The SBA 8a Mentor

There is no better time than now to make the investment and seek SBA 8a certification.  Why?  With all of the new federally funded project monies flowing into states, certified SBA 8a companies are at the right place, at the right time.

What is SBA 8a Certification?
The Small Business Administration has a program specifically created to help “level the contract playing field” for historically underutilized businesses (woman-owned, minority-owned, service disabled veteran-owned). The SBA 8a Business Development Program provides federally certified small business owners with the opportunity to bid on “set aside” contracts.

Certified small business owners are encouraged to contact purchasing representatives of local offices of federal agencies (examples:  NOAA, Department of Commerce, NASA, Department of Veteran Affairs) aboutupcoming bid opportunities.  Many agencies has a supplier diversity database that is a good entry point.

In addition, prime contractors (examples: Siemens, Northrup Grumman, URS, etc) are required to subcontract about 15-20% of all of their huge projects to qualified small businesses. Subcontracts can be from $50K - Several Million dollars based upon the small business service.  The time to start cultivating relationships with prime contractors is NOW, even if you are not SBA 8a certified.  People do business with people that they know.

The SBA 8a certification process starts with entering your business into four databases:

1. EIN ( IRS Employer Identification Number)
2. Dun & Bradstreet
3. CCR (Central Contractor Registry)
4. GLS (Global Login System).

You should register in these databases in this order.  Applying for and getting your login/ password information back can take about a week.  Once you have received your GLS login, you can go online and begin your SBA 8a application process.

Once your online application has been filled out and you have printed and mailed your application to one of the two SBA processing centers (Philadelphia and San Francisco), you can expect to hear back on an initial screening within a couple weeks.

At that time you might be told your application is not valid or the SBA will request additional paperwork.  It is important to respond back as soon as possible and address all issues.  Once your have responded, there will be about a 90-day review process.  After the review, you will be  notified if your company was accepted.  Again, you may have to provide additional information, so do so in a timely manner.

If you are thinking that is it, hold on. There is one more hoop.
Within a month of receiving your acceptance letter you will be contacted by the local SBA 8a office about making an appointment to meet with a Small Business Representative.  At that meeting you will go over the SBA 8a program benefits and then be handed another form (33 pages - no I am not kidding!) that outlines your business and marketing plans for the next year.

I recommend that you download the form and get it completed to take with you on the initial visit.  Then you can hand it to the Rep and be done with it.  It should only take a couple more days and POOF, you are officially in the SBA 8a program.  You can now legally bid on SBA 8a set-aside contracts.

What are the components of the SBA 8a Application?
There are two main parts: the online application where you copy numbers from tax forms into various online forms.  The second part is completing a social / economic disadvantage narrative.  This is the most difficult part of the application. Why? Because you are telling the story of all of the humiliations, disappointments and failures you have endured moving from student to employee to business owner.

If you are the owner of a woman, minority or service disabled veteran company, now is the time to get your SBA 8a Certification.  Why?  Massive federal dollars are flowing into state projects that only certified SBA 8a companies will be able to compete for.  Learn more about SBA 8a certification from a small business owner whose company has been certified since 2005.  Get the facts!

The narrative is a “lemons” story, instead of lemons to lemonade.  Many people get stuck on this part and never complete their application.  There are no clear instructions or criteria given by the SBA on writing the disadvantage narrative.  We recommend that since the small business arena has become so competitive, you will want to examine getting help preparing your application or at least the disadvantage narrative.

There are many choices out there, but we recommend that you go with a company that specializes in SBA 8a application preparation rather than just a small business generalist.  The SBA is changing their processes frequently, so you need a specialist to turn to.

This is an historic time to get your company certified.  Catch the 8a wave and ride it through these tough times as you grow your small business towards prosperity.  Check out our SBA 8(a) products and services at: www.the8amentor.com