Tag Archives: WBE certification

TOP 5 REASONS TO PARTNER WITH A CERTIFIED WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS

Posted on Tuesday, 20 March
by Dr. Pamela Williamson

A certified woman-owned business is not a feat that is achieved overnight! Women-owned businesses undergo a thorough formal documentation and site visit from a third-party certifier (such as WBEC-West) before they are accredited.

The business is highly scrutinized and may take up to 6 months  just to complete the paperwork and receive certification. If that justifies the importance of being a certified woman-owned business, there are more advantages to partner with one. The top reasons are:

  1. Opportunities

This would be the primary and most important reason to partner with a certified woman-owned business.  The federal government sets aside opportunities (contracts) every year for qualifying women owned small businesses.  The number and size of these contracts varies by industry based on how well women are represented.  As you’d expect,  there are more opportunities available in industries  that are underrepresented in women business owners.

  1. Drives Competition

After partnering with a woman-certified business your company has access to other multiple avenues for goods and services. This allows you to compare prices with your existing vendors and service providers and drive them to offer you more competitive prices. This opens up channels to build new supplier alliances.

  1. Taps Women Customers

Apart from women being a growing economic force for the nation and in the world, women themselves have a great buying power. Women customers not only drive sales up by their purchasing power but also market the services and products they like by speaking about it to friends, family and colleagues. This no-cost word of mouth marketing can lead to spiking profits for the partnering company.

  1. Showcases Diversity

Diversity positively impacts the bottom line of any business. Working with woman-owned businesses sends a message to vendors, investors and potential customers that your company supports diversity. This in turn, enhances economic growth in local communities.

  1. Promotes Innovation

Woman-owned businesses, normally being smaller companies, are aware of the tough competition and hence try to bring more innovative and creative solutions to the table. Partnering with a smaller team provides the advantage of getting prompt customer service. They are also able to assist by making quicker course corrections and provide much faster turn-around times than their larger competitors.

As woman-owned businesses grow, it will boost the nation’s economy. Moreover, it will leave a lasting impression on your company profile, by being one which has assisted economic growth by partnering with local, diverse and minority communities.

Top 5 Tips to Help Women Entrepreneurs Get Ahead

Posted on Tuesday, 03 January
by Dr. Pamela Williamson

Today, more and more women are opting to go into business on their own. To help them boost their chances of success, this article below has a good list of tips that can help women entrepreneurs get ahead.

Ask For Help Where Necessary

When it comes to starting and running a new business, it is important that you realize how important asking for help where necessary is. New entrepreneurs usually encounter numerous hurdles when starting their new business; this is no different for women entrepreneurs. It is therefore recommended that you look to more seasoned entrepreneurs or mentors for help in solving common business problems especially when it comes to startups.

Keep Learning

The regulations, technology and consumer tastes among others form a constantly changing business environment. This means that you have to conduct comprehensive research before starting a new venture to ensure that your business idea is viable. Even after you get the operation under way, it is recommended that you continue conducting research to identify changes as they occur and take advantage where you can.

Track your Money

One of the main reasons why most startups fail within the first five years of establishment is due to cash constraints. A business that is no longer able to meet its cash requirements due to adopting a poor cash management policy cannot be able to survive. As such it is recommended that you carefully track how cash is generated in the business and subsequently used. It is vital that the cash is used in boosting primary business operations at all times.

This is Business

Business is business; simple and clear. Operating a healthy and well performing business requires you to make some hard decisions. At the end of the day, it is important for women entrepreneurs to realize that they have to make a choice in whether they want their business to survive, and with it make the hard choices that come with it.

Make Use of Technology

In business, technology is your friend. We live in an era where there are so many technological advancements around us that can be used to make our lives easier even when it comes to business. Accounting and reporting, marketing as well as monitoring can be done with the use of technological innovations that include mobile device apps, social media and many more. Using these technological advancements not only simplifies these tasks but also helps cut costs.

Identifying what steps can help you get ahead is key. For example, getting certified is a good step towards procuring corporate contacts.

via What women small business owners need to know

Find the Certification That’s Right for Your Business

Posted on Monday, 31 October
by Dr. Pamela Williamson

Which certification is right for me? You might ask yourself this question when looking for a competitive advantage and it can be confusing, so in this post we’ll go over a few basics to help you make an informed decision.

You’ve probably heard of the 8(a) Business Development Program which no doubt is a great program but it’s not for everyone. Acceptance is limited to businesses considered small as per the SBA requirements. Also you have to prove 51% or higher economic AND social disadvantage. If you don’t belong to any socially disadvantaged groups it will be hard to prove you are eligible for certification.

The Women-Owned Small Business Program is available to small business where a woman owns and controls 51% or more of the company. The word control is key here, and there are documents you will need to prove that you “control” a certain percentage of the business.

Third-party certifiers like WBEC-West empower women business owners to get the certifications needed to apply for procurement opportunities in the public and private sector. Major corporations align themselves with many third-party certifying organizations in their endeavor to expand their procurement efforts. If you are a WBE meeting the requirements for certification, getting certified can be a great way of getting your foot in the door for competing and winning federal and corporate contracts and making strong business connections with other certified WBEs.

Similar to the requirements for WBEs, Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Programs also exist. The 51% or better criteria applies here as well and it is imperative that over half the business is owned and controlled by a Veteran or service disabled Veteran. There are many third-party organizations that also certify veterans and if you meet the criteria, this certification might be right for you.

Now, let’s get back to the question – which certification is right for me?

If you are a fairly new company getting WBE or VOSB certified with a third-party certifying agency can be a good step to meet like-minded businesses and build business connections leading to partnerships and joint ventures. It’ll also help you build experience in the commercial sector with large corporations.

Also if you’ve never applied for a Federal contract, you might not need to dive into 8(a) right away until you’ve gained some experience.

If you’ve worked as a Sub for a Prime Contractor or want to partner with a Prime looking for a Minority/Veteran and Women-owned business to partner with getting certified can be a great idea.

See  how we can help you get WBE certified or learn more about the benefits of certification.

Want to be a Successful WBE? Learn How Mentorship can Propel Your Business to New Heights

Posted on Wednesday, 27 July
by Dr. Pamela Williamson

If you’re a successful business woman you understand the important role a mentor can play in your success. Many people take advice from family and friends and although that is fine, usually what ends up happening is most people will tell you what they think you want to hear, and not what you should hear.

Receiving candid feedback from a third person is key to achieving business success and growth. Getting mentored from someone who’s been where you are now can go a long way in avoiding costly mistakes and making better decisions to achieve your business goals and professional aspirations.

If you’re new to business and lack experience or perhaps you don’t have the knowledge about a certain area of your business like procuring contracts for example, you can leverage the skills and knowledge of a mentor to guide you in the right direction and deter your inexperience from ending up as a liability.

Introducing the WBEC-West CEO Ambassador Program!

The Ambassador Program is a One-2-One, CEO-2-CEO Business Connection program created to empower certified WBEs with one-on-one coaching and mentorship from a seasoned WBE who has been successful in leveraging both their WBENC certification and resources available through WBEC-West and WBENC.

The CEO Ambassador Program is unique to WBEC-West, and Ambassadors are located throughout the WBEC-West territory which spans across Arizona, Southern California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Guam. If you are a certified WBE in one of the above States you may apply either as an Ambassador or wanting to be assigned an Ambassador.

At WBEC-West our incentive for creating this program is that we believe that our own individual growth is fueled by coming together, collaborating and supporting one another’s growth. Through programs like these, we can build the ideal platform for individual and collective success.

To participate or learn more about the Ambassador Program go to: http://wbec-west.com/ambassador-program/

How Women-Owned Businesses Can Do Business with the US Government

Posted on Monday, 18 July
by Dr. Pamela Williamson

Did you know the US government spends trillions of dollars every year?

They buy everything from multi-million dollar jets to paper clips. So the question to ask yourself is, is the US government buying what I’m selling? The answer is most likely, yes.

If you’re wanting to do business with the Federal government, you may have already gone to websites that display procurement opportunities or taken some procurement courses or attended seminars that teach you how to do business with the government.

What did you find is the common denominator time and time again?

No matter where you go you’ll be told that building a relationship with the procurement opportunity contracting officer is essential. Of course there are other key factors that come into play like your past performance, capability statements and more – but without having any relationship with the contracting officer you may get lucky, but it’s more likely that you’re shooting in the dark and will miss your mark.

 

So how do you get in contact with contracting officers?

One way is to navigate The Federal Procurement Data System Database which my any means is not a simple system. It will no doubt show you who is buying what you have to sell, but you’ll have to do some digging. There are 60+ Departments in this database and once you drill down the relevant department you can find out the relevant Agency and keep digging until you discover a Contracting Officer and, more importantly, the right Contracting Officer with whom you can start to build a relationship with.

 

Another way is to attend procurement opportunity business matchmaking events that are attended by Corporate buyers and Procurement Managers. And the usual way to gain entry to these events is to get certified through entities that setup these events to connect Suppliers with Procurement Buyers, like WBEC-West, for instance.

 

WBENC certification offered specifically to women-owned businesses is one of the most broadly recognized and esteemed certifications in the US. The certification is accepted by hundreds of corporations nationwide including  a large number of federal, state, and local government agencies.

 

Often there are procurement opportunities reserved for WBEs and getting certified means you get a chance to apply to these contracts not available to you if you were not a WBE. Attending business matchmakers that match Federal Buyers with Suppliers like yourself is a great way to meet the people responsible for making buying decisions, face-to-face in a one-to-one or one-to-many meeting setup, depending on the event.

 

Getting certified is no doubt one of the best ways to get yourself in front of procurement buyers. To learn more click here.