Six Tips for WOSBs

Below are six useful tips for marketing your company to the Army and taking advantage of the resources available to you.

1. Take the tutorial on selling to the Army. Read the tri-fold on the Women-Owned Small Business Program, the Women-Owned Business Development Center, and take the step-by-step tutorial entitled "Doing Business with the Army.”  These will walk you through the process of preparing your company to do business with the Army, finding Army contacts, and identifying specific opportunities. Please note that any business wishing to do business with the federal government must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). If your company is not registered, make this your very first step.
2. Utilize local resources. In addition to contacting Army Small Business Specialists, get in touch with other local contacts, like your SBA Procurement Center Representative and a representative from the Women's Business Center near you. If a Procurement Technical Assistance Center is located near you, be sure to take advantage of the resources it offers as well.
3. Join women's organizations and network. Explore the women's business organizations listed on the "helpful links" page, join relevant organizations, and make the most of the networking opportunities these organizations offer.
4. Attend events. The Army Office of Small Business Programs will sometimes hold local outreach events designed to help small businesses identify and pursue Army opportunities. Find out if such an event is scheduled near you by exploring the calendar of events. The calendar also features non-Army events that target WOSBs. Also, explore the websites listed on the "helpful links" page to identify other events designed for women-owned small businesses.
5. Stay informed. Register to receive regular news/updates on the WOSB program, and visit the program site and the websites listed on the "helpful links" page to keep up on the latest news and regulations affecting WOSBs. Also, bookmark the websites of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee. Check the sites often for information on new small business legislation. Visit the DoD’s procurement policy site to stay up to date on changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Also visit the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy website as well as the site titled "Where in Federal Contracting".
6. Take advantage of all applicable preference programs. Research other programs, including those for small disadvantaged businesses, 8(a) companies, HUBZone firms, veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and Native American-owned small businesses, to find out if you qualify for any of them in addition to the Women-Owned Small Business Program. If you qualify for and participate in the 8(a), HUBZone, or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program, you can take advantage of the restricted competition allowed by each of their set-aside programs. Also, be sure to learn more about the Army’s Mentor-Protégé Program to determine whether that program would be a good fit for your company.