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  1. Defense Acquisition University
  2. Industry Support

Doing Business with the Department of Defense

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Doing Business with the Department of Defense

Each fiscal year, the Federal Government purchases billions of dollars in goods and services. Small businesses are awarded tens of billions in Department of Defense contracts annually, start preparing your business to compete for and win those awards.


Get Started Learn More
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Sharpening the DoD's
Competitive Edge

"The Department's technological advantage depends on a healthy and secure national security innovation base that includes both traditional and non-traditional defense partners. The Department, with the support of Congress, will provide the defense industry with sufficient predictability to inform their long-term investments in critical skills, infrastructure, and research development. We will continue to streamline processes so new entrants and small-scale vendors can provide cutting-edge technologies."
Source: Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America

Department of Defense
Small Business Strategy

"A unified management structure will consist of both the Under Secretaries of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and Research and Engineering working together to ensure the United States retains technical superiority over its adversaries. This structure will assist the Department in assessing priorities across stakeholders, identifying opportunities for enhancement, and leveraging the significant efforts of other departments and agencies that also focus on supporting small businesses."
- Dr. Mark T. Esper, Secretary of Defense
Source: DoD Small Business Strategy PDF
Image of cover page of the PDF of Department of Defense Small Business Strategy

The Six Goals of
Acquisition & Sustainment

  1. Recruit, develop and retain a diverse acquisition and sustainment workforce.
  2. Enable acquisition innovation.
  3. Build a safe, secure and resilient defense industrial base.
  4. Ensure safe and resilient DoD installations.
  5. Increase weapons system mission capability while reducing operating costs.
  6. Promote acquisition and sustainment initiatives with key international partners.
"The A&S mission is enabling the delivery and sustainment of secure and resilient capabilities to the warfighter and international partners quickly and cost-effectively. Under this mission are six A&S goals supported by priorities in each."
- Ms. Ellen Lord, USD(A&S)

A Toolkit for Defense Acquisition

"The Toolkit includes basic steps for businesses to take in order to make their conversations with the Department more productive, identifies a number of additional resources across the United States Government, and outlines various events which companies can attend to learn more about doing business with the DoD. Within the Toolkit are embedded links to all of the listed resources. Of important note, the events outlined do not require a business to complete steps 1-5 in the Toolkit; while helpful, those steps are not required to attend an event."
Source: Industrial Policy Department of Defense
A Toolkit for Defense Acquisition

Get Started
in ten easy steps

To become procurement-ready, our Getting Started Guide, Do’s and Don’ts, and Resources will help you plan for what’s ahead. There are organizations, service providers, and small business professionals available to assist you in marketing your firm’s products and services to Department of Defense (DoD) customers.


View the Getting Started Guide (PDF)

Developing a Business Relationship with
Department of Defense

It typically takes at least 24 months of planning before a government contractor wins their first contract. Plan to invest significant time and resources identifying potential opportunities, marketing to potential clients, developing proposals, winning and performing your first DoD contract while complying with DoD rules.

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Small Business

Are you a small business interested in providing a product or service to the DoD? A Small Business is defined by a size standard that varies by industry. Pursuing DoD contracts requires patience, persistence, professionalism, and an in-depth understanding of federal, DoD and individual agency acquisition rules.

Other than Small Business

Other than Small Businesses (OTSBs) are businesses that exceed the size standard or maximum allowed number of employees or annual receipts for an industry to be considered "small". Generally, OTSBs are required to provide maximum practicable opportunity for small businesses to participate in their DoD contracts. Refer to the Industry Resources section below for programs and tools to help leverage relationships with small business in the procurement process.

Did You Know?

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58.9 Million People Employed by Small Business
(Source: Census Bureau)

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Small Businesses Represent 96% of Employer Firms in High-Patenting Manufacturing Industries
(Source: SBA Office of Advocacy)

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24% of All Patents in the Top 100 Emerging Clusters Belong to Small Business Firms
(Source: SBA Office of Advocacy)

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46.8% of Private Sector Firms Employ Less than 500 Workers
(Source: Census Bureau)


Download the SBA Office of Advocacy FAQs

Best Practices

The following list of "Dos and Don’ts" provide best practices derived from acquisition professionals experienced in the procurement process.

Use the Dos and Don'ts guide to help navigate through the procurement process and ensure your company is ready to do business with the DoD.

View Best Practices Guide (PDF)

All Things Small Business Podcast

Mindfully designed 30 minute conversations that connect our listeners to real-life issues impacting our small business community. Interview topics range from:

  • Industry marketing strategies
  • Business development & growth strategies
  • True grit of being a small business owner
  • Influence of socioeconomic programs
  • Navigating through the unexpected
  • Success stories
  • Other timely or relevant issues from both
    industry & government perspectives
Listen Now

Additional podcasts will be available monthly

If you are interested in participating in a future podcast, please contact: SmallBusinessPodcast@dau.edu

Industry Resources

Learn more about Small Business Programs, Government Procurements, Collaboration and more by using the resource links below.

Researching Business Opportunities

Using Resources from the Department of Defense

Making it Easy for Your Customer

Exploring Small Business Programs

Understanding Acquisition Policies and Procedures

Registering Your Company

Upcoming DAU Events