule Contract. If you start today, you will obtain your schedule in the April-May-June time frame depending upon the schedule.

2. The fiscal year for the federal government ends September 30th every year. The fourth quarter is therefore Jul-Aug-Sept.
  
3. Federal Acquisition Spending by Quarter

-Q1 has accounted for 21.4% of total fiscal year spending.
-Q2 has accounted for 24.2% of total fiscal year spending.
-Q3 has accounted for 22.4% of total fiscal year spending.
-Q4 has accounted for 32.0% of total fiscal year spending.
  
4. Generally, it is easier to make your first sale to the federal government in the 4th quarter, which then opens up future sales in the other three quarters.

5. Most businesses never think to do business with the federal government. 
-There are 28MM Small Businesses in the United States.  
-There are 224K Small Businesses that are registered to do business with the federal government.  

“This translates into 1 in 125 small businesses are registered to do business with the federal government.”

-Last year the federal government spent $120.8B with small businesses.
-10,400 of these small businesses are GSA Schedule holders. 
-GSA Schedule holders average 3.5x the sales of Small Businesses without GSA Schedule Contracts. This does not take into consideration other contracting vehicles the GSA Schedule holders might be utilizing.


 

Now may be an excellent time for your business to revisit obtaining a GSA Schedule Contract.

So, as you have seen from the numbers, a GSA Schedule can have a huge impact on your business development efforts moving forward. For those that combine their certification/approval efforts while obtaining an 8(a) Certification, the redundancies in the application process make it a less arduous task than if you do them individually, and significantly less expensive if you hire an industry expert which I always recommend. Advance GSA and ez8a are proven leaders in the federal certification and government contracting space, and neither charge for an initial consultation.