North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/
All supplies and services, including construction, purchased by the federal government have a “NAICS” code. Contractors should review these codes and identify the ones that apply to them as a first step in this process. Begin with the keyword search. Use words such as landscaping, engineering, dump truck, computers, office supplies, medical equipment, plumbing, flowers, clothing or whatever is applicable to your company. As you register to do business with the federal government, you should identify all products and services that can be provided by your company (and note the correlating codes), not just one or two. Be sure to identify the 2012 codes and not the outdated 1997 codes.
Dun & Bradstreet www.dnb.com/
All contractors wishing to do business with federal agencies are required to register in a central database. Registration in the central database requires a D-U-N-S number and a Tax Identification Number (TIN, or Tax ID). The D-U-N-S Number is a unique nine digit identification number for each physical location of your business and is issued only by Dun & Bradstreet, a private firm that maintains a database of more than 130 million businesses. If your company does not yet have a DUNS number one can be obtained by calling Dun & Bradstreet at (866) 705-5711, or by using the automated webform on their website. There is no fee in obtaining a DUNS number. Simply tell the D&B representative that you require this number for Federal Government contracting opportunities.
SAM https://www.sam.gov/
You must be registered in SAM to do business with the Federal Government.
The General Service Administration’s (GSA) Office of Government-wide Policy is consolidating the government-wide acquisition and award support systems into one new system—the System for Award Management (SAM). SAM is streamlining processes, eliminating the need to enter the same data multiple times, and consolidating hosting to make the process of doing business with the government more efficient.
SAM is currently being developed in phases. Phase 1, released in July 2012, includes the capabilities found previously in Central Contractor Registration (CCR)/Federal Agency Registration (FedReg), Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), and the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS). Upcoming releases to SAM will include the capabilities found today in the electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS)/FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS), the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), Federal Business Opportunities (FBO), Wage Determinations On Line (WDOL), Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), and the combination of Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) and the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS).
Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) https://www.fbo.gov/
From this site a contractor can query federal procurement opportunities from most all federal agencies.
Small Business Administration (SBA) www.sba.gov/
All Small Businesses should review the information provided by the Small Business Administration. SBA has many assistance programs for Small Business Contractors.
SBA Table of Size Standards http://www.sba.gov/content/determining-size-standards
From this link you can check the table of size standards and determine your business size classification. Once at the Size Standards page look for the link to the Table of Size Standards over on the right side down towards the bottom. Click on that link and then click on either HTML or PDF format. That will bring up a table that shows the size standard for each and every NAICS code. It’s important to note that a firm could be considered small for one action, or NAICS code, and large for another.
SBA Business Development Program (8a Program)
http://www.sba.gov/content/8a-business-development-0
Small Disadvantaged Businesses should consider certification in SBA’s 8a Business Development Program.
SBA HubZone Program (HubZone) http://www.sba.gov/hubzone/
Be sure to read about the SBA HUBZone program. The HUBZone certification is simple to obtain for eligible contractors and can be a tremendous advantage for small businesses when bidding on federal contracts.
Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) www.la-ptac.org/
PTAC is a federally funded organization that assists small business owners. They provide many at no charge. Louisiana business owners can simply visit the site above to learn more about PTAC Louisiana.