The ugly truth is that 90% of “in-house” attempts end up rejected by the GSA after their first submission. If you are considering tackling your GSA Contract project “in-house”, you will want to prepare yourself for the potential expenses and possible outcomes. Performing a crude Return on Investment (ROI) analysis is key, so let’s discuss the average “in-house” process, expenses, and the expected timeframes.

Many small to medium business owners choose to delegate the GSA Contract project to a top-level manager, or they simply attempt to tackle the project themselves. It is fair to estimate that the employee qualified to handle such a task will earn a minimum of $40 K per year, conservatively. As a newcomer to the process, a minimum of 6 months can be expected to be spent completing the initial package for submission to the GSA.

Using that employee’s salary as a gauge, just this time spent will cost a small to medium sized business a minimum of $20,000. Keeping in mind that nine out of ten “in-house” attempts end up rejected by the GSA after their first submission, this is an unnecessary waste of the employee’s time and the company’s money.

Due to the arduous nature of GSA Contract acquisition, the first-timer employee working on the GSA Contract project has no choice but to neglect their actual job responsibilities and, in doing so, sacrifices the true objectives of their position within the company.

In the rare circumstance that the employee is successful, and the initial submission package is not rejected, the employee is often surprised when they receive a modification package 3 months later. This modification package typically takes an in-house employee and additional 2 months to complete and re-submit, which, from the calculations discussed above, will cost the business another $5,000. Due to this modification resubmission and review, the success rate drops and an increasingly rare chance of ultimate success going “in-house” is developed.

In short, if you are considering going “in-house” with your GSA Contract Acquisition, you need to examine whether your company can bear the manpower and expense of an employee’s full year’s salary to undertake the task. Many business-owners fail to investigate the process properly and take the project upon themselves. Most often, the decision to go “in-house” eliminates the company’s opportunity to get a GSA Contract. Once the contract is rejected, a company has already spent all the time and resources they have available for the project. Going “in-house” can be tragic for a small to medium sized business, keeping a company from their single biggest spending customer, the federal government