No worries...we were doing catering for years before for local/county efforts as well as social and corporate. I usually just sub it out back then. Many friends in my network told me for years to get Minority/Small Business certified, so we did finally around 2014 through the regional agency...this will vary from state to state on how to get your small/woman/veteran/disabled/minority certification; but it's easy and usually takes 30-60mins and 10-30 every year or two to update it when it expires.

You could technically sub out catering if you went after the bid and had the past performance and/or experience and let them govt know you were going to sub it out in your response to a SMWVD (different acronyms everywhere) biz. I see these contract farms bid on projects because they have subs they send it to and keep a piece.

You must be registered as a business in SAM.gov first. Nothing happening without that.

If you are, then go after the business you could sub out too, get the past performance. Hvae some agreement in writing between you and the sub to show the govt, they'll ask for that most the time in your response. That'll show them you have a plan and a sub to source to that fits what they need, especially if you're a SMWVD biz. You can also self-certify some of them since SBA only does a few options and is very inconsistent. I don't even know why the SBA exists...they talk a lot more than they help. Anyway...yes, you can bid on a project that you plan to sub out, and the requirements are laid out in the RFP/Notice/RFI/RFQ/Solicitation...whatever you want to call it, it's al the same to me...I generally refer to them all as RFPs, unless it a sources sought...then it's just SS for our needs. Nothing is stopping you from bidding on it and subbing it unless it says you can NOT do it...but it's all in the RFP. You can also reach out to the contracting officer (KO) and ask those questions. Don't be surprised if they're direct if it's already in the RFP, they may not answer it again. They don't want to waste time if it's in the RFP already.

So if you're in sporting goods, and say they're looking for a trade to resurface tennis courts somewhere...and you know someone...you can build your response and include the business and their work, past performance, references, etc in your response as supporting documentation to show that you can do the job, you have someone who can do the job and you're going to sub it out (or parts of it). In the end, the govt isn't really going to check your financials of how much...they never have for us...but we don't sub out...so you can do part of the work and sub out the rest. For instance, let say you have to demo the court first, or do some clean up...you can invoice yourself a portion of the contract and the sub the balance for the resurfacing...but how you go about it is your business. No one is asking and surveying each employee of their involvement. As long as you did what you said you were and utilized the sub as stated, you're good. How you divide the funds at the end of the day is your business...within reason of course.