Why Small Businesses Lose Federal Contracts — and How to Avoid Their Mistakes
It’s one thing to win a federal contract. It’s another to keep it — and deliver successfully. Between FY2019 and FY2025, dozens of small businesses lost awards or had contracts terminated, often for reasons that were entirely preventable.
A recent analysis of 100 federal contracting case studies — from GAO protests, agency terminations, and Inspector General reports — reveals the top ways small businesses stumble. If you’re chasing government contracting opportunities, these lessons are worth your time.
Top 20 Small-Business Federal Contractors of FY2024 — and What You Can Learn from Them
Federal contracting is a tough game, but FY2024’s top-performing small-business primes proved there’s plenty of room to win big—if you know where to play and how to position yourself. Together, the 20 vendors in this ranking captured roughly $20B of the $183.3B awarded to small-business primes last year. That’s more than 10% of all small-biz contract dollars—locked down by just 20 companies.
Texas Contractors Are Feeling the Heat: $863M in Cuts and What Comes Next
Federal budget politics just got real for small businesses in Texas. In the first half of 2025, more than $860 million in federal contracts and grants across the state have been canceled, and the ripple effects are already hammering local contractors—especially in San Antonio. If you're a small or disadvantaged business in the government procurement space, this is more than just a headline. It’s a wake-up call.
Who’s Got Your Back? The Most Small-Business-Friendly Federal Agencies in FY2025
If you’re a small business chasing federal contracting dollars, it pays—literally—to know which agencies are most likely to award you a contract. Spoiler: not all federal buyers are created equal. Some go out of their way to engage and support small businesses through targeted set-asides, outreach, and accessible contracts. Others? Not so much.
5 Proposal Mistakes That Are Costing You Federal Contracts (and How to Fix Them)
If you’ve ever poured hours—or weeks—into a government proposal only to walk away empty-handed, you’re not alone. Federal contracting is brutal in that way. The smallest misstep can knock you out of the running before evaluators even read your technical brilliance or see your competitive pricing. But here’s the good news: Most of these mistakes are 100% avoidable. Let’s walk through five of the most common proposal pitfalls small businesses make—and more importantly, how to sidestep them.
Prime vs. Sub: Which Federal Contracting Role is Right for Your Small Business?
If you’re trying to break into or scale up in the federal contracting world, there’s a pivotal question you’ve likely faced: Should you go after contracts as a prime or team up as a subcontractor? The answer can shape your entire growth path—and what you’re risking along the way.