The first thing you need to do is have the military consider you for a contract.
The biggest thing is past performance and experience working on government contracts in your selected field. One does not just “go into” government contracting. You’ll need to network and see how government contracting works. My advice would be to search the want ads and find a job with a current contractor in your field of interest. Otherwise, you’ll get eaten alive and quit out of frustration within 6 months.
It’s good that you’re a veteran (better if you were a female minority vet).
Get in touch with your state/local small business association and they should be able to provide you with a lot of info. You’ll have to get setup with CCR (http://www.ccr.gov/) for starters. Your congresscritters office should also be able to help you get setup and pointed in the right direction too.
Good luck!!
Why not get a job with a contractor first, let them pay for the clearance, and learn what you need to do from them?
Lots of questions - Some answers.
First Incorporate your business.
You do not need a security clearance unless you are bidding on classified contracts. You still might be able to bid on classified contracts but you’d have to be creative.(Hire company or people with clearances)
Get a website.
If you are a minority or disabled or vet you have some advantages. If you wife is the owner even better.
Two good places to look for work are the FED BUS OPS or even better go to your local military base and talk to the small business rep.
Ask if there are any upcoming IFBs or RFPs that you might qualify for.
You are going to need to understand the FAR or hire someone that does.
Good Luck!
First you have to buy yourself a congress critter or two or three. The more you own, the better your chances of getting more and larger contracts.
Marry Diane Feinstein.
Once you get set up, team with larger companies as a small business sub - this gets your foot in the door and they door all the hard work.
Prepare yourself for immense frustration. Its very very very difficult to get a contract unless you have recent and well placed contacts. Retiring generals don’t have a problem.
Other fed agencies can be easier but still tough.
Lack of money is not seen as a motivation, its seen as a weakness and a major risk factor.
Don’t go service disabled veteran owned even if you qualify. Put the company in wifes name and work on 8a status.
Hire a minority woman and make her president. There are small business set asides solely for these companies. SBA will give you start up loans. Think about talking to larger companies doing the actual work that need to partner with a small business.
This is essentially a service contract, if you are the lowest qualified (bonded) bidder you will get the job. Also you should expect to fund one hundred percent of the costs for at least 6 to 9 months before you can expect your first payment.
You will need to register with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR).
You will need to become intimately familiar with the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (It is very intimidating at first, but it's not all that bad once you start working on it a bit)
A couple of other handy links:
Serious suggestion, though. If you are just starting out, try to find a prime who would be willing to mentor you as a small business. Yes, that exists. The other thing is if you can secure some small consulting contracts for a prime contractor (working on a 1099 basis). That will help ease you in on the defense contractor business and will help establish some past performances as a company (which will be necessary if you want to go after some larger contracts later on in your contracting life).
The other thing: incorporate. Check with SBA, but I think if you can come up with a company with shareholders that are native American, female, veteran (preferably disabled), and have your headquarters in a HUBZone (historically underutilized business zone), you will be infinitely more desirable to utilize.
Hope the above helps. Good luck to you.
I want to join you
I am a computer software engineer. I can build computer systems better than anyone I know.
I have SEEN how the government get screwed by big vendors
I saw one who charged $250,000 for an XML interface that simply took data from one table and put it into another.
I did the same thing in one hour by hand DURING the meeting they called to discuss it
The still got their $250,000 “because there is no return policy in place” in government spending
Additional advice...
Since you worked in that area when you were in the Armed Forces then you had to deal with some of the subcontractors that supported your operation.
Apply for a job with them. Who knows the needs of the customer (your former employer) than you?
I’d bet you still know the names and companies of those you worked with.
Seriously, there's money to be made and even here in the wild west Texas Hill country, there aren't nearly enough gun stores.
Based on my experience:
No, unless it is a requirement.
Probably.
No.
Your results may vary. Have you considered being a subcontractor until you build up your resume? Good way to learn the ropes and get your foot in the door.