Cracking the federal procurement market

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(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Dear FSB: I own an SaaS (software as a service) company that provides workforce management and scheduling solutions. We currently sell primarily to the private sector, but we would like to expand our offerings to government and defense customers. Can you offer any insight into the best practices for penetrating this market?

- Rachel Lyubovitzky, Bridgewater, N.J.

Dear Rachel: Before you start crafting proposals for government projects, take note: As a female business owner, you've already got an edge in the public sphere.

"Every agency at every government level has a quota they have to fill for woman- and minority-owned businesses," says Mary Scott Nabers, CEO of Strategic Partnerships, a procurement consulting firm in Austin. "Once you've decided which level of government you want to target - federal, state, or city - contact the division that works with minority-owned businesses."

According to Nabers, these agencies can help you network, gain visibility, and position yourself to apply for public projects.

What do you do when you're ready to market your business to the feds? Irv Alpert, the Executive Vice President at Onvia, a Seattle business that creates software for finding government contracts, advises you to check out your competition.

"The simplest thing you can do is look at how other successful businesses went to market - find the patterns of who's winning projects, and if you can, order copies their proposals," he says. Database products such as Onvia's software can help you track down past and future bids.

Alpert also suggests that you find a team member who has experience in selling to the government, or hire one to help you write your proposal. Nabers agrees, and advises you to look into federally funded mentoring programs for small businesses, which link companies like yours with large prime contractors.