The FAR requires contracting officers to do real market research before writing a solicitation, and a sources sought notice is one of the accepted ways they do it (FAR 10.002). Your response becomes part of that record. It is worth getting the structure right, because the notice itself will not tell you what a contracting officer actually wants to see.
Before you write anything
Confirm the requirement is genuinely in your lane, today, not a close-enough stretch. Contracting officers read every response to size the eventual set-aside decision, and a response that clearly does not match the requirement does not help you and can hurt your credibility the next time your name shows up. If you have not registered on SAM.gov yet, do that first: your UEI and CAGE code both belong in the response, and a contracting officer without them cannot verify you without emailing back and forth.
The structure that works
1. Header block. Your business name, UEI, CAGE code, business size status, and any relevant certifications (8(a), WOSB, HUBZone, SDVOSB), right at the top. This is the data the contracting officer needs first, to decide whether enough qualified small businesses exist to set the eventual contract aside.
2. A direct statement of capability. One or two sentences confirming you can perform the requirement as described, or a close variant of it, with your reasoning. Not a general capability statement pulled from a past proposal. Specific to this notice.
3. Relevant past or current work. Real, verifiable examples, not adjacent experience dressed up to sound closer than it is. Include contract numbers or client names where you can. A contracting officer weighing a set-aside decision is looking for evidence that real, qualified small businesses exist, not just interest.
4. Direct answers to the notice's specific questions. Most sources sought notices ask something concrete: minimum contract size you can perform at, whether you can meet a specific delivery timeline, whether you hold a specific certification or clearance. Answer each one, in the order asked. Do not bury the answer inside a paragraph.
5. A closing line on set-aside interest. If you want the eventual solicitation to be set aside for your certification or size category, say so plainly. This is the one sentence in the whole response that most directly feeds the contracting officer's actual decision.
Fill-in template
[Business Name], UEI: [UEI], CAGE: [CAGE], Size status: [small business / 8(a) / WOSB / HUBZone / SDVOSB]
We can perform the requirement described in [notice title/number] as [full performance / a subcontracted portion], based on [one-sentence reasoning].
Relevant work: [Contract/client, dates, brief scope, 2-3 examples]
Responses to specific questions:
- [Question 1 from notice]: [Direct answer]
- [Question 2 from notice]: [Direct answer]
We would support a [set-aside type] set-aside for this requirement.
Point of contact: [Name, title, phone, email]Keep the whole thing to a page or two. This is a factual answer to "can real, qualified companies do this," not a proposal, and the contracting officer reading it is working through dozens of these for one notice.
After you submit it
Often nothing happens for weeks or months while the requirement gets drafted and reviewed. That is normal. Once a real solicitation follows, the actual bidding work starts: reading the requirement in full, pricing it against real award history, and prepping the proposal.
Related reading
- What is a sources sought notice, and should you respond?
- How to register on SAM.gov: a step-by-step guide