Kevin Strakal ⋅ Des Plaines, IL U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class ⋅ 21 years served

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it. Maybe because i'm living now in a different part of the country, i'll revisit the OSDBU and Procurement Assistance Centers. I tried this honestly covering the East Coast to no avail. I have become convinced these are token agencies to say there are programs out there to assist, at least in my experience, not a single person has responded to any informational requests from the most complex of questions to basic questions like, "could you provide assistance". This isn't a one time instance, this has been ongoing for the last four years. I am determined to build my company with or without these programs. My philosophy is if these programs exist, then the people running the program should be active in their participation. This attitude of, "come to me and maybe I will help" is not a good attitude to have when dealing with those trying to get ahead. I'm sure you can feel the discontent, but I feel if you have a job that actually has the word, "outreach" then I believe reaching out would be the operative action. I think we need to understand that the folks working in these positions are people who only want a job and we are people who want more than just a job, we want to build something substantial. At least with my life, as a retired veteran, I want to build something not for the recognition, not for any accolade, not even to become the next billionaire, but something that I can have, build and nurture into something that my kids can have and build on that will also provide me with a comfortable living.

Barry Brown ⋅ Lorton, VA Federal Labor Relations Authority ⋅ 40 years experience

One thing you can do is get registered on FEDBIZOPPS at: https://www.uscontractorregistration.com/additional-services/

Another is to get registered in SAM at: https://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/##11

Harry Rakfeldt ⋅ Belfair, WA AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants and related products ⋅ 38 years experience

Hello Stephen,

Jwan's input mirrors my personal experience just last week. I attended a seminar sponsored by PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center & WADVA on how vets can get into the loop especially with the federal govt by getting certified as a Vet Owned Business. Every state has a PTAC office.
Also - take a look at this SBA web site:
https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/ogc/resources/362381.

Sincere wishes for success!

Harry Rakfeldt

Joe Floyd ⋅ Norfolk, VA U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman ⋅ 4 years served

Man thats a tough one, however anything is possible with the government. First off make sure your product meets the specifications and the standards required by the government. You have to know which agency you are selling to a whether major command or sub category. Also are their multiple customers. One thing to look is at companies that gave existing contracts and contact them directly. If the product meets a need, you can get it. Either way it will take a lot of persistence and will also require monetary output on your part just to get you right to the right person or his assistant.

Remember, this first grete rule of Sales, FIND A NEED AND FILL IT.

Now get going and keep going. DREAMS ARE ACHIEVABLE.

Best regards,

Joe Floyd

Brock Renshaw ⋅ Tampa, FL Citi ⋅ 7 years experience

Greetings,

I have a friend who used to be a contract specialist with SOCOM, who is now running a company to help in such circumstances.

Check out Skyway Acquisition Solutions - https://skywayacquisition.com/.

Semper Fi,
Brock

Gerald Thomas ⋅ Tulsa, OK MSC Industrial ⋅ 25 years experience

The Small and Disadvantaged Business Office should be contacted they can guide you. Without knowing the product or concept(whether or not it is a new concept to training) it is difficult to tell you whether or not there would be a GSA schedule for this. In order to have a GSA schedule the product more than likely already has to be sold on the open market and by a government entity. I have negotiated schedules for several companies and found that this is more than often the case. You may have to go create the demand with potential users of the product before going to GSA but the Small Business office can offer you guidance there as well.

Judah-PEGS Christian ⋅ Colorado Springs, CO SVO ⋅ 1 years experience

Stephan,

I believe we may be able to assist further, please email us PEGSCHRISTIAN@gmail.com.

GOD Bless You, A Reflective Father's Day ahead, and hope to hear from you soon...

Judah-"PEGS"

Kevin Strakal ⋅ Des Plaines, IL U.S. Army, Sergeant First Class ⋅ 21 years served

Sorry, I marked a "was this answer helpful" link, I thought there would be a yes or no option. I meant to push a "no" option. The reason being is that I see a lot of good advice, however when you get a response such as, "the way you do this is get on this website or click this link", you really don't receive an answer at least in my experience. For the last four years I have attempted to get advice this way, however you can only go so far. It seems once you have clicked on the link or visited a website, that is the farthest you will go. I have literally read websites word for word, followed their advice, sites such as SBA.gov, the GSA sites and again at least in my experience when asking a question either a RFI via email or a personal phone call, you are redirected back to the very same website you are asking your additional questions about. I really wish you luck and if anyone has advice on how to get past this endless cycle of redirection, I would love to know that answer.

Doug Dare ⋅ Cypress, CA U.S. Marine Corps, Corporal ⋅ 3 years served

Every agency has an Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization who work to maximize small business participation in their agency buying efforts. You can contact these folks to find out who purchases fitness equipment and how that is purchased - via GSA or through some contract vehicle (probably GSA in this case). Once you know who the buyer/program office is, you can market the product's capabilities to the buyers, end users, and other stakeholders in the agency. Hope this helps!

Jwan Baughn ⋅ Hot Springs National Park, AR eXP Realtor ⋅ 10 years experience

Contact your nearest Procurement Assistance Center they will be able to help you with the questions you have asked. They have counselors and training to help you market your product to the government.
http://www.aptac-us.org

David Downey ⋅ Denton, TX Downey Aviation Services ⋅ 39 years experience

There are two basic methods. The USG/DoD use the GSA schedule contracts. There are existing contracts with Terms & Conditions for products/services per-negotiated. The contracts will cover things like office supplies, IT products, training and similar common items. The other method is DoD issues a notice for a intended procurement - an example would be tactical vehicles like the HUMVEE replacement. The DoD will have a procurement entity, guided by exiting Federal Acquisition Regulations, negotiate the terms and conditions like price, spare parts, training, on-going engineering support, etc.