Many firms fail to obtain the HUBZone certification because they don’t see a path forward in federal contracting. There are currently over 40,000 businesses located in counties where the entire county is HUBZone eligible. This generally makes a HUBZone application much easier as both the business and the vast majority of the employees reside within the qualifying HUBZone county.

HUBZone Federal Macro Environment

Overall HUBZone Benefit

*  $12.4B Annual HUBZone Sales in 2020
*  7,800 HUBZone Firms
*  $1.58MM Federal Sales per HUBZone Firm

GSA Schedule HUBZone Benefit

*  $1.15B Annual HUBZone Sales 2020
*  801 HUBZone Firms
*  $1.43MM Federal GSA Schedule HUBZone Sales

For most firms, the prospect of increasing sales by between $1.5MM and $3MM by obtaining either a HUBZone Certification, or a HUBZone Certification along with a GSA Schedule, can be a difference maker. However, many firms obtain the HUBZone Certification and are then faced with a “now what?”

HUBZone Federal Micro Environment

In my experience, the firms that are most successful initially target 2-3 agencies, then within a short period of time, shrink this number to a single, well-targeted agency. It can take between six and twelve months to obtain their first contract, but these firms are playing the long game.

Over time, networking within this agency pays off and this appears to be the formula that walks small businesses from zero to greater than $10MM in annual federal sales.

If you are interested in making this a reality for your firm, I always recommend contacting an industry expert such as ez8a, Advance 8s or Advance GSA. None of the aforementioned accomplished consultants charge for an initial consultation.