Want to do Trade With The Federal? Grab The GSA Schedule Contract

The GSA Schedule contract or the Federal Supply Schedules are IDIQ or Indefinite delivery, Indefinite Quantity contracts for long term by the GSA program. They provide aid to the federal employees in their procurement as they have pre negotiated prices, warranties, terms and conditions and delivery terms to streamline the purchases made by the federal and its agencies.

Companies, who are willing to expand the business to a new territory and increase the revenue flow, get the gsa schedule contract to do business in the federal market. Although there is no law or rule that the federal will buy only from the companies who have the gsa schedule contract, but there are Government agencies that only place orders with the schedules.
There are hundreds of schedules which has millions of products and services. The applicant needs to choose the best suited GSA schedule for its company or firm and apply for it. It a time consuming job as there are common instances where a product or service is eligible for more than one schedule.

An application for the process is also tedious as it requires filling the lengthy form and submitting the documents along with it. Any small mistake or error is enough to get the application cancelled or rejected by the GSA.
There are consulting firms which provide services for the applicants in selecting the schedule, getting the application ready, and submitting the documents to the GSA. They even have services to do marketing for the company in the federal market once the company gets on the gsa schedule contract.
There is no definite time frame for the company to get on the schedule. Time is consumed in tow segments, first to prepare the documents and second is the duration which the GSA takes to evaluate the documents and application.