5-Step Roadmap to Enter the Federal Contracting Market

A Business Leader’s Playbook to Build a Government Contracting Vertical

The federal contracting market offers a massive opportunity, but most businesses don’t know where to start. This guide breaks down the process into five clear steps to help you:

UNDERSTAND THE FEDERAL MARKET: Learn how the government buys your services, identify the highest demand contracting opportunities, and know exactly where to begin.

BUILD A SOLID FOUNDATION: Develop key government-facing products and position your business to confidently pursue the right contracts, with the right approach.

EXECUTE A DATA-DRIVEN STRATEGY: Deploy a customized plan specific to your capabilities, so you target the best opportunities instead of shooting in the dark.

Case Studies

Our clients include business leaders; individual business searchers, buyers, and operators; startups; as well as Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Merger & Acquisition professionals seeking specialized federal market expertise.

A BUSINESS LEADER SOUGHT TO EXPAND INTO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING.

Task: Build a plan to start winning federal contracts.

Approach: Conducted Serellium’s two-week Federal Market Analysis to identify federal contract expenditure trends related to the business’s capabilities and geographical preference, pinpointing the full federal market potential, highest federal agency buyers, competitors, partners, and set-aside implications.

Result: Identified the most viable entry points for federal opportunities given the company’s profile, set-aside qualifications, and geographical preferences. Recommended immediate actions to execute a full-scale go-to-market strategy. Client bid and won their first prime contract within three weeks.

A CLIENT WANTED TO PURCHASE A SERVICE BUSINESS WITH THE HIGHEST POTENTIAL FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTS.

Task: Assess two service industry businesses to identify which has the highest potential in the federal contracting market.

Approach: Conducted Serellium’s two-week Federal Market Analysis to assess government purchasing patterns, expenditure trends including set-aside funding implications, geographical hotspots, partnership opportunities, competitor analysis, and undersaturated market areas.

Result: Client acquired the highest-value business, gaining a clear understanding of how to enter and grow in the federal market based on the company profile, desired geographical scope, and capacity.

THE CEO OF A TRADE SERVICE BUSINESS NEEDED AN ENTRY PLAN FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTING.

Task: Identify the easiest, most effective entry points to bring the business’s capabilities to the federal contracting market.

Approach: Conducted Serellium’s two-week Federal Market Analysis to identify government purchasing patterns, expenditure trends including set-aside funding implications, geographical hotspots, partnership opportunities, competitor analysis, and undersaturated market areas.

Result: Armed the CEO with a clear, data-backed entry strategy, alongside eight concrete tasks to begin executing immediately. Client developed a capability statement and pursued a targeted list of identified partners to secure immediate sub-contracts.

A PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM WAS EVALUATING A BUSINESS ACQUISITION WITH FEDERAL CONTRACTS.

Task: Provide federal market expertise spanning the acquisition process, from pre-LOI to closing.

Approach: Delivered high-level advisory support to acquisition team to understand the business’s federal contracting footprint, the value and types of existing contracts, and a comprehensive checklist of questions to inform their decision. Outlined a clear plan to implement Serellium’s proprietary Federal Market Analysis across each capability area of the business under acquisition to establish current scope and projected federal market potential. Advised on planning for post-acquisition actions to drive immediate revenue growth through new contract pursuits and expansion into high-value, high-demand capabilities.

Result: Enhanced accuracy of valuation assessment, strengthened acquisition team’s understanding the federal contracting scope and potential for expansion, and advised on an immediate growth plan for federal contract expansion upon closing.