DOD: An Important Market and Channel Opportunity
Each year, the Flywheel Project hosts a group of talented young, hungry to learn, college-aged students to intern with us and our companies. This year, Megan Donovan launched a project to research, interview experts from the DoD, and put together key information about how to evaluate and leverage the DoD as an important market and channel opportunity. Enjoy.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is one of the largest single markets in the United States at $200+ billion, and they prioritize working with small businesses whenever possible. Between the military and the other support networks, the DoD needs large quantities of both the best cutting-edge innovations and various ordinary goods and services. This means that almost any innovation could have a market with the DoD.
Working with the DoD can be an exciting opportunity to grow a business for those who overcome its challenges. Companies can look at the requests and adjust or offer their existing product. If a company wants to create a new product to meet the demand and can demonstrate their ability to build and deliver in a reasonable amount of time, the government may also fund the research and costs to do so.
The biggest challenge in this process is the intense competition and demands required to work for the government. The government departments run under strict time frames, budgets, and fair competition requirements, which means they focus only on the best product for the mission and are prevented from offering much company loyalty. A product or service will only stay in demand so long as it remains the best quality available at the best price. This means it is crucial to keep up with innovations and updates to improve demand and usability.
While working with the DoD can be very challenging at times, it can also be an excellent environment to test the limits of your potential and get practical feedback to improve your portfolio if you are acquired. The DoD functions as a high-stakes microcosm of the broader consumer market, which means success within the DoD is likely to lead to broader success beyond the DoD as well.
If you are up for the challenge, here’s where to begin.
The first step to gain access to this market is to register your company at Sam.gov and if applicable SBA.gov. Sam.gov is the database for working with the military and other departments within the DoD. SBA.gov offers information and assistance for small businesses about registration on federal, state, and local levels, which may be necessary for working with the government.
When you register, it is important to be very specific about your product and company capabilities since the database functions on keyword searches. The more specific you can be and the more dual uses you can offer, the more likely you are to get acquired.
Once you are registered, you can search the government database for acquisitions requests that pertain to your company and directly respond to relevant requests to begin the process of verification and potential acquisition. There is no guarantee that you will be selected to fill a given request, but it is worthwhile to get your offerings on the list.
You can also use this competitive process to determine innovations and additional needs to help improve your offering. Contracts are reevaluated regularly, so it is possible to work on improving your offering and earn a contract during a later request.
Working with the DoD can be one of the best ways to grow your company quickly and the potential success opportunities are well worth the initial investment to register. If you are interested in more information about working with the Department of Defense, and other ways to get your product recognized by key partners, we have prepared a more comprehensive DoD Acquisitions Manual which you can access here.
