Veteran-owned firms
2.5M
Employees
5.5M
Federal set-aside goal
3% of contract $
Who they are
Federal set-asides reserve billions of dollars annually for SDVOSB + VOSB-certified vendors. Veteran operators tend to value clear chain-of-command communication and dislike ambiguous status updates.
Common titles
CEOPresidentOwnerManaging Director
Where they live online
- National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC)
- VetForce
- Bunker Labs
- VFW small business committees
Common objections
Do you understand federal contracting?
Reference SAM.gov, GSA Schedule, NAICS, set-aside categories by name. Lack of familiarity is a fast disqualifier.
What's your follow-up cadence?
Veterans respect commitments. Tell them exactly when you'll follow up and do it on the day.
Message templates that work
Cold to SDVOSB-eligible vet owner
Subject: {{Company}} + GSA Schedule alignment
Hi {{FirstName}},
We help SDVOSB/VOSB primes win federal subs. {{Reference}} closed {{outcome}} via the same workflow we'd run with {{Company}}.
Clear ask: 15 min Thursday or Friday next week to walk through it. Will follow up Monday at 9am if I don't hear back.
{{Sender}}