Posts Tagged ‘certification’
Save the hassle, prep for certification
So, you want to get your business certified, but are you completely ready to pursue certification? Business owners often apply for certification without first reviewing the management structure and other vital aspects of their business, in order to safeguard that all certification requirements are met. The key to certification success is to conduct an in-depth…
Read MoreWhat Does It Mean to Be a Certified Diverse Owned Business
What follows is an excerpt from Chapter 2 (Why Certify) of our book Certify & Sell: Your Guide to Certification & Supplier Diversity. We get frequent calls from semi-panicked business owners whose client has just asked if they’re a certified diverse business. A surprising number of them ask us what that means; many think they…
Read MoreHow Workers with Disabilities can use Technology to Advance Careers
We have a guest author this month, Marcus Lansky; Founder, Abilitator.biz While disabilities may have once held workers back from advancing their careers, starting a business, or obtaining a college degree, technology has made it easier than ever for individuals with physical, mental, intellectual, or communicative disabilities to achieve their personal and professional goals. From…
Read MoreWho Certifies?
There are many government and third-party programs offering SDMWVLGBTQBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered or Queer Business Enterprise) certification in the United States. Let’s start with federal programs and go on from there. The Small Business Administration (SBA) oversees several programs including the 8(a), Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), Economically…
Read MoreWhy Get Diversity Certified?
The short answer for most SDMWVLGBTQBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered or Queer Business Enterprise) owners is that a client, or potential client, suggested it to them. We get calls from many of these owners wondering what a diversity certification is and how it can help them. Basically, the certificate…
Read MoreSlow Changes
The federal government is shutting down its self-certification of women-owned small businesses — again. We’ve been hearing about this since 2015, so we’re not holding our breath yet. In a program that was begun in 2010, NASA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported in 2013 that 35% of the WOSBs it contracted with “may…
Read MoreTo Gift or To Loan?
We’ve been researching how gifts and loans from non-certifiable owners can impact some state-based certifications of legitimately owned DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises). Yes, harping on legitimacy is part of our shtick. We have absolutely no interest in seeing these certification programs abused or defrauded. Anyway, you would think that a gift is perfectly acceptable, since…
Read MoreAgain With Control & Governance
If a SDMWVLGBTBE’s (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) business owner reviews any certifier’s eligibility criteria s/he’ll find a requirement that reads something like this: the business must be at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by a diverse owner(s). Owned and operated are straightforward, but the area of…
Read MoreHelp! I don’t have that document.
The certification process is co-dependent. The business itself is being certified as being capable to provide its products and/or services. The business is being certified as being at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by a diverse individual(s) who possesses the knowledge and skill to run the business applying for certification. This is why certifiers require supporting documentation…
Read MoreMeet the 3rd Party Certifiers
New businesses open every day and we know entering the diverse supplier landscape can be confusing with all those acronyms flying around for the types of certifications available (DOBE, MBE, WBE, etc.) and certifiers (NGLCC, NVBDC, USPAACC, etc.) who offer them. Today we’re re-introducing the 3rd party certifiers (which means these certifiers are not a…
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