Column: Put a Time for a Check-Up on Your Calendar Now

      It’s the end of fiscal 2019 and about to be the beginning of fiscal 2020. Wow--time flies when you’re having fun, right? Hope you’ve had a great year of contracting success and are looking forward to the next one.

      Now that the fiscal year is ending, the number of new opportunities on the street is about to drop like a rock, at least temporarily.

      So, it’s a great time to update your government paperwork, System for Award Management (SAM) and Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) listings, contracting reports and filings, and saved searches in federal databases.

Is your address up-to-date in SAM and at Dun & Bradstreet?

      If your business has changed addresses, go to your Dun & Bradstreet DUNS number listing to make the appropriate changes at https://iupdate.dnb.com/. (Note: DUNS numbers are being phased out by December 2020. Check Set-Aside Alert for updates). Check back a few days later to make sure the changes were processed into both SAM and DSBS.

Are you using all the right NAICS Codes?

      Review all of your NAICS codes and confirm every one of them. Do you have too many NAICS codes listed? If you’ve got codes for a broad variety of industries, your listing will be suspect.

      Are you in the wholesale or retail market? NAICS codes in the range of 42xxxx, 44xxxx and 45xxxx series are not used in Federal acquisition markets; list yourself under the relevant manufacturing codes.

      There are some “umbrella”-type codes that also may apply to you, such as those in the construction series. Industrial Building Construction might be used when the job is really only painting or carpentry. Or, a project may be listed as Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611) when it is actually Office Administrative Services (561110).

      Be alert for these nuances and select your codes accordingly. Verify your choices doing a search at the Federal Business Opportunities website (FBO.gov) on alternate codes or keywords and see what comes up. Note: the FBO.gov website is being phased out by Dec. 31. See the most recent update in the Sept. 6 edition of Set-Aside Alert.

Are you also reviewing opps by Product/Service Code?

      We have learned that Product/Service Code (PSC) searches on FBO.gov often are more reliable than NAICS code searches. PSC codes were designed for federal procurement use, while NAICS codes were designed for Census purposes. PSC codes are part of almost every FBO.gov listing. The full PSC list is available on http://www.fpds.gov. If you are not sure which codes apply to you, search FBO.gov by PSC code to see if it applies to your business.

Checked your DSBS listing recently?

      The DSBS Web pages (see http://dsbs.sba.gov) are used by many contracting officers and OSDBU (Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization) offices to identify small businesses. If your business is small, your information is automatically posted in DSBS when you complete or update your SAM listing.

Key action: Compare your DSBS listing with those of a couple of competitors. If a buyer is looking for bidders, which one will he or she select? Does your company fade against the competition?

      Search DSBS by (1) company name and (2) telephone number. Is your listing up to date? Put your best foot forward:

• Include past contracts in the performance history section
• Enter descriptive, searchable keywords
• Note professional and industry certifications
• List special equipment or processes (e.g., Agile, CAD, CNC)

How complete is your SAM listing?

      Big changes are coming to SAM. Use beta.sam.gov to check it out. Meanwhile, enter your company name or DUNS number in the Search section of SAM.gov to assess your listing, and see what others see about your company.

      Enter your username and password to edit both the SAM and DSBS Web pages. Work your way down through the SAM edit process, thoroughly checking your SAM registration listing. Look for inaccurate data, old contact information, missing NAICS codes and other gaps. Make any necessary updates. Before you submit the updates, you will have an opportunity to access your SBA Profile — this takes you to the editing functions for DSBS.

      After you go to DSBS, whether you make updates there or not, return to SAM and your SAM updates will be automatically implemented.

FBO.gov review

      Another important step is to review your process for monitoring the FBO Web site. Are you looking at all small business set-asides (and not just special categories such as 8(a), HUBZone, or women-owned)? Have you created Saved Searches that run daily? By the way, our Set-Aside Alert daily Contract Opportunities bulletins make it easy for you to be sure you have seen all available federal set-aside jobs.

Did you complete your year-end filings?

      The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO-1) and other compliance reports are due now. Also, your GSA Schedule sales reports and Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) payments are due now, and quarterly during the year.

Conclusion

      The pace at which new solicitations are issued is about to decline to a low point. Use this opportunity to fine-tune your processes and make sure your company is displayed at its best in the government databases.

Tom Johnson is the publisher of Set-Aside Alert and president of Business Research Services. He can be reached via email at tjohnson@setasidealert.com.

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Column: Put a Time for a Check-Up on Your Calendar Now

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