How to Get Your First Government Contract With No Past Performance

The Past Performance Catch-22

Federal buyers are spending public money, and they're risk-averse about it. When two offers look similar on paper, the contracting officer will almost always favor the firm with a documented track record of delivering on time and on budget — verified through the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), which stores performance ratings from every federal client a contractor has worked for. On many solicitations, past performance is scored as a formal evaluation factor, sometimes weighted as heavily as price.

That's a real problem if you've never held a prime federal contract. But "no CPARS record" is not the same thing as "no path in." The government has built several structured on-ramps specifically because it needs a constant pipeline of new small business contractors — agencies have statutory small business goals to hit, and those goals can't be met only by firms that already have ten years of federal history. The rest of this guide walks through the routes that actually work, roughly in the order most new contractors should pursue them.

Path 1: Subcontract With a Prime Contractor

This is the single fastest way to put a real federal project on your resume. Large prime contractors are frequently required — by their own contract terms — to meet small business subcontracting goals, and they are constantly looking for capable small firms to fill that need. As a subcontractor, you deliver real work on a real federal contract, get paid, and can document that performance when you bid as a prime later.

To find these opportunities: search SAM.gov's subcontracting network and individual agency Small Business Offices (often called OSDBU — Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization) for prime contractors active in your NAICS codes, then reach out directly. Primes publish subcontracting plans as part of large contract awards, and many maintain vendor databases specifically for sourcing small business subcontractors. A strong capability statement is the single most useful document you can hand a prime's subcontracting manager — it tells them in one page whether you're worth a follow-up call.

Path 2: The SBA Mentor-Protege Program

The SBA's Mentor-Protege Program (MPP) — the 8(a) and All Small mentor-protege tracks were consolidated into a single program in 2020 — pairs small businesses with experienced government contractors who provide technical, management, and financial assistance. The mentor relationship is formalized through an SBA-approved agreement, and once approved, the mentor and protege can form a joint venture to bid on contracts together — including small business set-asides the protege qualifies for on its own.

The practical benefit for a new contractor: a joint venture with an experienced mentor lets you compete on opportunities you'd have no realistic shot at solo, because evaluators can weigh the joint venture's combined past performance rather than yours alone. It's one of the fastest ways to go from zero federal history to being competitive on real award-size contracts. Approval isn't instant — expect a genuine application and vetting process through SBA — so it's worth starting early, not waiting until you need it.

Path 3: Teaming Agreements

Short of a formal mentor-protege relationship, two or more small businesses can simply agree to team on a specific opportunity. One firm serves as the prime, others as subcontractors, and the team combines capabilities and collective past performance in the proposal. Teaming is especially common on contracts that require a mix of specialties no single small firm has in-house. If you're new but have a specific technical strength, teaming with a firm that has federal experience — even a modest one — can be enough to clear the past performance bar as a team, even though neither firm alone would clear it.

Path 4: Get on the GSA Schedule

A GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract is, in a real sense, its own form of past performance. GSA evaluates your commercial track record and pricing to award the schedule contract in the first place — not your federal history. Once you're on schedule, agencies can issue task orders against it through a streamlined process instead of running a full competitive solicitation from scratch, and simply holding the schedule signals to buyers that you've already cleared a layer of vetting. It's a genuine option for firms with solid private-sector experience but zero government contracts to date, though the application takes real preparation — plan on it being a mid-term move, not a first-week one.

Path 5: FAR Part 12 Commercial Item Contracts

If what you sell is a commercial product or service — something you already sell to private-sector or state/local customers, not something built to a government-unique specification — you may qualify to be evaluated under FAR Part 12 commercial item procedures. These solicitations often relax the emphasis on federal past performance specifically because the product or service already has a commercial track record the government can check instead. If your business sells anything "off the shelf," this is worth flagging explicitly in your proposal, since it changes what evaluators are allowed to weigh most heavily.

Path 6: Simplified Acquisition and Micro-Purchase Contracts

Smaller-dollar federal purchases move through lighter procedures than a full, best-value competitive solicitation — and that's exactly where new contractors have the best odds. As of the FAR's October 2025 inflation adjustment, the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT) sits at $350,000 (up from $250,000), and the micro-purchase threshold is $15,000 (up from $10,000; it stays at $2,000 for Davis-Bacon-covered construction). Below the SAT, contracting officers have much more discretion — including setting the buy aside for small businesses — and formal past performance evaluations are frequently lighter or absent entirely on these smaller actions. Watching for opportunities under these thresholds, rather than only chasing large multi-year programs, is one of the most realistic ways to land a first award.

Path 7: Small Business Set-Asides Below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

Related to the point above: FAR Part 19 requires contracting officers to set aside any acquisition below the SAT for small businesses whenever there's a reasonable expectation that at least two qualified small firms could compete — which describes a large share of routine federal buying. Above the SAT, contracting officers must first consider the socioeconomic set-aside programs (8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB) before a general small business set-aside, and certified 8(a) firms specifically can receive sole-source awards up to $5.5 million for most acquisitions ($8.5 million for manufacturing) without full competition. You don't need 8(a) certification to start — but understanding where these thresholds sit tells you which opportunities are realistically winnable at your current size, and which certifications are worth pursuing as you grow.

Path 8: Use Non-Federal Past Performance Where It's Allowed

Not every solicitation requires federal past performance specifically. Many allow — sometimes explicitly invite — relevant state, local government, or commercial past performance as a substitute, especially for firms new to the federal market. If you've delivered similar work for a state agency, a municipality, a hospital system, or a large commercial client, document it the same way you'd document a federal contract: scope, dollar value, timeline, outcome, and a reference who will vouch for you. Read the evaluation criteria on each solicitation carefully — some require federal-only references, but plenty explicitly welcome relevant non-federal experience. Where it's allowed, it's a legitimate way to show evaluators you can execute, even without a CPARS history.

Your First 90 Days: A Concrete Plan

Reading about these paths is one thing; sequencing them is another. Here's a realistic 90-day plan for a small business starting from zero.

Days 1-14: Get the Foundations in Place

• Confirm your SAM.gov registration is active and accurate — this is a hard prerequisite for any federal award.
• Identify the 2-4 NAICS codes that actually describe your work and register under all of them, not just the primary one.
• Build a one-page capability statement — this is the document you'll hand to every prime, agency small business office, and networking contact from here on.
• Inventory every relevant non-federal contract or project you've delivered (commercial, state, local) with scope, value, and a reference willing to speak to it.

Days 15-45: Start Building Relationships and Pipeline

• Contact the Small Business Office (OSDBU) at 3-5 agencies that buy what you sell. They exist specifically to help small firms find a way in, and they can point you to primes actively looking for subcontractors.
• Identify 5-10 prime contractors holding relevant contracts in your space and reach out directly with your capability statement, asking about subcontracting opportunities.
• Research whether the SBA Mentor-Protege Program or a teaming agreement makes sense for your situation, and start those conversations — approval and agreement-building take time, so don't wait until month six to start.
• Set up daily monitoring for opportunities under the simplified acquisition threshold in your NAICS codes — these are your best near-term shot at a prime award.

Days 46-90: Bid, and Bid Small First

• Submit your first bids on simplified acquisition or micro-purchase opportunities where past performance carries less weight. A small, well-executed award is worth more to your pipeline right now than a large one you're unlikely to win.
• Follow up on subcontracting outreach and, if you've landed subcontract work, make sure it's documented well enough to cite as past performance later.
• If your product or service has a genuine commercial history, evaluate whether pursuing a GSA Schedule application makes sense as your next 3-6 month move.
• Revisit your target list. By day 90 you should know which agencies are actually responsive, which primes are worth continued relationship-building, and which opportunity types are realistically winnable at your size — then double down on those.

Common Mistakes New Contractors Make

After watching how small businesses approach their first years in federal contracting, a handful of avoidable mistakes show up again and again.

Only Bidding Large Prime Contracts

It's tempting to chase the visible, high-dollar solicitations — but those are exactly where past performance is weighted most heavily and where established competitors have the clearest edge. A new contractor who spends all their proposal energy on contracts they're unlikely to win is neglecting the smaller, lower-competition opportunities where they could actually be winning right now.

Waiting to Start Relationship-Building

Agency Small Business Offices, prime contractor subcontracting managers, and SBA district offices are all more useful before you need them than after. Contractors who wait until they're actively bidding to introduce themselves are starting from zero at the exact moment they need momentum. Start these relationships in your first weeks, not your first proposal deadline.

Underdocumenting Non-Federal Work

A commercial or state/local project delivered well is a real asset — but only if it's written up the way a federal evaluator expects: scope, dollar value, timeline, outcome, and a reference who will actually pick up the phone. Vague descriptions ("we've done similar work for other clients") don't hold up next to a competitor's formal CPARS rating, even a mediocre one.

Treating the First Award as the Finish Line

The real value of a first contract — federal or subcontracted — isn't just the revenue. It's the CPARS entry, the reference, and the case study you'll use to win the next five. Execute the first one flawlessly. A strong early rating compounds; a weak one follows you for years.

How GovConToday Helps

New contractors waste enormous time sifting SAM.gov manually for opportunities they can actually win. GovConToday matches opportunities to your NAICS codes, set-aside status, and state, so instead of scanning hundreds of postings a day, you see the ones sized and categorized for a firm at your stage — including smaller, simplified-acquisition-level contracts that are easy to miss in a raw keyword search but are exactly where a new contractor should be focusing first.

Key Takeaways

• The past performance catch-22 is real, but it's not a dead end — the government has built several deliberate on-ramps for new small business contractors.
• Subcontracting with a prime is usually the fastest way to build a documented federal track record without winning a prime contract first.
• The SBA Mentor-Protege Program and teaming agreements let you compete via a partner's combined past performance while you build your own.
• A GSA Schedule contract and FAR Part 12 commercial item procedures both shift the evaluation away from a federal-only track record.
• Contracts below the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $350,000, and the micro-purchase threshold at $15,000) are where past performance requirements are lightest — target these first.
• Where solicitations allow it, well-documented state, local, or commercial past performance can substitute for a federal CPARS record.
• Sequence matters: foundations first, relationships second, small bids third — a 90-day plan turns this from an abstract strategy into a concrete first quarter.