What is a GSA Schedule? 
The GSA Schedule is one of the most
recognizable federal contracts.
It is a government-wide federal contract
and it’s open for anyone to buy from.
However, no one is needed to use it. It’s basically a five year contract
with three five-year renewal options. It is a hunting license, which enables
companies to pursue federal business once they have a GSA contract.
According to a market study, there are several products and services that have been
advanced by either military or federal applications. Here I am going to discuss a few
important requirements to 8a firm in getting an invention on GSA (General Services Administration)
Schedule. This assumes that the products as well as the services of the firm
meet the existing GSA Schedule requirements.
For a new invention, a company should fulfill the following requirements.
1. The specific good of the firm should display sales. The General Services Administration
with respect to sales on schedules makes use of only $25,000 as the last limitation.
2. The procurer or the reseller of goods must be able to show at least one year of fiscal declarations.
3. The company should have a business strategy for the particular good, which includes economic projections.
4. The company may require to obtain a competence certificate by the United States Small Business
Administration for getting the product enlisted on a GSA Schedule. Such authorized certificates
will contain information about cash flow and fiscal performance of the business.
Finally, I want to give you two additional tips, which are going to be very useful as well.
First, getting a patent/ provisional patent is required if the specific product is patentable before
marketing it to the US federal government. The American government accepts patent and provides
consideration to pay for premium products that are novel.
Second, discontinuing a new product only for acquiring sales is not advised.
The General Services Administration requires you to make the US government
your greatest customer. Therefore selling your specific invention at a minimal
price just for fulfilling the $25,000 GSA sales requirement is not recommended.
The government is going to pay for innovation. So we advise keeping your
margins apt as this is going to help your firm attain pricing margin in the future.
Author bio:
Adriana Sopi is attached to GSA University and offers training to businesses that
want to increase their sales through federal contracting. She has written a number
of articles on 8a certification and GSA Schedule Contract to help small
businesses get an access to the federal contracts.