GSA Contract...Help!

August 6, 2010 10:56 AM

My boss has asked me to work on getting our company a contract with the U.S. government's General Services Administration (GSA). I have been doing some research and reading everything I can about it, but I think this may be too big of a job for just me. Does anyone have any experience with working on a contract like this or know of any good resources for help? Anything that any of you can offer would be great. Thanks!
posted by healthykindofsick to Work & Money (9 answers total)

It may help to know what industry your company is in, its size, whether it is owned by women and/or minorities and/or veterans, etc.
posted by dfriedman at 10:57 AM on August 6, 2010

A quick search of the GSA's web site yields this.

Here's more information.

Finally, here's a book that purports to tell you how to get a contract.

There seems to be a lot of information on the web, both from the GSA itself and from other parties, about how to get contracts with them.
posted by dfriedman at 11:09 AM on August 6, 2010

Response by poster: We are a background screening agency and do not fall into the category of a small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, or women-owned small business. We are looking to get onto GSA schedule 738 X offering SIN 595 27.
posted by healthykindofsick at 11:13 AM on August 6, 2010

Response by poster: I've looked at the info available via the two links posted extensively, but had not seen the book. My hope is that someone can share some personal experiences they've had with this process.
posted by healthykindofsick at 11:16 AM on August 6, 2010

You'll want to look at the details for the corresponding Solicitation for that schedule - that would be the "contract vehicle" that applies to you and the actual application details should be explained there. Good luck - my company's trying to get on a GSA schedule, too, and we may just end up hiring a consultant to guide us through this - we're pretty small and don't have anyone to figure all of this out!
posted by pants at 11:24 AM on August 6, 2010

Response by poster: I read the solicitation over the last few days and I'm just concerned that I will miss something or provide inaccurate info. We've already been rejected once and had to withdraw another offer. However, the ownership seems to be opposed to consultants--or at least to their cost.
posted by healthykindofsick at 11:27 AM on August 6, 2010

To be clear: do you already have a MOBIS schedule, and are looking to respond to an issued RFP? Or do are you looking to get a MOBIS schedule so you can then respond to RFPs?
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:53 PM on August 6, 2010

Getting on the GSA schedule is, from my understanding (my company is interested in doing so and I am charged with figuring it out), difficult.

I took the self-paced online training thing "How to Become a Contractor — GSA Schedules Program" that is linked to here.

Frankly the whole thing seemed ridiculous in its complexity, cost, and amount of work. My company is still thinking about it though. I think most companies that get on the schedule hire a consultant.
posted by misskaz at 1:17 PM on August 6, 2010

Your boss understands that being on a GSA schedule means exactly that, right? It means that your firm and the GSA agree on the terms and conditions. Then the GSA publishes the schedule, i.e. activates it. Then it sits out there until someone places an order. You may never get any work.
posted by fixedgear at 3:54 PM on August 6, 2010