The term WOSB stands for Woman-Owned Small Business. It is a specific designation used by American government agencies. The special programs are set to encourage and empower female business owners of the country.
The goal of the federal government is to award a minimum of 5% of all the federal contracting dollars to businesswomen each year. WOSB specifically focuses on women who are in economically disadvantaged positions. Contracting officers make sole source awards to WOSBs under specific circumstances.
In the year 2000, public law established the women’s procurement program to assist the government to meet its 5% WOSB contracting goal.
EDWOSB is a subset of WOSB. If a woman qualifies EDWOSB, then she will automatically qualify as a WOSB.
The WOSB is run by the SBA also known as Small Business Administration. It is only for those women who are willing to do business in the federal market with the federal agencies. If your industry NAICS code is not listed then the WOSB program will not benefit you. Women must use the NAICS code that is listed on their federal tax returns.
There is no additional cost to add to the WOSB. People who are eligible for the WBE can only obtain WOSB certification.
If you are looking forward to get registered with the WOSB then you have landed on the right blog. From here you will be getting pieces of valuable information that will help you to acquire WOSB certification. So without wasting any more time, understand the subject precisely.
WOSB Federal contracting program assistance
To receive assistance WOSB Federal Contracting program has multiple avenues. SBA offers resource partners to assist all the small businesses. Firms can use SBA local assistance tool to contact their local SBA regional and district office. Getting a helping hand or an assistance can be beneficial for the applicants. It will make everything easier and simpler.
Know the Self-certification & Third-party certification for WOSB
The local PTAC counselor can help small business owners to determine a suitable certification option for their businesses.
There are two types of certifications and they are:
· Self-certification.
· Third-party certification.
An update has come in the year 2020 which says that the SBA is no longer allowing businesses to self-certify. We will be discussing all the ways so that you can choose on your own.
Add on the WOSB to your WBE certification.
It is considered to be the easier option. The steps are given below in order.
· Select the ‘Yes’ option on question 1 of your WBE application, or you can do recertification to add on the WOSB.
· Do upload your active SAM.gov registration. Make sure that you are active on SAM.gov before getting certified by WOSB. There is no for signing up with SAM.gov.
· Upload supporting documentation such as your list of employees or quarterly tax return.
Or you can try out another method.
Apply with the SBA directly
· Go to certify.sba.gov
· You will get the option that requires filling out an additional application.
· Do upload the required documents for the WBE application as well, because it will be processed by the SBA.
· The option also requires you to be registered with SAM.gov
Benefits of WOSB
The government of the United States limits the competition for certain contracts to businesses that participate in the women’s contracting program. It helps the women to get a field or a space to enhance their chances of doing business in the federal market. These contracts are solely designed for women-owned businesses that are underrepresented. Some of the contracts are purposely restricted and the SBA maintains a list of eligible industries and their NAICS codes. Joining the WOSB Federal Contracting Program makes businesses eligible to compete for federal contracts set aside for the program in the market.
Apart from all these, there are other benefits that will help your small business to prosper. We recommend you go through the benefits thoroughly so that you don’t miss out on experiencing any advantages.
Eligibility criteria for the WOSB program
We have explained the important criteria for being eligible for the WOSB program.
· The company of the applicants must be small in size. The size should be in accordance with SBA’s standards for a specific industry.
· The applicant should own at least 51% unconditionally. The ownership should be directly owned and controlled by one or more women as the citizens of the United States.
· The women owners must have long-term decisions for the businesses.
· Women must make up a majority of the Board of Directors to keep maximum control under women.
· Women should make up 51% of the voting power. Do sit on the board and have enough voting power.
· The applicant’s company must meet the WBENC and WOSB Standards.
· Review the WOSB Ready site as a resource for important requirements.
· View the comprehensive listing of the WOSB Program NAICS Codes.
· Applicant must be registered with SAM.
We understand that there are a lot of eligibility criteria for the WOSB program. Work on your small business and gradually fulfill all the requirements of eligibility and qualify for acquiring certification.
Process of Women-owned small business registration
Wondering how to get certified as a woman-owned small business? Here is what you need to know in order to register and get your certification as a WOSB. We have broken down the lengthy process into three simple stages, the compactness of the information will help the readers to understand in a better way. So follow these three steps to get registered.
Decide a certification
In simple words, the SBA certifies women-owned small businesses. The women who have economical disadvantages but run small businesses. The motto is to give these businesses recognition when they bid for government contracts.
There are two major players for getting certified for the private sector.
· The National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC).
· Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
Both these players offer a woman’s business WBE certification. The WBE will be accepted by most private companies and a few municipalities. Remember, the WOSB is required for federal government programs.
Therefore, the very first thing you need to do is to decide on certification for getting registered in WOSB. WOSB and WBE have some differences such as the WOSB program limits certified organizations to specific NAICS codes whereas the WBE does not do that. So decide on a certification carefully. We will be discussing the difference between the WOSB and WBE in the end.
Apply for your certification
You can apply for certification by filling out the form for WOSB certifications. The form will be available on the Small Business Administration website. Women can also get certified as a women-owned small business by one of the four SBA-approved organizations. These are organizations are mentioned below.
· The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
· The National Women Business Owners Corporation.
· The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
· The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.
Register with the System for Award Management
Simply getting registered with a WOSB certification is not all you need to know. You also need to get registered with the System for Award Management in order to be eligible for obtaining government contracts.
The steps we have highlighted are the right way to acquire a WOSB certification so go through the process carefully.
How much time does it take to get WOSB certification?
Now the question arises, how long does it take to acquire a WOSB certification, is it a quick and easy process or a lengthy one? Getting a WOSB certification does not happen quickly overnight. The process for acquiring a WOSB certification takes up to 30 days according to the Women’s Business Enterprise Nation Council. Yes, it is a time-consuming process so you need to keep patience to see the result.
You can contact your local certifying Regional Partner Organization, they will help with any sort of relatable queries throughout the process.
So don’t expect something will happen instantly.
The differences between WOSB & WBE
We have covered almost all the important aspects of the subject matter. So why not mention the distinctive factors between the WOSB and WBE? Know the difference because it will help you to choose anyone.
The difference between a women-owned small business and the Women’s Business Enterprise is pretty simple.
In general, the WBE designation is accepted in most private companies and a few municipalities, on the other hand, the WOSB certification is required to participate in the federal programs.
The WBE-certified companies have no requirements on size but the WOSB requires companies to meet the size according to the WOSB standards.
Conclusion
You can get certification through a third-party organization or you can opt for self-certification. Once a WOSB certification has been granted, you need to notice any further additional SBA required steps to participate in the WOSB federal contracting program. So in this blog, we have covered some essential information that will work as a guide to get you a WOSB certification. Stay determined and follow the systematic process carefully and you will be good to go as a women-owned small business.
