New York City’s goal to award $16 Billion to MWBE firms, combined with the increase in discretionary purchasing authority to $150,000, has created several new opportunities for creative service professionals’ companies that we have not previously experienced before.
If you look around New York City, you’ll see several marketing and advertising campaigns — ranging from announcing numerous opportunities for business owners to campaigns aimed at increasing the quality of life in New York City. You may also notice several events being held on any given day.
Many of the services for these announcement, campaigns, and events require copywriting, photography, videography, and event planning, which are outsourced to creative service professionals’ small businesses for execution.
How do you get your piece of the pie?
First, it’s important to understand how the City of New York outsources their requests for services and the process for selecting qualified vendors. Next, if you are thinking about doing business with New York City, you should also understand what it means to be a qualified vendor.
New York City has a fiduciary responsibility to spend tax payer dollars responsibility, so they are selective about the vendors they do business with. Buyers look at the entire business. examining their experience, qualifications, and integrity before doing business with them.
The next important consideration when thinking about whether to do business with any government agency is the ability to compete. Government contracting can be extremely lucrative and rewarding work; however, it’s also very competitive.
Before dipping your toe in the pool, you may want to do some homework to determine if your products/services meet the standard for quality, service, and competitive pricing. You may also want to look at who is your competition in the government space. The good news is the government is fully transparent and all the information about products/services, pricing, and competitors is available publicly on agency websites.
The process for doing business with government agencies can range from simplified acquisitions to more complex bids, proposals, and RFPs. There is also the ability to subcontract on larger projects.
While this may sound complicated, New York City offers a suite of free courses designed to educate business owners on the procurement process, and they also provide free one-on-one technical assistance to business owners seeking to acquire contracts through the procurement process.
New York City is offering a course on bidding strategies for creative professionals on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, at 10:00 a.m., that will enable participants to identify projects within the City of New York City and develop a strategy to pursue them.
Do you like these quick tips? Sign up for our #MWBEsuccess newsletter by clicking here for free small business guides to grow your business!
