Question 1

Am I even eligible for this? What if I'm not minority- or veteran-owned?

Accepted Answer

You don't need to be minority-, woman-, or veteran-owned to work with us. We help any small business get positioned to compete for government contracts. If you do qualify for a specific designation, we'll make sure it's reflected properly in your certification, since it opens additional set-aside opportunities. Either way, the first step is a conversation, not a qualification test.

Question 2

What exactly do you handle, from start to finish?

Accepted Answer

Everything between "not registered" and "actively bidding." We handle your certification (municipal, state, or federal, depending on where you want to compete), build your capabilities statement, position your profile so contracting officers can find you, and manage the bid process itself. You're not handed a checklist and left on your own — we're doing the work alongside you at every stage.

Question 3

What's a NAICS code? What's a certification? What's a "set-aside"?

Accepted Answer

A NAICS code is how the federal government classifies what your business does — it's how contracting officers find businesses like yours. A certification is official documentation that qualifies your business for contracts specifically reserved for businesses like yours. A set-aside is a contract that large companies are legally barred from competing for — it's reserved exclusively for certified small businesses. Certification is what gets you access to that reserved pool.

Question 4

How much does this cost?

Accepted Answer

Certification pricing depends on which level you're competing at:

Municipal/County/City: $3,800
State: $5,000
Federal: $10,000

One flat fee, everything included, no piecing it together yourself.

Bid preparation is a separate service, billed as a retainer: $1,250/month covers a 5-hour minimum (enough to prepare and submit one contract bid), with additional hours available if more work is needed that month.

Success fee: 0.5% of gross contract value, due upon signing the contract with the governing body.

Question 5

Why work with Ursa Minor instead of doing this myself?

Accepted Answer

You can absolutely do this yourself — the SBA's resources are free. What you're paying for is speed, accuracy, and someone who's done this before catching the mistakes that cause rejections or delays. Certification applications get denied constantly over avoidable errors: missing documentation, wrong classification, incomplete ownership records. We've built the process to get it right the first time.

Question 6

What happens if my application gets rejected?

Accepted Answer

We prepare every application to minimize that risk from the start, but if a rejection happens, we work with you to identify exactly what needs to change and resubmit. You're not on your own to figure out what went wrong.

Question 7

What is Polaris, and is it available now?

Accepted Answer

Polaris is our self-serve contracting assistant: opportunity-matching and bid support, without hiring a consultant directly. It's launching later this year. Until then, the retainer service above is the hands-on version.

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