What Are The Key Checklist While Getting Woman Owned Small Business Certification Application?

For female entrepreneurs, considering applying for Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) certification increases the chances of business growth and development for the firms. The certification grants you access to numerous useful resources and increases your chances of winning a contract with a company or government institution.

The SBA has deemed it fit to launch the Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program to provide women-owned businesses with simplified ways of sourcing for the necessary tools to enhance their businesses. This program consists of a list of contracts that are suitable for industries where women OMWs are scarce. 

Also, WOSB is accompanied by the Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), which is a certification program. This program indicates that any business that participates in the WOSB program will automatically be eligible to bid for federal contracts that support women's entrepreneurship.

Benefits of Certification

The main advantage of every woman owned small business certification application is the possibility to bid for contracts that are specifically reserved for WOSBs or EDWOSBs. The government also wishes to ensure that women entrepreneurs have a chance to compete for specific contracts and limit competition for certain contracts for WOSB Federal Contracting Program participants.

This certification applies to both the federal contracts, which are offered by the government, and the private contractor’s contracts, which can reserve certain contracts to maximize the WOSBs’ chances. These contracts are usually in sectors that are not common for women-operated small businesses to find themselves in.

Key Checklist for WOSB Application

To successfully complete your WOSB application, follow this detailed checklist:

• Verify Eligibility: Remember that your business should conform to the size standards prescribed by the SBA. Further detail on all the criteria is available to the public on the SBA website.

• Ownership Documentation: Collect papers that demonstrate that the business is owned up to 51% by one or more females who are U.S. citizens. This varies but may encompass stock certificates, operating agreements, or any other legal papers.

• Control and Management Evidence: Gather proof that women operate day-to-day transactions and make strategic plans for generations to come into the business. This may include formation documents such as company formation documents like articles of incorporation or memoranda and articles of association, resolutions like bylaws, board and shareholders’ meeting’s minutes, and employment records such as job descriptions, among others.

• Financial Documents: Submit financial statements, tax returns, and any other financial documents that support the applicant’s economic disadvantage, if so certified as an EDWOSB.

• Resume and Experience: Present the curriculum vitae and experiences of the women who are the owners and managers of the business. This assists in ascertaining their capacity to run the business.

• Legal Structure Documents: These are all legal papers that deal with the formation of the business, like articles of incorporation, partnership agreements, or the formation documents of an LLC.

Third-Party Certification: , Third-party certification from any of the organizations that are recognized by SBA though not necessary can make the process easier. Such organizations that certify WBEs are the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and the National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC).

Prepare for Site Visit: Officials of the SBA may pay the business an unscheduled visit in a bid to confirm some of the information that was given in the woman owned small business certification application. Be ready to explain the running and controlling of your business during this visit.

Online Application: Complete the WOSB application during the SBA’s online tool, which is designed for certification. Be aware that all the documents have been uploaded and properly converted to the format that you need them.

Follow-Up: This is after the submission process; you need to keep track of the status of your application as well as ensure that you are able to reply to any requests made by the SBA in the process of the approval of your application.

Conclusion

An application for a woman owned small business certification can help in unlocking new opportunities for a company to expand. Thus, if one would strictly follow the outlined key checklist and abide by the SBA requirements, the certification likely gets a green light. In addition to the boosting of your credibility this certification puts your business in the right place to bid for valuable federal contracts to increase your business success in the long-run.