Certification by government can help women-, minority-owned businesses

Q: I see that the University of Houston Bauer College SBDC is offering several workshops on growing your business through getting certified as a minority- or womanowned business, and in fact, frequently offers those types of workshops. How does getting certified help me grow my business, and how do I know if I qualify for certification?

A: Government agencies on the federal, state and local level, as well as most large corporations, have goals for doing business with minority-and women-owned firms. The idea behind the goals is to level the playing field for businesses that traditionally have not had the same opportunities to compete by making sure they get their fair share of contract awards.

But the agencies and corporations typically get credit toward those goals only when they award the contracts to firms that have been properly certified. So if you are a certified business bidding on a job against a noncertified firm, all things being equal, you will most likely get the job. That’s how certification helps you grow your business.

Before you worry about whether you qualify for certification, however, you should consider whether these agencies and large corporations are your target customers.

Certification is not meant for every business. If, for example, you own a small cupcake shop in a strip center, you probably won’t be trying to win contracts with the big companies. But if you own a residential lawn service and want to try to expand your business by going after the lawn maintenance contracts at some of the big companies in town, certification could help you.

It’s also important to note that there isn’t just one minority- or womanowned certification that applies to all agencies and corporations, so you need to home in on your target customer before starting down the path to certification.

The federal government’s certification programs are different from the state’s, and there are others for the city of Houston and entities such as Metro.

Certification as a woman-owned business is currently offered through the Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance and is critical for fostering relationships with the large corporations in town, but it doesn’t help with getting government contracts.

So who qualifies? In most instances, the business must be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by an individual (or individuals) meeting the criteria as either a minority or woman. The business must be small, and the owner must be a U.S. citizen.

All of the certification workshops at the SBDC are offered free of charge, so if you want to learn more and find out what’s involved in the application process, attend the workshop that seems most applicable to you. Find details and register at sbdc.uh.edu.