The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the world and is going to continue to impact everyone’s lives in the near future. This pandemic has forever changed the health care sector and will probably have impacts on many sectors. There have been attempts by the Federal government to help slow the financial and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of those acts, the CARES ACT, can help pursue a 2020 GSA Contract if you use the funds appropriately. This act was necessary for businesses because many workers were now being forced to work from home or simply could not work.
What is the CARES Act?
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) act is an attempt by the United States Government to help keep the businesses running. The CARES Act has directly impacted individuals, families, and small businesses by providing money that can use to help during this pandemic. While the CARES Act provided funding to people and businesses, not everyone was eligible to receive the stimulus money. When it comes to businesses, there are several different guidelines that you must achieve to receive your stimulus money.
For starters, you must be established before March 13, 2020; however, this is not the only criteria that you must hit to be eligible. Some rules establish whether you are an ineligible business, and if you are classified as an ineligible business, you will not be able to receive the funding. To get the funding you must be able to meet one of the following conditions: have less than 15,000 employees or had less than $5 billion in revenue in the year 2019. The companies also must have been created or organized in the United States or have a majority of its employees based in the United States, and can not be a part of sections 4003(b)(1)-(3) for the Cares act. Finally, your business can not have the President, Vice President, an executive department, Member of Congress, or close relative own more than 20 percent. If your business meets these requirements, then you are eligible to receive the funds.
These funds are designed to help keep your business running. Therefore, you should use them to help pay employees and other business-related needs. However, you could also use these funds to help pursue a 2020 GSA Contract.
How a 2020 GSA Contract Will Grow Your Revenue?
Using your CARES ACT funds to pursue a GSA Contract should be viewed as an investment in your company. Being able to win one of these contracts could help you grow your business in ways that you would never imagine. In 2019, over 30 billion dollars was spent using these GSA Contracts, and getting the ability to pursue this type of money could help to grow your company. However, there are also other ways in where pursing GSA Contracts can help grow your revenue.
When you start doing these types of contracts, your business esteem can start to grow. This can lead to your company getting other opportunities outside of the government. These opportunities can come from the increase in esteem but can also come from building connections from these GSA contracts. Working with the government also is very different from the private industry, and you will be able to take some of these skills that you learn to help dominate the private sector. These could include a highly effective way of billing and organizing, and this has the potential to help impress any future clients that you may have.
How to Pursue a 2020 GSA Contract
If you are going to use your CARES ACT funds to pursue 2020, GSA Contracts then should have a better understanding of what that process entails. Here we will go through some of the basics to help you pursue these types of contracts.
For starters, there is a GSA prescreening that goes on to make sure that your company is eligible for this program. Your business must be at least two years old and have at least $25,000 per year for the last two years or have done $200,000 in the last year.
The process of going through a GSA Contract can be challenging; therefore, it is important that you take time to get a better understanding of the process. There are several pieces of training that you are required to complete to help you in fulling understand the GSA scheduling program. The pieces of training are the Pathways to Success and the Readiness Assessment; both pieces of training are free and offer you the basics of the GSA schedule contracts. These contracts will also help you understand what the right Special Item Numbers (SINs) is for your business.
After training, there are also some specific areas that you need to register for. For starters, you need to register with the DATA Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number, which will help identify your company. After that, you need to register for the System for Award Management, and finally, you need to register for Digital Certificate.
After you register for everything, you will then be able to put your bid together. You will need to include several different elements to place a bid. You will need a Letter of Supply, Agent Authorization Letter, Price Proposal, and a Sample Labor Category Matrix. After you have put together everything you need, you can then upload and submit your bid. You submit your bid using eOffer, which is specific for this system and makes sure you put all the relevant data that you need.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has surely impacted your business, and while things seem bleak, sometimes there are opportunities to grow your business. One way to grow your business is to take advantage of the GSA Contracts. These contracts will not only increase your revenue but will also allow you to expand the profile of your business. You can use CARES ACT funds to help pursue these types of contracts, and this could potentially help change your business for the better.
