The First Year
The documents you need
The type of company: The documents you need will vary based on the type of company you created (e.g. an LLC has different documents than a partnership)
Your state: What it takes to create a corporation is up to your state so see what your state requires
Choosing a corporate type: If you’re not sure what kind of company to start, go talk to your local Small Business Development Center
Our recommended approach: Use LegalZoom
- LegalZoom: To create your documents we recommend using LegalZoom.
- Select your company type
- Select your state
- They provide templates, you fill in the blanks
- Download and you’re done
- Cost: About $200 for new company formation documents
Example: Documents for Virginia
Rants and Reflections
My unscripted thoughts after coaching hundreds of small government contractors over the last 10 years
SAM.gov (Data download)
SAM.gov (Individual contract checks)
Affiliation and Size
Figuring out your revenue and number of employees
The small business threshold for you
Adding Codes in FedScout
Adding Codes in SAM
Does your business model align with the government’s goals
Hard requirements
State Incorporation
Federal: Employer ID (EID/TIN)
Drafting your Corporate documents
Small Disadvantaged Business & 8(a)
What to write about
How to Content Market
Document content
Final qualification before writing an RFP
Before investing time shaping/writing an RFP
Rough Qualification (re-compete, RFI/SS)
Video Transcript(s):
At this point you should have a full new business project plan and if you complete everything you’ll give yourself the best chances possible of being in that 20% of companies that are successful.
We also recommend scheduling time with your PTAC, SBDC and some experienced entrepreneurs to review it, and as we said in the last phase, showing people that you care, are making progress, and asking for their advice is a great way to strengthen your relationship with them.
If you're new to the federal market there’s a lot to learn, so we recommend taking our classes on federal market’s basics. They’re quick, free, and will help you understand all the key concepts.
Finally, if you
- Build a complete work plan
- Get it reviewed by either a PTAC or SBDC counselor
- And fill in a feedback form
- Well give you three free months of our growth plan and do our best to get you warm introductions to three small business partners
We hope you got a lot out of these exercises, I hope to see you at future federal market events, and welcome to the community.