Wes Fue of Timberwolf Enterprises LLC, a business consulting firm that specializes in advising government contractors, worked with Journyx to produce a webinar titled, “Is Government Contracting Right for Your Business?” In it, he discusses the array of opportunities available to businesses and some best practices to determine whether or not businesses can find a place in defense contracting. The following post is taken from his webinar.

Consider the hurdles businesses face when selling to consumers or other businesses. Will they get paid on time? Who are they supposed to talk to? Will the consumer be able to afford their product? These are all common thorns in the collective side of businesses everywhere, whether they focus on business to consumer or business to business sales. Ultimately, it is necessary to realize that clients can be unreliable, and that there will always be a certain amount of risk involved there.

On the other hand, selling to the U.S. Government is a very different game. There are still hurdles, but they are different, and related primarily to procuring the contract initially. And while the terms of a contract are not set in stone, requiring flexibility on the part of the contractor, there is one very important, over-arching point to consider: The U.S. government is the number one buyer of goods and services on the planet. The implications of this are huge. You are not dealing with someone from the Fortune 500. You are dealing with Fortune 1. In general, dealing with the government offers rock solid ground to work on, and is possibly the most secure entity in the world to contract for.

Another factor to take into account is the fact that the federal government has multiple programs in place to help small businesses succeed. In most cases, regular consumers care little for the success of a company as long as they continue to receive working products or services. And while the federal government also requires quality deliverables, they also have a vested interest in the success of U.S.-based businesses. There are incentives in place for veteran and minority-owned businesses, so there is lots of room for companies of all sizes to compete for the contract.

There are currently 1,175 government agencies that a business can contract for, so the odds are that there is a niche for an extraordinarily wide array of products or services. Flexibility and determination will help a business win the contract, so reach out to the best consumer in the world and maximize your profits.

Check out Wes Fue’s webinar, “Is Government Contracting Right for Your Business?” for even more information on the field of government contracting and how it relates to your business.