How to get Certified as a Woman Owned Business

Tamara Schweitzer

May 12, 2010

How to Become a Certified Woman-Owned Business

Becoming certified as a Women Business Enterprise can help your company pursue new business opportunities.

 

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So, you're a woman and you run a business. In the pool of privately-held small businesses in this country, being a women business owner actually has many advantages. Most public corporations as well as local, state, and federal government purchasing agencies have programs for allotting a certain percentage of business to women-owned companies. Getting certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) can make the difference between landing that business or not. However, the certification process is not without its challenges, and often times owners get discouraged during the process because they lack the proper guidance or misunderstand how the process works. The following is what you need to know should you decide that certification is to your benefit.

How to Become a Certified Women-Owned Business: Make Sure You Meet the Criteria

Before embarking on the certification process, it is important for business owners to understand that it is a major time investment. The requirements for submitting an application are very stringent and must be met completely. "A lot of people want to scream when they are going through it, but they always end up happy that they got certified," says Janet Harris-Lange, president of The National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC), which was the first private national certifier of women business enterprises when it formed in 1995.

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