Most small businesses find out about a federal contract opportunity the wrong way: a colleague mentions it, a quick Google search surfaces it, or a notification arrives three days before the proposal is due. By then, you're either scrambling or writing off the award before it starts.
SAM.gov — the System for Award Management, administered by the General Services Administration — publishes every federal solicitation above the micro-purchase threshold ($10,000). Contracts at or below $250,000 are often set aside exclusively for small businesses. Setting up alerts for your specific NAICS codes means the opportunity lands in your inbox the day the contracting officer posts it, not when someone else notices it.
Here is how to do that.
Step 1: Create a SAM.gov account
Go to sam.gov and click "Sign In." SAM.gov uses Login.gov for authentication, so if you already have a Login.gov account (used by USAJOBS, SBA, and other federal sites), use those credentials. If not, create one at login.gov first. You will need a government-issued email or personal email plus a phone number for two-factor authentication.
Once logged in, your SAM.gov account is separate from your entity registration. You do not need to be registered in SAM as a vendor to search for opportunities or save alerts. Registration is required to bid; searching is open to anyone.
Step 2: Find the Contract Opportunities search
From the SAM.gov homepage, click "Contract Opportunities" in the top navigation, or go directly to sam.gov/search/?index=opp. This is the public solicitation database — formerly known as FedBizOpps (FBO), which GSA merged into SAM in 2020.
You will see a search bar and a set of filters on the left side.
Step 3: Build your search with NAICS filters
In the search bar, leave the keyword field blank for your first pass. On the left panel, find "NAICS Codes" and enter your primary NAICS code. If you work in IT services, that might be 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services). If you do construction, it might be 236220 (Commercial and Institutional Building Construction).
You can add multiple NAICS codes in a single search. Use the checkboxes to select them. Then refine with these filters:
- Set-aside type: If you hold an 8(a), WOSB, SDVOSB, or HUBZone certification, filter by that type. You will only see solicitations restricted to your status — which cuts the noise significantly.
- Posted date: Start with "Last 90 days" to understand the volume for your codes.
- Place of Performance: If you are a local contractor, filter by state or zip code radius. Federal facilities are fixed geography; your competition may not be.
- Type of notice: More on this below. For now, leave it open.
Run the search. If you see dozens of results, your NAICS codes are active. If you see very few, you may want to review adjacent codes or check whether your primary work maps to a different 6-digit code.
Step 4: Save the search and set up email alerts
After running your filtered search, click the "Save Search" button that appears near the top of the results page. You must be logged in for this to appear.
Give the saved search a clear name: "NAICS 541512 – Small Business Set-Aside" or similar. Then set the alert frequency. SAM.gov offers:
- Daily: An email summary of new and modified notices matching your filters, sent each morning.
- Weekly: A digest for lower-volume searches.
For active business development, use daily alerts. Federal contracting moves on specific fiscal year timelines — Q4 (July through September) is historically the busiest procurement quarter as agencies spend down their budgets before the September 30 fiscal year end. A week of missed notices in Q4 can mean missing the window to ask questions, request site visits, or assemble a teaming arrangement.
You can save multiple searches. Create one for each active NAICS code, one for your set-aside type across all NAICS codes, and one for specific agencies you are targeting.
Step 5: Understand what each notice type means
SAM.gov publishes several types of notices, and they represent different stages of the acquisition process. Knowing the difference determines what action you take.
Sources Sought (SS)
A Sources Sought is a market research notice. The contracting officer does not have a solicitation ready. They are asking: who is out there, what are your capabilities, is this work suitable for a small business set-aside? Responding to a Sources Sought does not give you a shot at the contract directly — but it shapes who gets to bid. If enough qualifying small businesses respond, the CO may restrict competition. If no one responds, the acquisition goes full and open.
Always respond to Sources Sought notices in your NAICS codes. Keep your response to one or two pages: your company name, CAGE code, NAICS code, a brief capability narrative, and any relevant past performance. It takes 20 minutes and gets your name in front of the acquisition team before the solicitation exists.
Request for Information (RFI)
An RFI is similar to a Sources Sought but is often used when the government is researching market pricing, technical approaches, or commercial solutions. Responding helps you understand what the agency is thinking — and lets them know you exist. RFI responses are not binding.
Pre-solicitation Notice
This tells you a solicitation is coming. The CO has completed market research and is now planning to issue a formal RFP or IFB. Watch these closely and calendar the expected solicitation date. Use the time to identify teaming partners if the requirement is larger than your company handles alone, or to pull any existing contracts in that agency on USASpending.gov to understand who currently holds the work.
Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
This is a solicitation and synopsis bundled into a single notice, typically used for simplified acquisitions between $25,000 and $250,000 under FAR Part 13. It means the government is ready to receive offers now. Response times on these are often 15 days or less. If you are not in the habit of checking SAM daily, daily email alerts are the only way to catch these before the window closes.
Solicitation (RFP, IFB, RFQ)
A formal Request for Proposals, Invitation for Bids, or Request for Quotes. The full performance work statement, evaluation criteria, and contract terms are attached. This is the stage most people recognize — but if you are first learning about an opportunity at RFP stage, you have already missed the Q&A period and any chance to influence the requirements.
How to read a SAM notice before the RFP drops
Open any Sources Sought or pre-solicitation notice and look for four things:
- Set-aside designation: Is it small business set-aside, 8(a), WOSB, or unrestricted? This tells you immediately whether you are eligible to bid.
- Contracting officer contact: CO name and email are listed. Note it. If you respond to the Sources Sought, address it to this person.
- NAICS code and size standard: Confirm the NAICS matches what the work actually is. COs sometimes assign the wrong code. If you think the code is wrong — for instance, they listed a manufacturing NAICS for a services contract — you can formally challenge it under FAR 19.303 through the SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals. This is rare but worth knowing.
- Performance period and place of performance: Multi-year contracts with option years are worth more BD investment. Local work may reduce competition from large out-of-state firms.
Three actions to take this week
- Create your Login.gov account and SAM.gov profile if you have not. The registration itself takes under an hour.
- Run a search for your top two NAICS codes, filtered to small business set-aside, and save each as a daily alert.
- Find one Sources Sought posted in the last 30 days that matches your capabilities. Draft a two-page capability statement response and submit it. The habit of responding to market research notices is what separates businesses that consistently win federal contracts from those that only occasionally bid.
The companies that win federal contracts regularly are not necessarily the largest or best-resourced. They are the ones who see the opportunity first and start building a relationship with the contracting team before the solicitation is final.
