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Women-Owned Businesses Get A Boost From The Small Business Administration
A new program offers women-owned businesses a boost
Starting Friday, February 4, women entrepreneurs can start taking steps to participate in a new small business contracting program promoted by the federal government’s Small Business Administration.
The Obama administration announced the initiative to enhance their engagement with women small business owners. The program will create new economic opportunities for women-owned small businesses to compete for government contracts.
This is great news for the many work-at-home moms (like me) who run their own businesses. Especially since the economy tanked, it seems like nearly every mom I know runs her own small business. Whether we’re making soap or designing websites, more and more women are figuring out how to turn their talents into cash.
If you have a business that might benefit from government contract work, this program could be your golden ticket.
Does your business qualify? Application instructions will be rolled out on Friday, but here are the basics:
To qualify as a WOSB, a firm must be at least fifty-one percent owned and controlled by one or more women, and primarily managed by one or more women. The women must be U.S. citizens and the firm must be considered small according to SBA size standards. To be deemed “economically disadvantaged”, a firm’s owners must meet specific financial requirements set forth in the program regulations.
The first contracts in the new program will be awarded next fall. In the ramp up phase that starts this week, you can learn about the program and begin applying for contracts. For more information, check out the program Women-Owned Small Business program website.
Photo: gibsongolfer
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0 Comments
gigi commented on Feb 04 11 at 11:02 amThe link to the government website is erroring out. Great piece!
Ellen Elwell commented on Feb 04 11 at 2:52 pmSeveral years ago, a major client (Schering-Plough) asked me and my business to get certified as a WOSB because our volume of printing was so high and they wanted the minority (woman) deduction. Fortunately, I had a full-time admin. The forms (notebooks!), samples and other paperwork – culminated by the end-interview “investigation” – took dozens of hours (if not more). The scrutiny is totally amazing.
As part of my approval benefit, I got RFQs (Requests for Quotes) and RFPs (Requests for Proposals) relatively regularly…though none of them really applied to what my business offers. Plus, fees are involved and you have to be renewed annually (some investigation plus fees). Also, there are meetings and conventions – but they usually cost money, too.
This certification might be appropriate to some businesses – like construction, cleaning and other actual services. But it’s hard for me to see how they could have helped me – or anyone else – in marketing with one exception: ad placement.
Maybe things have changed – and I hope they have. But before you get into the process, find out what the risk/reward ratio is. Time and frustration factors do count.
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