If your business is majority-owned and operated by women, you may qualify for the Small Business Administration’s Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program. Signing up for this program has many benefits, not the least of which is the ability to bid on special federal contracting opportunities.
Is Your Business A WOSB?
The federal government sets aside some federal contracting jobs specifically for qualifying small businesses, and these are known as small business set aside programs. The Small Business Administration (SBA) manages these programs, and there are several options, including:
- Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB)
- Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB)
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
- HUBZone Certification
- 8(a) Business Development Program
In order to qualify as a WOSB, you must meet the following criteria:
- The business must qualify as small according to SBA size standards.
- The business must be 51% owned and controlled by women who are U.S. citizens.
- Day-to-day operations must be managed by women, and women also must be responsible for making long-term decisions.
One important caveat of the WOSB program is that only certain types of woman-owned businesses are eligible. The government maintains a list of codes, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), and these codes describe the specific goods and services that businesses can provide. There are more than 730 industries listed within these NAICS codes, but only about 625 are eligible for WOSB contracts.
In fact, some of the NAICS codes are reserved specifically for Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Businesses, or EDWOSBs. For instance, if you own a poultry processing plant (NAICS code 311615) and wish to bid on a federal contract for poultry processing, you must be EDWOSB certified to qualify, as those contracts are set aside specifically for EDWOSBs. To qualify for EDWOSB certification, you must meet all WOSB requirements, and you also must meet certain net worth, personal assets, and income standards.
Of course, poultry processing is just one example of NAICS codes that are part of the WOSB and EDWOSB programs. Among the more than 600 industries, you’ll find everything from sign manufacturing to taxi services to engineering services and much more.
We recommend going to SAM.gov and searching through the contract opportunities to see if your goods and services are a match for government contracting. You can search using your NAICS codes, and this will bring up any past or current federal contracts. This will give you an idea as to whether or not the federal marketplace offers contracts for the products and services you can provide to federal agencies.
What About WBE Certification?
You may also have heard the term Woman Business Enterprise, or WBE, and WBE certification and WOSB certification often are confused, but they are not the same. WOSB is a federal government certification designed to help women who wish to bid on federal government contracting jobs.
WBE is not a federal program, but it is a nationally recognized certification, administered primarily by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). While WBE certification will not make you eligible for federal contracting, it can be advantageous to apply for this certification.
For instance, many corporations have supplier diversity goals and will actively seek out certified WBEs to meet those targets. Certification can ensure that your business is on an approved vendor list. There are also many networking and business development opportunities for WBE-certified businesses. It can be smart to consider both WBE certification and WOSB certification.
How To Get Started With Federal Contracting
Government contracting jobs can be very lucrative, and as a WOSB, you will have the advantage of bidding on contracts set aside solely for woman-owned businesses, which can reduce competition and make it easier to win contracts. Of course, you can bid on other applicable contracts, as well, provided you can meet the requirements of the contract.
To bid on any federal contracts, you will need to complete your registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). This is the central database for all federal contractors, and you must maintain an active SAM listing to bid on contracts. If you wish to bid on WOSB set-aside contracts, you will need to keep your WOSB certification and your SAM registration active and current.
At Federal Contractor Registry, we can help you sign up with the SBA as well as provide you with fast, 100% accurate SAM registration services. SAM registration is an arduous process that can take 10 or more hours to complete, especially if you are unfamiliar with aspects such as Federal Acquisition Regulations. Our team has years of experience helping companies from a wide range of industries, including many small businesses.
Additionally, as part of our fees, we will help you sign up with the SBA and determine which set-asides best fit your business, whether this be WOSB, VOSB, 8a certification, or something else. We also will link your SBA account to your SAM account to ensure that federal procurement agents see your small business designations when they review your company data.
Once your SAM registration is approved and you have been approved for your set-asides, you are free to bid on federal contracts. For small businesses, we also recommend checking out SBA’s SUBNet database, the central subcontracting database. Subcontracting under an experienced prime contractor is a great way to get started in contracting.
Additionally, we encourage you to look for local, county, and state government contracts. These are often set aside for small businesses, and these can be just as lucrative as federal contracts and sometimes easier to win. State procurement agencies also often host networking events or workshops to help government contractors enter the marketplace.
If you are interested in federal contracting, the team at Federal Contractor Registry is always here to help. We can complete your SAM registration as well as help you get set up as a WOSB or any type of certified small business. To get started, just click on the green New Registration tab on our homepage and fill out our quick contact form.