As small and medium business owners, we’re always looking for opportunities. Well, don’t underestimate the opportunities presented by the Government of Canada. That’s right, as the Globe and Mail states in the article, how to land a federal contract, even as a solopreneur, the Government spends roughly 20-billion on goods and services, and since 2005 they’ve been doing more business with small and medium businesses. This means more offers of contracts and requests for proposals to small and medium businesses.
The article presents a lot of good tips and information, and gives many websites related to registering to get Government contracts. There are free seminars that provide proposal-writing know-how, through the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME). To even begin to do business with the government, you need to understand the buysell.gc.ca website. It’s the OSME’s procurement portal, and you can register and update your profile with them to get a procurement business number, which is used by Public Works and Government Services Canada to pay you. Also know, Merx Canadian Public Tenders is the Canadian public sector’s largest online tendering system. There are opportunities for tendering on a daily basis, so get on the Merx website and get to know the submittal and contract winning system.
Explore the rest of the article; it’s a great source of information about how to plan sales tactics to actually obtain the contracts (since just being on the OSME’s list isn’t enough to get you the contract). Also, on the buysell.gc.ca website, there’s a news section that informs of the latest Government business needs (make sure you visit this section often, as there may be newsworthy information for your business).
Are you a small or medium business that’s gone through this process? We’d love your feedback to post on our blog. Email us at info@facetsbusiness.ca.
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