West Alabama Minority Small Business Matchmaker

How Does Matchmaking Work?

In the aim to connect two businesses (aka the buyer and the supplier), business matchmaking makes the use of data to make an ideal connection and a targeted match.

A buyer is any entity looking to procure a product or a service.

A supplier is a small business, a diverse business or anyone looking to sell their products and services.

The idea to match the right buyer with the right supplier is the essence of what business matchmaking does.

Buyers and large prime contractors will be seated at tables. Small businesses will be able to meet with them on a one-on-one basis for ten minute increments. When time is up, small businesses must conclude and allow for the next small business.

In order to have the best matches for you to meet we need the following:

• Developed “elevator pitch”
• Businesses should be atleast 3 years old
• Have obtained SAM.gov registration/DUNS#
• Capability Statement
• NAICS codes

Matchmaker Pitch – aids businesses in a clear concise overview of the business, the service it provides and which will allow small businesses the opportunity to present/pitch their company capabilities to a panel of judges. The judges will review presentations and provide feedback on each company’s pitch, and their Capability Statement. These pitch sessions will help prepare companies to meet one-on-one with government buyers at the Matchmaker event.

A data universal numbering system or DUNS number is a unique, nine-digit series of numerals that identifies a business. Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) creates the number, which generates a business profile in its database and provides a company’s name, phone number, address, number of workers and line of business, along with other relevant corporate information. The DUNS number is standard business identifier for federal government.

SAM.gov is the primary supplier database for the U.S. Federal government, collecting, validating and storing data from suppliers and then making that data available to various government acquisition agencies. Your business MUST be registered in SAM to sell to the federal government.

Capability Statement – Think of a capability statement as the resume for your small business. It should act as a blueprint for your business’s services and/or products. It provides detailed information to potential clients to help them make the choice to utilize your business for their needs. While capability statements are a must-have for all small businesses, there is not a singular capability statement template that encompasses all. As each small business is different, so is each capability statement. There are, however, basic elements of a capability statement template that each business should include. These elements are listed below:

• Core competencies
• Past performance
• Differentiators
• Corporate data
• Contact information

NAICS codes are used for many purposes, but one of the most important is that the Small Business Administration uses them to set size standards for particular businesses to be considered “small” in order to qualify for various small business-related programs. The SBA’s table of size standards, based on NAICS codes, can be found here: https://www.sba.gov/document/support–table-size-standards. You’ll note that in certain industries, size standards are based on gross receipts, while in other industries it is based on total number of employees. NAICS codes are important:

• To compete for government purchase contracts or grants (both federal and state);
• To obtain disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) certification, you need to meet the SBA size standards for your NAICS code, and you obtain certification for your particular code(s) only;
• To become SBA certified;
• To become a VA-certified veteran owned small business (VOSB) or a service-disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB);
• To become a woman owned small business (WOSB); or
• It may be used when applying for commercial loans, to compare your business to similar businesses