How to Consistently Find Government Contracts Worth Bidding

One of the most common things I hear from government contractors is, "I can't find anything to bid on."

Usually, the problem isn't that there aren't opportunities.

The problem is the contractor doesn't have a system for finding the right opportunities for their business.

That's what prospecting is really about.

You aren't searching SAM.gov hoping something interesting appears. You're developing a repeatable process for identifying contracts that match what your company can actually sell, price, propose to, and perform.

Here's how I recommend approaching it.

What does prospecting actually mean in government contracting?

Prospecting means using a system to consistently find bids that match your business.

The word system is important.

You should know what services you're looking for, which keywords describe those services, which NAICS codes apply, which agencies buy them, and what characteristics make an opportunity worth pursuing.

Without that foundation, you're basically wandering around SAM.gov.

Good prospecting isn't about finding the most opportunities.

It's about consistently finding the right ones.

Where should government contractors look for opportunities?

If you're pursuing federal contracts, I prefer starting with SAM.gov.

That's where you'll find federal contract opportunities and where new federal contractors should become extremely comfortable searching.

If you're pursuing state, local, and education opportunities—often called SLED contracting—your local APEX Accelerator can also help you identify resources and opportunities within those markets.

You don't need ten different expensive databases when you're getting started.

Learn how to use the primary resources well first.

How often should you search SAM.gov?

Every day.

Even if you have Saved Searches running, I still recommend doing manual searches alongside them.

Saved Searches make prospecting dramatically more efficient, but they shouldn't completely replace your own research.

Your manual searches help you discover new terminology, opportunities, and buying patterns that can then be used to improve your Saved Searches.

The two systems should work together.

Should you search by NAICS codes or keywords?

Both.

NAICS codes are important because they help identify opportunities within the industries you're pursuing.

But don't rely on them exclusively.

Keywords help you find opportunities based on how the government actually describes the requirement.

The same type of service can be described several different ways depending on the agency and contracting officer.

Using both gives you much better coverage.

How many keywords should you search?

There's no perfect number, but somewhere around five to twenty keywords can make sense depending on your business.

This is where your company umbrella becomes important.

If you perform several closely related services, each service may have multiple words the government could use to describe it.

Your keyword list should evolve as you prospect.

Every time you discover a good opportunity described in a way you hadn't considered, you've potentially found another keyword to add to your system.

How broad should your search be?

I generally recommend building around approximately three to four related service areas using what I call the Umbrella Strategy.

You don't want to become so narrow that there aren't enough opportunities.

But you also don't want to pursue everything the government buys.

Your services should make sense together.

The goal is to give yourself enough room to find consistent opportunities while still building experience, relationships, and past performance within a recognizable area of business.

What's the biggest mistake contractors make when searching SAM.gov?

They're trying to find something when they don't actually know what they're looking for.

That's a huge problem.

Before you start searching, you should already have a reasonable understanding of the services you want to sell.

Otherwise, every opportunity starts looking like a possibility.

You click on janitorial.

Then landscaping.

Then cybersecurity.

Then transportation.

Then construction.

That's not prospecting. That's browsing.

Define your business first.

Then search for opportunities that fit it.

How quickly can you determine whether an opportunity is worth pursuing?

You should be able to make a pretty good decision within about an hour.

I might spend approximately 30 minutes understanding the proposal requirements.

What does the government want in my response?

Can I provide it?

Is this even a proposal I want to write?

Then I'll spend another 30 minutes getting comfortable with pricing and potential teaming requirements.

Can I realistically price this?

Do I need a teaming partner?

Can I find one?

You don't need to understand every sentence in a 100-page solicitation before making an initial bid decision.

You need enough information to determine whether the opportunity deserves more of your time.

What should you look at first when opening a solicitation?

I want to know what's required in my response.

Before becoming deeply invested in the opportunity, understand the proposal you're actually agreeing to write.

How complicated is it?

What information does the government want?

What past performance is required?

What technical information do you need?

What pricing needs to be developed?

Then ask yourself a simple question:

Do I want to write this proposal?

If the answer is no, you've potentially saved yourself hours or days.

What red flags should make you consider passing?

One of my biggest red flags is a contracting officer who isn't responsive when you need legitimate clarification.

If the solicitation contains unclear requirements and you can't get answers, you're being asked to price and propose based on assumptions.

That's risk.

Sometimes you can work through it. Other times, the better business decision is to move on.

Remember, you're evaluating the government and the opportunity just as much as they're eventually going to evaluate you.

How do you know if a contract is too big for your company?

Ask yourself whether you can perform it well.

Contract value alone doesn't answer the question.

You might find a relatively large contract that's operationally simple for your company. You could also find a smaller contract that requires resources you don't have.

Don't chase a big number because it looks exciting.

If winning the contract would put your company in a position where you're likely to fail during performance, it's too big—or simply the wrong contract—for where your business is today.

Should you pursue opportunities outside your primary NAICS code?

Yes, when they make sense for your business.

Your NAICS codes aren't supposed to freeze your company in place forever.

They should evolve alongside your capabilities and strategy.

As you add related services and expand your company umbrella, additional NAICS codes may become relevant.

The important part is that the opportunity fits the business you're intentionally building.

How important is location when prospecting?

It depends heavily on the requirement.

Does the solicitation require your business to have a physical presence near the place of performance?

Can you effectively manage the contract remotely?

Will you need to send employees and pay travel or per diem?

Could you hire locally?

And most importantly, will your approach still be price competitive?

I've managed contracts remotely, but you need to understand what that does to your costs and operational risk.

Location shouldn't automatically eliminate an opportunity, but it absolutely belongs in your qualification decision.

Should you focus on Sources Sought and RFIs or live solicitations?

If you're newer, start with live solicitations.

Learn how to qualify opportunities, price contracts, write proposals, and consistently submit bids.

Once you've built a healthy pipeline of active opportunities and submissions, start moving to the left.

That's when Sources Sought notices, RFIs, presolicitations, and earlier-stage opportunities become more valuable.

You're beginning to position yourself before the final solicitation arrives instead of only reacting afterward.

But don't spend all your time upstream when you haven't built a consistent bidding process yet.

How can past awards help you find better opportunities?

Past awards give you context.

They can show you what similar work has actually cost the government and help you better understand the real scope of a requirement.

That information can improve your pricing and your proposal strategy.

Instead of evaluating every opportunity in isolation, you're learning what happened previously.

The more historical context you have, the fewer assumptions you have to make.

Can you find opportunities before they become solicitations?

Absolutely.

This is where Sources Sought notices, presolicitations, RFIs, procurement forecasts, and other early-stage research become useful.

The further left you move in the acquisition process, the earlier you can potentially identify future requirements.

That gives you more time to research, develop relationships, identify teaming partners, and prepare.

Again, I recommend newer contractors establish their active bidding process first.

Then gradually move upstream.

How do you find agencies that repeatedly buy what you sell?

Use USAspending.gov.

Run an advanced search using your NAICS code and look at which federal agencies are spending the most money within that category.

Then sort the results from highest to lowest.

Now you're no longer guessing which agencies might need your services.

You're using historical purchasing data to identify agencies that have already demonstrated they buy what you sell.

Those agencies can become targets for deeper research and relationship building.

How do you know when you've found a genuinely good opportunity?

I look for three basic things.

The requirement is clear.

I can fully develop a proposal and price for what they're asking me to do.

And I have enough time to put together a quality submission.

That's a much better opportunity than something with a huge dollar value but confusing requirements, impossible pricing, or a deadline you can't realistically meet.

A good opportunity is one you can understand, compete for, and perform successfully.

How much time should you spend prospecting versus bidding?

I like the idea of 50/50 as a general measure.

Measure twice, cut once.

The quality of the opportunities you select has a tremendous effect on the quality of your bidding operation.

Spend too little time prospecting and you'll waste days writing proposals you probably shouldn't have pursued.

Spend all your time prospecting and you'll never submit anything.

You need both.

Prospecting fills the pipeline.

Bidding turns the pipeline into potential revenue.

What separates contractors who consistently find opportunities from those who say there's nothing to bid on?

New contractors often approach government contracting with expectations about what the government should be buying.

Experienced contractors learn to work backward from what the government is actually buying.

That's a major difference.

Instead of saying, "Here's what I want to sell. Why can't I find contracts for it?"

Start asking, "What is the government consistently buying, and where does that overlap with what my company can successfully provide?"

Study the market.

Look at historical spending.

Watch how agencies describe requirements.

Adjust your keywords.

Refine your services.

Evolve your NAICS codes.

The government is already telling you what it buys.

Your job is to learn how to listen.

Final Thoughts

Consistently finding government contracts worth bidding isn't about getting lucky on SAM.gov.

It's a skill.

Define what your company does. Build your umbrella. Develop your keywords and NAICS codes. Search every day. Use Saved Searches. Research past awards. Identify the agencies buying your services and become increasingly selective about the opportunities you pursue.

The longer you do this, the less time you spend searching randomly and the more time you spend evaluating real opportunities.

That's when prospecting starts becoming a system instead of a scavenger hunt.

About Derek James

Derek James is the founder of GovKidMethod. By age 30, he had won 32 federal contracts worth more than $15 million. Since then, he's helped small businesses win more than $75 million in government contracts by teaching practical proposal writing, positioning, and bidding strategies that contractors can actually apply.

Ready to Go Further?

Reading about government contracting is one thing. Knowing exactly how to write winning proposals is another.

That's why I've made the first modules of my GovRFP Proposal Writing System available for free. They'll walk you through the foundation every contractor should understand before submitting bids.

Access the free GovRFP Proposal Writing System here:
https://www.govkidmethod.com/govrfp