It can be a challenge to maintain a constant flow of work when revenue comes into your business on a project basis. For small and medium-sized businesses, government contracts can be an excellent and stable source of revenue.
You don’t have to spend weeks trying to push individuals or other businesses into paying their invoices. The government is reliable in its fulfillment of its contracts. Unfortunately, securing a government contract can be a very difficult process. You will likely have to bid on the project by providing details about how you would complete the project and an estimated cost for that work.
The government entity awarding the contract will eventually announce the winning bid and move forward with the project. Losing out on a big when you invested a lot of planning and research into it can be a big disappointment. If you believe that something inappropriate took place, can you protest their decision to award the bid to another business?
Protesting a bid is a complicated process
To protest a bid when a decision isn’t in your favor, you must first have reason to believe that some kind of misconduct occurred. There are rules about how government agencies make decisions about contracts to protect against corruption.
A kickback scenario where someone working at one of the companies made arrangements with a government employee could be one scenario in which your company could potentially challenge or protest the winner of the bidding process. A situation in which there are clear issues with the bid from the winning party or questions about how they won the price they quoted could also give rise to a protest.
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has the authority to review project decisions and protests about bids. The GAO provides support only for federal contracts. You will have to pursue protests differently if the issue is with state, municipal or county government agencies.
Building a case can involve a lot of paperwork and research. You may need to partner with professionals familiar with the complicated process of bidding on government contracts. Knowing when to move on and when to protest can improve your chances of successfully securing new government contracts.
