How to ... Land a government contract

You don't need to be Boeing or Raytheon to land a government contract.

“People think about government contracting in terms of defense contracting,” says R. Alan Higbee, managing partner of the Tampa office of law firm Shutts & Bowen LLP. “But the government buys toilet paper and paper plates, all the same kinds of things that every other kind of company buys.”

Yet government contracting isn't something a business can just jump into. The first step is to research which government agencies or departments buy what you're selling — and who else is selling it. Websites like fpds.gov, fbo.gov, and demandstar.com can help you learn what kinds of opportunities are out there and who has filled them in the past.