For small businesses, this presents a lucrative opportunity to diversify revenue, build credibility, and gain steady work. But breaking into the public sector can feel daunting, and local contracting has its own challenges. With over 90,000 independent local governments in the USA, each with their own rules, regulations, and norms, it can truly feel like the wild west for government contracting.

This article outlines key steps and best practices to help small businesses navigate this variety of contracting procedures and get started in local contracting with confidence.

1. Understand the Local Landscape

Start by identifying which local agencies are potential customers. Each one may have its own procurement rules, vendor registration process, certifications, and budget cycles.

Take your first step –

• Research city, county, and district websites for “Procurement” or “Doing Business with Us” pages. We’ve got you started with a list of these pages for local governments in our service area: https://www.apexnorcal.org/services/local-contracting/
• Sign up for email alerts for bid opportunities if possible.
• Thoroughly read these pages to learn what you can about agency priorities, projects, prior awarded contracts, incumbent vendors, and recurring contracts, contract vehicles, blanket purchase agreements, etc.
• Don’t choose too many to go after. Start your process with one or two target buyers.

Pro Tip: Some agencies publish annual procurement forecasts which might be helpful for planning future bids.

2. Get Registered & Certified

Before you can bid on local projects, you’ll typically need to register as a vendor. It’s common for local governments to utilize 3rd-party bid hosting services to list and solicit their bids and vendor registrations. These often appear to cost money to use but there should always be a free option to access basic services such as registrations and bids.

Certifications for small, minority-owned, women-owned, or veteran-owned businesses may also be administered or recognized by local governments. In general, certification programs are not as common or robust as in the Federal government (e.g. the SBA’s certifications), so take it on a case-by-case basis. If present, they can help certified businesses receive goaling preferences, price advantages, and even contract set asides.

Vendor registration:

• Complete the agency’s vendor registration form (usually online).
• This often involves a 3rd party nongovernmental site such as BidSync, Bonfire, Periscope, PlanetBids, OpenGov, etc; but there should always be a free version.
• Have your tax ID, business license, and relevant NAICS codes ready.
• Keep your profile up to date.

Some certifications you may run across:

• Local Business Enterprise (LBE)
• Small Local Emerging Business (SLEB)
• Small Business Enterprise (SBE)
• Minority/Women Business Enterprise (MBE/WBE)
• Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE)
• Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE): A hybrid certification mandated by the Federal government, administered by the State governments, and often recognized by local agencies for US DOT-funded transportation project bidding.

Pro Tip: Don’t overwhelm yourself! There are 58 counties and over 450 cities in California alone, not even including transportation districts, school districts, publicly owned utilities, etc. They may all have different processes for doing business with them. Don’t try to register or certify with all of them. Start with your local governments, or the major ones near you, and then expand from there only once you feel comfortable with the process.

3. Start Small & Build Relationships

Your first contract likely won’t be a million-dollar project, and it may not even come until you’ve put several months or over a year of consistent work into developing this capacity of your business. To improve your odds, start with small purchases or subcontracting opportunities.

How to gain traction:

• Respond to Request for Quotes (RFQs) or Invitations for Bids (IFBs) etc (the terminology varies) and Informal Bids under $50K.
• Partner with a larger firm as a subcontractor.
• Attend pre-bid meetings and local procurement events to meet agency buyers.
• Spend serious time doing online market research and then approach contacts in the government with questions that make a good impression and can help you fill in any knowledge gaps you have.
• Market research and marketing should always go hand in hand.
• Develop a strong capabilities statement geared towards your government audience in order to put your best foot forward

Pro Tip: Networking is critical! Government buyers prefer working with known, reliable vendors so your visibility matters.

4. Write Winning Proposals

Responding to solicitations requires more than just outbidding your competition. Government agencies typically have very high standards for who they entrust with tax-payer dollars. You must demonstrate capability, reliability, and value. Remember,  if you don’t think you can perform well on a contract, then there’s no shame in spending more time building your business fundamentals in the private sector.

Craft a strong proposal:

• Mind any mandatory or optional pre-bid meetings and the Question & Answer periods—these are crucial opportunities for you to gain more information about the bid (knowledge is power!)
• Follow all instructions very precisely – noncompliant bids will get rejected.
• Tailor your response to each solicitation – there is no one-size-fits-all proposal.
• Emphasize relevant experience, even if from the private sector.
• Highlight past performance, certifications, and key staff expertise.

Pro Tip: You can re-use bits and pieces that you’ve developed for other proposals, but never get lazy—you must always customize every proposal to the specific scope and evaluation criteria.

5. Stay Organized and Compliant

Government contracting involves strict rules, deadlines, and documentation.

Best practices for compliance:

• Track solicitations, submission deadlines, and bid results.
• Maintain accurate financial records and insurance coverage.
• Deliver quality work—on-time and within scope.
• Keep all contract documents easily accessible for audits.
• Make sure that your business licenses, Secretary of State Statement of Information filings, etc. are all up to date.
• Best to have someone helping with financials if you don’t already. Many micro-businesses underestimate the administrative burden of winning their first contract.

Final Thoughts

Getting into any form of government contracting is not a quick or easy win—it’s a long-term strategy and requires strong business fundamentals and consistent effort. But for small businesses willing to invest the time and build the relationships, local government work can provide a wonderful revenue stream and a platform for growth. Compared to Federal and State contracting, the threshold for new vendor entry is generally lower, the dollar amounts are often smaller, the competition less fierce, and you may have more opportunities to meet with government stakeholders if they live in your neck of the woods.

The keys to navigating this market are to:

• Time your entry–make sure your business is ready
• Start small — you’re more likely to win lower-dollar projects as a beginner
• Stay focused — learn the process with one buyer first, then expand later if desired
• Be resourceful — use online research and in-person networking to learn more
• Make a professional impression — capabilities statement, website, emails, phone calls should all convey business maturity
• Lastly and most importantly— be persistent

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If you are looking for help with local government contracting or want no-cost help to find local contracting opportunities, please contact your Norcal APEX Accelerator counselor for assistance or apply for services today!

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