FAQ
GovCon Buyer Objections

Five questions to ask before hiring an SDVOSB advisory firm.

The recurring objections GovCon buyers raise before signing an advisory engagement — and the substantive answers our team gives on a first call. Deep-links below take you to the relevant surface so you do not have to re-read the same page twice.

Objection Index

Skip to the question you need an answer to.

#set aside eligibility
What does my firm actually need to qualify for SDVOSB, HUBZone, or 8(a) set-asides?
Read the answer below, or jump directly to the deep-link surfaces referenced in the response.
#specialty vs internal
Why hire a specialty SDVOSB advisory firm instead of an internal capture lead or a generalist consultancy?
Read the answer below, or jump directly to the deep-link surfaces referenced in the response.
#pricing and tiers
How is each engagement priced and what does each tier actually include?
Read the answer below, or jump directly to the deep-link surfaces referenced in the response.
#realistic timelines
How long does SDVOSB / SAM.gov / proposal development realistically take end-to-end?
Read the answer below, or jump directly to the deep-link surfaces referenced in the response.
#naics coverage
Which NAICS codes do you cover, and what happens if we bring you a target outside your NAICS list?
Read the answer below, or jump directly to the deep-link surfaces referenced in the response.

The Answers

Each answer deep-links to the relevant surface.

Open the question, read the answer, then click through to the page that fills in the detail. Every deep-link goes to a route on this site — no phantom references.

There are two independent tracks that stack, and the federal government treats both as gating controls on a set-aside solicitation. The first track is your SAM.gov registration: it has to be active, the entity-match cycle has to be clean (CAGE, UEI, banking record, IRS CP-575 all have to agree on the legal business name), and the socio-economic designations you intend to claim have to be loaded against the right NAICS. The second track is the SBA size standard for the NAICS the solicitation is scoped to — a revenue cap or an employee cap set by SBA, averaged over the measurement window that NAICS specifies. If both lines are clean and you are a service-disabled veteran who owns and controls the firm (SDVOSB), or your principal office sits in a qualified HUBZone with the 35% employee rule met, or you are admitted to the 8(a) BD program, the restricted lane is open. If either track is dirty, the socio-economic credit attached to your role on a teaming proposal falls apart at evaluation.

Have a question we did not cover? Bring us a target solicitation.

The fastest path forward is to send the SAM opportunity link and your response date — we respond within one business day either with a scoped engagement or a structured decline-and-referral.