What if you found out about a huge untapped market for your products and
services--a market of at least $200 billion? A market eager to find reliable
women-owned businesses to work with? A market that has regular needs? A market
unlikely to disappear anytime soon? Wouldn't that market be worth a look?
What is that market? The government. That's right, federal, state, and local
governments and agencies across the country are looking for women-owned
companies to meet their purchasing needs. Laws enacted over the past 45 years
require government departments and agencies to ensure a certain percentage of
their purchasing contracts go to women-owned businesses. In addition, hundreds
of national corporations are diversifying their supplier base by doing business
with women-owned companies. Your invitation to this prosperity party is known as
Woman Business Enterprise certification.
Public- and private-sector entities purchase a whole smorgasbord of goods and
services. Some of the items include agricultural equipment, electrical cables,
highway infrastructure, hospital construction, industrial machinery, mass
transportation parts and accessories, plumbing fixtures and waste treatment
chemicals. But did you know that billions of dollars are also spent on services
like architecture and design, communications and PR, computer software
consulting, data processing, HR and employee development, marketing consulting,
printing and property leasing?
The government and large corporations are looking for women-owned business
that can meet those needs. And they don't want men hiding behind women-owned
businesses, where the wife is the titular head of the company but has none of
the business expertise, makes none of the decisions and gets none of the
profits. WBE Certification is akin to the UL seal of approval for electric
appliances: The business has been "tested" and gives the purchaser comfort that
a woman really does have the majority ownership and control of the company.
Not just any company can say it's woman-owned. It has to prove it through an
application process administered by an outside organization. The beauty of WBE
Certification is that as long as a women (or women) owns at least 51 percent of
a for-profit company and is the final decision-maker, the business has met the
minimum requirements for certification.
The details of gaining certification depend on whether you want to work with
the government or with major corporations. Private-sector certifications can
take as little as 60 to 90 days, as long as you have provided all requested
information; government agencies typically take longer.
Certification has many benefits. Like other approaches to marketing, though,
it's not a magic bullet to riches. Nor is it the right fit for all businesses.
Here are some of its drawbacks:
- Ownership is not the only criteria. Residency, years in business,
company size, number of employees and profitability may affect whether a
given government agency or corporation will certify your company as a
woman-owned business.
- Certifications aren't universally recognized. In most cases,
federal, state and local governments have their own certification processes
and applications, as do different agencies, such as transportation, health
and hospitals, education and environment. These certifications may also
differ from corporate certifications, which can vary from one corporation to
another. As a result, you may find yourself going through multiple
certifications to accomplish your goals and get on the right lists.
- There are costs involved. Many certifications require an
application fee. Some certifications also have an annual recertification
fee.
- Getting certified doesn't guarantee you contracts. Getting
certified gets you in the door. Once you're in the database, however, you
need to market to this new customer base.
Your local Small Business
Development Center or Women's
Business Development Center should be able to give you more background
information and point you to more resources. For corporate opportunities, both
the Women's Business Enterprise
National Council and the
National Women Business Owner Corporation provide information and
certification assistance.