Q. What is a sole-sourced contract?

A. The Federal Government allocates a specific percentage of their funding for government contracts to certain small businesses (i.e. 8(a) or Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses). A sole-sourced contract is a contract that the federal government will guarantee one such business in order to avoid excessively competitive bidding wars that would potentially deplete the resources available to a small business. The advantage of receiving a sole-sourced contract is that a small business can be awarded the government contract without having to lower their price beneath those of their competitors.

Q. What is the best way to obtain a sole-sourced contract?

A. The best way to win a sole-sourced contract is to market your business directly to the user and sell them on the features and benefits of your product or service.

Q. How can my small business benefit from the corporate mentor/protégé program?

A. The mentor/protégé relationship is designed to help small and large businesses utilize their collective resources to further each of their respective enterprises. As a small business, acquiring a corporate mentor can be instrumental in amassing a diverse network of corporate contacts and securing business for your company.

Q. What is the best way to secure a corporate mentor?

A. The best way to secure a mentor is to offer something of value. The corporation should feel as though their partnership with your business will in some way benefit their business. It is the responsibility of the small business to understand that the mentoring company is making investment by taking on a protégé and will only do so if they see a viable and profitable return on that investment to come as a result. By communicating the ways in which your small business can help your mentor to maintain a competitive advantage in the market your business can ensure that a large corporation will take you on as a protégé.

Q. What can FCCI provide for large companies?

A. FCCI is a firm that focuses on providing solutions for small and large companies to assist in amassing a portion of the federal government contracting opportunities. The United States Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world. It is in the best interest of any company to gain as large a share in the federal contracting market as possible. The federal government allocates a portion of their contracting funding to offer as sole-sourced contracts to certain small businesses. FCCI offers solutions for large companies that will enable them to tap into these reserved funds, thereby increasing their market share within the Federal Government market.