Not all businesses have the $6-$25K in their budget that most consulting firms charge to put together their GSA Schedule application package. For business owners that have extra time on their hands (or have a staff member with some extra time on their hands), going it alone is a possibility.

Advantages of doing GSA yourself:  The person putting the GSA Schedule together for your firm will gain insights on how to complete other federal proposals in the future as well as gain the competency to update your existing GSA Schedule Contract.

Disadvantages of doing GSA yourself:  For firms attempting to complete the application on their own it generally takes months longer (and well into the hundreds of labor hours) to complete the process for first timers. Additionally, the GSA expects the application to be submitted in a professional manner. They don’t have a lot of time to coach firms through the process.

Still want to go it alone? Here are the steps….

Of course we must first review GSA Eligibility:

1. The firm must be financially stable.
2. Two years in business.
3. Quality Past Performance.
4. Products must be commercially available.
5. Product/Service must be compliant with the Trade Agreement Act.

Steps for Getting a GSA Schedule:

1. Your business must have a DUNS number, this can be obtained for free from Duns & Bradstreet if the purpose for obtaining the number is for working with the Federal Government.
2. Register your business with sam.gov This is the vendor database which drives all other federal procurement systems.
3. Determine which GSA Schedule SIN best fits your product or services. This can be accomplished by going to GSA eLibrary and reviewing the comprehensive lists.
4. Identify potential competitors on GSA eLibrary to makes sure you are price competitive with other federal vendors.
5. Download the solicitation from FedBizOpps at its’ new location sam.gov or the correct GSA Proposal for your firm.
6. Gather required documents such as financial data, invoices, Past Performance, business practices, etc., to complete the proposal.
7. Prepare the GSA MAS Proposal following best practices format for a GSA Schedule.
8. Proposal Submittal is the next step. Don’t be surprised if the contracting officer asks for additional information during this phase of the process.
9. GSA Contract negotiations take place in order to finalize your pricing with the GSA. The GSA Contracting Officer will compare your product or service to those already in the market to obtain the lowest price for the government. At this point it is critical that the company can justify the differences in its’ product offering to obtain the best pricing for the product.
10. Once the Contract is awarded, the company will upload the offering to GSA Advantage, and then make sure the firm remains compliant with the GSA going forward.
11. Learn to use eBuy. Once the firm has an active GSA Schedule, the firm should monitor the GSA eBuy Bulletin Board for additional contracting opportunities.

The firm should also take steps to target federal contracting officers and inform them of their new position as a MAS GSA Schedule Holder. Federal Sales build upon each other, making the next sale that much easier. Hopefully obtaining a GSA Schedule will give your firm the ability to make headway into the lucrative federal marketplace.   

 If this seems like a lot to go through on your own, I highly recommend contacting an industry expert such as Advance GSA to help with the arduous process of getting on GSA Schedule. They do not charge for an initial consultation.