Federal contracting for small businesses: how to register on SAM.gov, qualify for set-asides, and get certified through SBA — explained by two Business Opportunity Specialists from the SBA Houston District Office.

The federal government awarded $179 billion in prime contracts to small businesses in FY 2025 — nearly 28% of all federal spending. In this episode of the SCORE Houston Podcast's SBA Series, host PV Bala sits down with Ida Benson and Jesus Gomez to turn that opportunity into a practical action plan.

What you'll learn:

— What products and services federal agencies buy from small businesses

— Business readiness: cash flow requirements, market research, and SAM.gov registration

— Set-aside contracts and the 23% small business spending goal

— SBA certifications: HUBZone, Women-Owned (WOSB), Veteran-Owned (VOSB/SDVOSB), and Small Disadvantaged Business (8a)

— How to get your UEI number, complete your SAM registration, and identify NAICS codes

— Building past performance from zero — including subcontracting as an entry strategy

— How Apex Accelerators provide free registration, market research, and proposal support

— Where to research contract opportunities: SAM.gov, USAspending.gov, and Acquisition.gov

0:00 – Intro & Welcome to SCORE Houston SBA Series 0:00

0:51 – Meet the Guests: Ida Benson & Jesus Gomez 0:51

2:45 – The Opportunity: $179B in Federal Contracts 2:45

4:08 – Business Readiness Checklist & Cash Flow 4:08

5:51 – Common Reasons Small Businesses Fail 5:51

8:22 – What Are Set-Aside Contracts? 8:22

13:51 – Local vs National Bidding Advantage 13:51

15:01 – Set-Aside Categories: WOSB, VOSB, HUBZone & More 15:01

17:18 – SAM.gov Registration Explained 17:18

20:14 – NAICS Codes: What They Are & Why They Matter 20:14

23:02 – Finding Opportunities & SAM Notifications 23:02

23:40 – Certifications: HUBZone, WOSB, VOSB Benefits 23:40

26:16 – Building Past Performance From Zero 26:16

29:11 – What Is Apex Accelerators? (Free Help) 29:11

32:38 – Capability Statements Explained 32:38

34:04 – Recap: Key Resources & Advice 34:04

38:29 – Action Plan: How to Get Started Today 38:29

40:29 – Closing & Where to Get Free SCORE Mentoring 40:29

Guests:

Ida Benson — Business Opportunity Specialist, SBA Houston District Office

Jesus Gomez — Business Opportunity Specialist, SBA Houston District Office

Host: PV Bala — Certified SCORE Mentor

Free small business mentoring: www.score.org/houston

🔗 SCORE Houston Podcast —

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYwZdflYjHJeI8oTA_fRJw

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/score-houstons-podcast/id1845697492

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Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@SCOREHouston/shorts

Let us know what you think of this episode. What subjects you would like us to cover in next episodes.

Give your comments at https://scorehoustonpodcast.blogspot.com or write to pv.bala@scorevolunteer.org. Let us know what you like of this episode and suggest subjects on which you wish to know more.

How Estée Lauder built a global beauty business with zero marketing budget, no business degree, no formal advertising — and what small business owners can learn from her playbook today. Starting from a backyard stable in Queens, New York, she grew a $150 bath oil into a product line generating $150 million a year.

Who was Estée Lauder? Born Josephine Esther Mentzer in 1908, she built The Estée Lauder Companies from a kitchen-formula skincare business into one of the world's largest prestige beauty empires — a publicly traded company with revenues exceeding $10 billion. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest self-made entrepreneurs of the 20th century.

This episode covers her sales psychology, the "gift with purchase" tactic that permanently changed retail, her word-of-mouth networking strategy that scaled a local brand nationally, the London expansion that proved her international instincts, and the Youth Dew reframe that turned a bath oil into a $150M product line.

Part of the Lessons from the Greats series on the SCORE Houston Podcast — practical business lessons drawn from iconic founders, for small business owners building today.

Free business mentoring from SCORE Houston: www.score.org/houston

Subscribe for weekly episodes: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYwZdflYjHJeI8oTA_fRJw

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: Cohesion's Lessons from the Greats 00:42 – The stable where it all started 03:07 – Why passion is the foundation of every business 07:38 – The Florence Morris salon: the power of demonstration 08:47 – Inventing the "gift with purchase" 12:19 – Scaling loyalty into a national brand 15:38 – The London expansion masterclass 16:54 – Youth Dew: reframing perfume into a $150M product 18:42 – Trusting your "louder inner voice" 21:55 – Final thoughts: the future of human connection in business

Let us know what you think of this episode. What subjects you would like us to cover in next episodes.

Give your comments at https://scorehoustonpodcast.blogspot.com or write to pv.bala@scorevolunteer.org. Let us know what you like of this episode and suggest subjects on which you wish to know more.

Veteran entrepreneur Jason Burleson bought an abandoned lake in rural Texas that no bank would touch and no investor would fund. Today, Mammoth Lake Dive Academy in Clute, Texas is the largest dedicated scuba park in the United States.

He launched during COVID with no outside capital. Hurricane Beryl destroyed his home and much of what he'd built. He kept going — bootstrapped, debt-free, and now certifying thousands of divers annually including police, firefighters, and military veterans.

In this episode of Small Business Success Stories from SCORE Houston, Dr. Jeffrey Ricken sits down with Jason Burleson — 2026 SBA Houston District Rural Small Business Owner of the Year — to walk through the decisions, setbacks, and mentorship that turned a part-time dive instructor into the founder of a Gulf Coast institution.

Topics covered:

- Buying the lake: what due diligence looked like when there was no playbook

- Launching a business during COVID with zero outside funding

- Rebuilding after Hurricane Beryl — the mindset shift that made it possible

- SBA loan strategy, bootstrapping, and reaching debt-free status

- Building a student pipeline from open-water certification to NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab

- What the U.S. Air Force taught him about running a small business

- AI tools, mentorship, and the gaps his formal education left behind

If you run a small business, are considering a career pivot, or want to understand how veteran-owned businesses scale without traditional funding — this episode delivers a clear, practical picture of how it's done.

Chapters

0:00 – Welcome

0:45 – The Lake Nobody Wanted

3:00 – Launching During COVID

6:30 – Building Partnerships That Matter

10:00 – From Air Force to the Ocean Floor

14:00 – Hurricane Beryl: Losing Everything, Starting Over

19:00 – Bootstrapping, SBA, and the Road to Debt-Free

22:00 – Mentorship, AI Tools & What School Doesn't Teach You

26:00 – What the Military Taught Him About Business

28:00 – Final Words

Let us know what you think of this episode. What subjects you would like us to cover in next episodes.

Give your comments at https://scorehoustonpodcast.blogspot.com or write to pv.bala@scorevolunteer.org. Let us know what you like of this episode and suggest subjects on which you wish to know more.