Government jobs Part 3

9. Ignoring or underestimating your competitors. A crucial goal of your proposal is to differentiate yourself from your competitors. How much more efficiently will you do the job? Why is your price better than theirs? What benefits will the agency receive if it works with your company instead of your competitor? If you haven't taken time to study and understand your competitors, it's unlikely that you'll beat them to the contract.

10. Inconsistency. Last but not least, it's important to review your bid for consistency before you send it off. Is your work plan in agreement with your budget and schedule? Do your figures add up? Are you consistent with measurements and any other elements that are vital to your proposal?

About Irv: Competing for government contracts can be extremely profitable — if you know how to approach them. After I grew my own business to one of the top AEC market information sources in the country through working with the government, I decided to start a company that helped other businesses be able to do the same.

In our years of working with different government agencies, we’ve learned a thing or two about what works in the government procurement process and what doesn’t. My site contains some of the most useful and important tips we've discovered for finding and winning the right government contracting opportunities. If there is a topic we don’t cover or a question about doing business with the government we don’t answer, send me an email at AskIrv@onvia.com.