Market and Investment

Introduction

Here is a quick background for those who are not familiar with WBE certifications. A WBE certification is simply a certification you obtain that certifies that your business is 51% or more owned, controlled, and operated by one or more women. WBE stands for woman business enterprise, and can be used to refer to a woman owned business, whether or not that business has a formal certification.

Now let’s look at how to use multiple levels of WBE certifications to grow your woman-owned business. You can obtain a WBE certification at a local, state, or federal government level, and also at a national level (for selling to Corporate America). You should obtain one or more of these certifications based upon which of these entities you would like to sell to.

For example, if you are interested in selling to a state government agency, then you should consider a state WBE certification, but if you want to sell to various large corporations, then you should consider a national certification.

You are not necessarily required to have a certification to do business with a government agency or Corporate America, but as a practical matter, some of them will require or encourage you to have a certification so you can increase your chances of getting business from them. That is the primary reason these certifications can be beneficial ” to increase your chances of landing the government and/or Corporate America as a client.

The reason these WBE certifications increase your chances of getting business from the government and large corporations is because both the government and corporations that receive public funds are required to award a certain percentage of their contracts to women owned business. By obtaining that WBE certification, you can increase your chances of getting work from the government and Corporate America to help them meet their mandates.

Help Grow Your Business by Obtaining Multiple Certifications

If you have the type of product or service that government agencies in your state would be interested in buying, then you should definitely consider obtaining a WBE certification in your state, if your state offers a WBE certification program.

One way to skyrocket your business sales opportunities can be to obtain WBE certifications in several states. Many often believe that they can only obtain a WBE state certification in the state in which their business is located. However, you can actually obtain WBE certifications in multiple states, and by doing so, can increase your chances of getting work from state government agencies in each state in which you are certified.

Unfortunately, it does take some extra effort to obtain your certification in multiple states, since each state has a separate WBE certification process and paperwork. So if you dont plan to sell to state government agencies in a certain state, then dont waste your time obtaining a certification unless there is some other reason you need to.

Another strategy often used by many successful women owned businesses is to leverage multiple state certifications in combination with a federal certification and national certification. In other words, businesses that sell a product or service that any or all of these entities would buy can benefit from obtaining these different levels of certification.

The first step in determining what level(s) of certifications to go after is to analyze who you would like to have as a customer. The next step is to determine the level of certification that will best increase your chances of obtaining that entity as a client. If your business isnt interested in selling to the government or Corporate America, then dont waste your time with one of these WBE certifications.

These WBE certifications will really only help you increase your chances of gaining business from those deep pockets. But if you do want to have those deep pockets as clients, you would be crazy not to consider a certification that could give you a serious competitive advantage due to mandated quotas that have to be met.

Denise Gosnell is an entrepreneur, as well as a world-recognized author on business, technology, and legal topics. For more information on growing your business through WBE certifications, make sure you check out Denise’s FREE CD and other training on obtaining a WBE certification