When people think of government, they often think about how long they waited for their business license, or how long it took for their income tax return to arrive. Bureaucracy quickly comes to mind; lots of people performing paper work in many different offices. Government is in fact the largest employer around - and one of the most stable. Just think of all those offices! Millions of square feet of office that somebody cleans and that cleaner could be you! You already have the know-how, the equipment and the employees. You simply need to know where to send that bid.

Before we send you out to find jobs with the government, let's look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of working with Uncle Sam.

Government is huge. All those offices are likely to be around for a long, long time. And although it can be slow, the government check almost always gets there. Some tips to ensure speed and certainty of payment include: Be sure to include the proper purchase order number on your invoice; problems should be discussed with the finance office listed on the purchase order, not the customer or procurement office; mail invoices to the address indicated on the purchase order; and finally, maintain accurate records of your account and transactions, getting all order specifications, changes and requests in writing.

People like to work for companies that work for the government. This increases your chances of attracting more qualified employees. They view government contractors as more stable and reliable. Banks and lenders look more favorably on government contractors for largely the same reasons.

With the passage of Public Law 95-507, the government is required to use a large number of small businesses for its contract work. Prime contractors of government jobs are required to subcontract to small businesses. Of particular interest to the government and prime contractors are disadvantaged businesses, or those small businesses owned by women and minorities.

One of the disadvantages to working with government is that there is a flood of acronyms to learn. There's the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Defense (DOD), Procurement Automated Source System (PASS), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), United States Postal Service (USPC) and many more. Getting started can be costly because of all the new vocabulary, paperwork and regulations that have to be learned and followed. However, once you master the tricks to this new game, your initial investment should produce handsome dividends.

The biggest pain in government work is probably the regulations. Items used or requested must be named a certain way, and paperwork has to be filled out precisely to meet their requirements. Each department of federal, state, county and your local government has a different set of regulations.

Also, working for the government means observing federal acts within your own company. There is the Drug-free Workplace Act, the Service Contract Act, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Copies of these acts can easily be obtained from your local SBA office.

The government has a lot of specifications for its jobs and those who perform them. Two references for government specifications include the Index of Federal Specifications, Standards and Commercial Item Descriptions; and the Department of Defense Index of Specifications and Standards.

Where To Look

There are government organizations which list these jobs, journals and newspapers that tell you where to look, and companies that will find jobs for you, for a fee.

Learn how the government works. For purchasing decisions, either the procurement office, the end user, or both can have power here. The procurement office knows the rules of the federal acquisition process and knows about budget issues. Some agencies use only the procurement office to make acquisition and purchasing decisions. Some give a great deal of decision making influence to the end users, who know a lot about products and services because they receive and use them. Find out who the real decision makers are for the agencies you're soliciting, then develop a relationship with them.

Organizations

The Small Business Association (SBA) is a godsend for the small business. Founded in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government, it helps prime contractors find subcontractors; it can give a small business a Certificate of Competency (COC); it maintains a special S.C.O.R.E. (Service Corps of Retired Executives) office which gives advice specific to your business and situation; it maintains the Economic Development Council (EDC) to support small business growth; and it maintains the Procurement Automated Source System (PASS). PASS is an inventory of small businesses that is used by the government and prime contractors to help find subcontractors. Obviously, you want to get your company on this list. It's a database that can be used to look for companies with specific features, such as company name, number of employees, average gross revenue, contact information, contract performance data and more. More than 950 government procurement offices and commercial contractors now rely on PASS when bidding out a contract. You can call the SBA National Answer Desk at 1-800-722-1664 to find out about PASS. Your local office is listed in the Blue Pages of your phone book under "U.S. Government—Small Business Administration." The best place to start would be either their Public Affairs Office or the Procurement Assistance Office. All branches of the federal government that maintain offices in your area will be in the Blue Pages.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is also known as the "government's landlord." Because the federal government is so large and maintains offices everywhere, one central office cannot control the affairs at all locations. So GSA manages government property. It is responsible for finding janitorial, window-cleaning, garbage removal and other service companies to clean Uncle Sam's office space. Your local GSA office can also be found in the Blue Pages under "U.S. Government—General Service Administration". In this case the best starting point would be the Contracts Division (ask for the Service Department).

The Department of Defense (DOD) works through the SBA, but also does its own hiring through small business specialists - and remember - DOD encourages its prime contractors to use small businesses. Contact your local Defense Contract Management Area Operations (DCMAO) Office, Contract Management Division, for a list of small business specialists, and to find out who in your local DOD is responsible for contracts.

Journals, Magazines, Specialized Newspapers

Commerce Business Daily, published by the Department of Commerce, carries information about government proposed purchases of supplies and services $25,000 or greater. It also lists winners of prime contracts, making it easier to know who to contact for subcontract work. It prints notices on federally sponsored seminars on such subjects as trade shows, procurement and other valuable topics, and announces government surplus sales of merchandise, such as 10,000 flashlights or 20,000 unused janitor’s mop buckets. It is published daily, and announcements only appear once. It is available through the Department of Commerce. SBA field offices receive the CBD, as do some public libraries. You can purchase a subscription from the Government Printing Office, or through an on-line service. However, all that information on all the various categories of services, supplies and equipment is irrelevant for you, can be confusing, and costs more money, since you are only interested in cleaning service contracts. These are listed under category "S". Below is a source that extracts information from Commerce Business Daily based on only the category or categories you choose, then send it to you once a week. This specific information is not cheap, but it is targeted to your industry and can be invaluable as a source of information for bid opportunities.