Wbe Certification: Maximize The Opportunities Available To Your Woman Owned Business
What does WBE mean? WBE stands for "Woman Business Enterprise". If you are a WBE, you can obtain one or more levels of certification to increase your business sales opportunities.
With a WBE certification, you simply obtain a certification from a certification office to confirm that your business is 51% owned, controlled, and operated by one or more women. It can be confusing since there are different types and levels of certification, so let's look at each type in more detail.
Not every WBE would benefit from a WBE certification. For example, if you have a woman owned business that doesn’t sell a service or product that the government or Corporate America would ever want to purchase, then WBE certifications aren't really needed.
You should definitely pursue the idea of obtaining a WBE certification if you would like to sell your products or services to these billionaire clients. One reason a WBE certification is valuable is because government agencies and many corporations are required to award a certain percentage of business each and every year to WBE enterprises. Your WBE certification is proof that you meet the requirement of being a woman-owned business.
There are four different types of certifications you can obtain, which include (a) Local Certificiation; (b) State Certification; (c) Federal Certification; and (d) National Certification.
Each of these four certification levels will be explored further.
Local Certifications for WBE
Local government agencies in your state may have a local certification. If you want to do business with a particular local government agency and want to increase your chances of getting them as a client, then definitely obtain a local WBE certification with their office, if they have such a program.
State Certifications for WBE
State certifications can be obtained in most states through that state's MBE/WBE office. If you want to sell to state governments with increase opportunities to get projects from them, you should obtain a state certification. If you want to obtain a state WBE certification, contact the certifying office in the state in which you want to be certified. You then have to submit the application and supporting documentatin that they require.
Federal Certification for WBE
Actually, there is no formal certification process for obtaining federal certification. The Federal WBE certifications are what are called "self-certifying". When selling to the U.S. federal government, then you "self-certify" that you are a WBE. The "self-certifying" means that you sign and acknowledge on the submitted bids that your business is 51% owned, controlled, and operated by a woman. If you are later awarded that project with the federal government, you may be asked to prove your WBE status, but in most cases they don't. Do not claim to be a WBE if you are not.
Since there is no formal federal government WBE application process, you can get started immediately and respond to federal government opportunities and leverage your WBE status be sure that you are registered as a federal government vendor with CCR, etc.). And remember that the federal government has mandatory goals to award 5% of their projects each year to woman owned businesses. (That statistic was current as of September 2009, but the exact percentage can vary with time).
It's a significant point that the federal government has projects that are set-aside just for WBE’s. So this is a great opportunity for WBE's to get more business!
National Certification for WBE
The Women's Business Enterpise National Counsel (www.wbenc.org) is the certifying office for national certifications. National certifications allow you to increase your chances of selling to large corporations. You should first check with the large corporations that you want as clients to see whether they require a national certification or not, before you proceed. You may find that the corporations who you want to work with may honor a state certification, or not require one at all. But many large corporations today require that you have a national certification from WBENC.
Denise Gosnell is an attorney and world-recognized author of business, technology, and legal topics. If you are interested in becoming a WBE or obtaining a WBE certification, make sure you obtain your FREE copy of Denise's WBE certification starter kit (just for entering your name and email).
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