By Outrider Editorial Team · Updated August 20, 2026
How do you win your first federal contract with no past performance?
FAR 15.305 says an offeror without a relevant record may not be rated favorably or unfavorably on past performance, so an empty file is not a disqualifier. Work the lanes where the gap matters least: purchases under the simplified acquisition threshold, subcontracting to a prime, set-asides, and an SBIR award.
Someone types this into Google every week: how do I go from zero past performance to winning my first federal contract. It is the correct question. Agencies evaluate past performance, past performance comes from contracts, and contracts go to the vendors with past performance. The loop looks closed from the outside.
It is not closed. It is weighted, and the weighting has documented exceptions you can aim at. This is the strategy view of the problem: which lane to pick and why each one works. For the week-by-week execution, read our tactics guide on building past performance from zero. For everything upstream of this, including registration and codes, start with how to sell to the government.
What the rules actually say about an empty record
Start with the sentence most first-time bidders have never read. FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iv): "In the case of an offeror without a record of relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available, the offeror may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance."
A blank record is neutral, not negative. The same section requires the solicitation to spell out its approach for evaluating offerors with no relevant performance history, so the evaluation plan has to account for you.
One more distinction is worth carrying into every bid. The same rule states that the comparative assessment of past performance is separate from the responsibility determination under FAR subpart 9.1. Those are two different questions. Responsibility asks whether you have the financial resources, capacity, and integrity to perform at all, and a young company can pass it on the strength of its balance sheet, its facilities, and its people. Losing on past performance and being found non-responsible are not the same outcome, and conflating them is why some first-time bidders talk themselves out of proposals they could have won.
The real disadvantage is quieter. In a tradeoff evaluation, a neutral rating competes against an incumbent carrying years of documented excellent ratings, and the source selection authority is being asked to accept risk on your behalf. That is the thing to design around. You are looking for competitions where the neutral rating costs you the least, or where the incumbent advantage does not exist yet.
Lane one: bid small enough that the record barely matters
Federal buying has a low band with its own rules. Under FAR 2.101 the micro-purchase threshold is $15,000 and the simplified acquisition threshold is $350,000. Below the micro-purchase threshold, a purchase can be made on a government purchase card with no provisions or clauses required, and the decision usually comes down to whether the buyer trusts you to deliver next week.
Between those two numbers, the field is legally narrowed for you. FAR 13.003(b)(1) states that acquisitions with an anticipated value above the micro-purchase threshold and at or below the simplified acquisition threshold shall be set aside for small business concerns. Large companies are not in that competition at all.
There is a catch worth planning for. Agencies only have to synopsize proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 in SAM.gov Contract Opportunities under FAR 5.101, so a large share of the smallest buys never shows up in a search you can run. Finding them means talking to the small business specialist at a nearby installation or agency office and asking what they buy under the threshold. Vendors who treat that call as beneath them leave the easiest awards in the market untouched.
States run the same logic with smaller numbers and less traffic. Texas agencies and public universities spent $35.8 billion on procurement in FY2024, and for purchases between $10,000 and $25,000 an agency solicits at least three informal bids, drawing candidates from the CMBL vendor list. Three quotes is a competition you can actually be one third of. Our Texas procurement guide and the SmartBuy portal guide cover the registration that puts you on the invite list.
Lane two: let a prime carry the record for you
A prime contractor with a strong record still has holes in its bid: a specialty capability, a geographic footprint, a small-business subcontracting obligation it has to satisfy. You are the fix for one of those.
The obligation part is stronger than most new vendors realize, and it exists at both levels of government. Texas contracts expected to reach $100,000 or more still require the bidder to notify at least three certified HUB firms of each subcontracting opportunity and give them seven working days to respond (Texas SmartBuy guide). Primes bidding that work have to go find small subcontractors, and they would rather find one who answers the phone and knows the requirement than one they cold-called.
Subcontracting also feeds back into your prime bids later. FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iii) says the evaluation should take into account past performance of predecessor companies, key personnel with relevant experience, and subcontractors performing major or critical aspects of the requirement. The relationship runs in both directions: a well-known subcontractor strengthens your proposal the same way you strengthen a prime's.
Lane three: set-asides shrink the field before you write a word
Small businesses took $179 billion in federal prime contracts in FY2025, close to 28 percent of eligible dollars. A large slice of that is competed only among small firms, and a further slice only among firms holding a specific certification.
Nothing about a set-aside makes your empty record fuller. What it does is remove the incumbents whose records made yours look thin. A HUBZone or 8(a) competition can come down to two or three qualified bidders, which changes the arithmetic of a neutral past-performance rating completely.
Check what you qualify for before you assume you qualify for nothing. The size standard calculator gives the SBA revenue or employee cap for your NAICS code, and the set-aside calculator maps which programs you can pursue. Every SBA certification is free to apply for.
Lane four: SBIR builds the reference on purpose
SBIR and STTR are the one federal program designed for companies that have never held a contract. Awards are non-dilutive, and as of April 2026 an agency may issue a Phase I award up to $323,090 and a Phase II award up to $2,153,927 without seeking SBA approval (sbir.gov). Eleven agencies participate.
The award is a federal contract. When you complete it, you have a contract number, a technical point of contact, and a delivered result to cite in the next proposal. That is the whole reason it belongs on this list. Our SBIR playbook covers what reviewers score, and sell to the military covers where the defense side of the program fits with the other DoD entry points.
Lane five: bring the record you already have
Most first-time bidders write "N/A" in the past performance volume while holding five years of relevant commercial work. That is a self-inflicted wound. FAR 15.305(a)(2)(ii) requires the solicitation to give offerors an opportunity to identify past or current contracts for similar efforts, and it names federal, state, local government, and private contracts in the same breath.
Relevance is judged by the source selection authority, so a commercial job is not automatically credited. The move is to ask the contracting officer, during the question period, what the evaluation will treat as relevant for this requirement. Then submit the commercial references that fit that answer, with the same detail you would give a federal reference: scope, dollar value, period of performance, a contact who will pick up. Your capability statement should already carry the short version.
The loop that compounds
The first award is the expensive one. You will spend more hours per dollar of revenue than you ever will again, and the win rate will be low enough to feel personal. Deliver that contract cleanly and the economics invert. You now have a rating, a reference, and a buying office that knows your name, and the next bid costs a fraction of the first to write.
Agencies rebuy from vendors who delivered. Pick one lane this quarter, win something small in it, and let the record you build there pay for the bid after that.
Frequently Asked
Common questions.
Does commercial work count as past performance?
Often, yes. FAR 15.305(a)(2)(ii) requires solicitations to let offerors identify past or current contracts including federal, state, local government, and private ones. Whether a given commercial job is relevant is the source selection authority's judgment, so ask the contracting officer what counts before you build the volume around it.
What is the smallest federal purchase worth chasing?
The micro-purchase threshold is $15,000 and the simplified acquisition threshold is $350,000 under FAR 2.101. The band between them is the useful one: FAR 13.003(b)(1) says acquisitions in that range shall be set aside for small business, so the field is small companies only.
Can I use my team's experience from previous employers?
Partly. FAR 15.305(a)(2)(iii) says the evaluation should account for past performance of predecessor companies, key personnel with relevant experience, and subcontractors performing major or critical aspects of the work. Name those people and their specific projects in the proposal instead of leaving the reader to infer the connection.
How long does it take to build a usable record?
One delivered contract of any size gives you something to cite, and the fastest routes are a subcontract, a small simplified-acquisition buy, or an SBIR Phase I. Our tactics guide on building past performance from zero walks the month-by-month sequence and the realistic revenue at each stage.