How government buying works
Who buys, where bids are posted, the dollar lines that change the rules, and how a bid differs from market research.
3 min readLast verified October 2026
Learn
Plain-English lessons on government contracting, from registration to your first bid.
Our lessons are written from official sources. Each one shows the month we last checked it.
7 lessons
The basics
How government buying works, and what is not true.
Myths you will hear, and what is true
Common claims from videos and courses about government contracting, corrected with official sources you can check yourself.
3 min readLast verified October 2026How to find government contracts for a small business
Where federal, Texas and local buyers post their bids, how to search them for free, and how to narrow thousands of notices to the few that fit you.
4 min readLast verified October 2026Where to find government bids: free sources and paid tools
The official free sites for federal, state and local bids, what paid tools add on top, and how to tell a real government site from a look-alike.
3 min readLast verified October 2026How to bid on a government contract, step by step
From notice to submission: confirm you are eligible, read every document, ask questions, write, price, and submit yourself on time.
3 min readLast verified October 2026How to use AI assistants to find government contracts
What AI chat assistants can and cannot do for a government bidder, how to check every answer against SAM.gov, and prompts that save time without risk.
3 min readLast verified October 2026Government contracting glossary: over 100 terms in plain English
More than 100 government contracting terms explained in plain English, from SAM.gov and NAICS to IDIQ, set-asides, past performance and debriefs.
12 min readLast verified October 2026