Walk Ahead with Minority Business Certifications

Author: webmantra | Posted: 30.03.2012

Before discussing about the small business certification benefits, let’s know about the eligibility issues and the hurdles an applicant has to face in order to achieve success. Considering the benefits of minority business certification programs of the US federal government today people are increasingly coming into small business and opting for the program to get established to the most competitive federal market field. So by now one thing is clear that competition to win a federal grant is pretty high and not at all a cakewalk for the small business companies. List of eligibility criteria are there to evaluate the eligibility status of the small businesses.

Basic objective of this program is to support the minority group of individuals those are lagging behind due to social or economical disadvantages. The presumed disadvantaged groups include the African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans or the Asian Pacific Americans. However, even not being a part of the disadvantaged groups one can apply for the small business 8a certification by establishing his or her social disadvantages on the basis of convincing evidence. Women entrepreneurs are also eligible to opt for the 8A Certification program as the women business owners are always considered to be the minority irrespective of their social standing. Therefore, it is advisable that you go through the minority certification program details even if it apparently seems not for your help.

The basic eligibility criteria require the applicant to be an US citizen, have at least 51% sole possession and must focus full-time on the business. This is the reason why students are not eligible for the grant. Apart from that, to be qualified the business company must have filed two consecutive years of income tax returns. Well, here if your business has less than two years of income tax filings, you will have to apply for a waiver. Even though the odds are not acceptable, the small business companies are encouraged to apply for the 8a program and self-certify. In terms of business returns, the owner must have an income limit of $200,000 average for the two years and also the applicant’s assets must be under $4 million excluding personal liabilities.

By meeting all the above mentioned 8a certification requirements and conditions a small disadvantaged company get an opportunity to do business with the federal government. Well, you should not expect sells immediately being certified by the 8a program. It requires you to have a strong business focus and marketing potential to convince your targeted contracting officers. Also the minority business certification programs are not the direct funding program and so you should not expect to get financed by the certifying authority. With the certification you get an opportunity to get into the most competitive federal market.

So, apart from eligibility issues there are several other aspects that you need to make clear before opting for the program and that is the reason why it is advisable that you hire a professional small business certification consultant who can help you throughout the program. The 8a Certification consultants not only help the small businesses to get certified but also help them win a federal grant by beating the cutthroat competition. So, what are you waiting for? With the help of these professionals winning a federal grant and doing business with the federal government is really not a very big deal!

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