Why Certify your Business?
There are a number of
excellent reasons – literally billions -- for you to determine if your company
qualifies for 8(a)BD and/or SDB certification. The most recent contract figures for the
two programs were $5.8 billion and an additional $7.2 billion respectively.
1. You will be forced to answer some important questions and do some right things up -
front because of the application and associated business planning processes. Among the
major causes of business failures today is the fact that entrepreneurs don’t set
aside the time to establish a vision, business objectives and a business plan.
2. You will limit your competition for business as an 8(a) contractor to other, similar
companies and not necessarily the behemoths of the industry. You have an opportunity to
compete on price or innovation in a broader sense than you would if you were competing in
the full and open marketplace. The 8(a) arena allows you to sharpen your competitive
skills against players of similar capabilities before you have to enter the big bad world
of full and open competition. Moreover, you also will receive important price adjustment
or proposal evaluation factor preference benefits over non-SDB competitors in
full-and-open competitions. For example, under SBA regulations a certified SDB company
could receive a favorable "price evaluation adjustment" of up to 10 percent or a
proposal evaluation credit of up to 20 percent if it is bidding as a prime contractor. The
price adjustment means an SDB won't have to be the lowest bidder to win a contract award.
The rules also provide a system of preferences for large businesses that use SDBs as
subcontractors.
3. You will have the opportunity to interface with other businesspersons who are
experiencing the same issues facing you. Generally, there is a collegial, cooperative
spirit among 8(a) and SDB companies, an esprit de corps that says we’re all in this
together and therefore I’ll help you out unless it deals the most competitively
sensitive aspects of my business.
4. You will be able to take advantage of a sophisticated support network of people at the
SBA. SBA employees generally will treat you with sensitivity, respect and courtesy. They
will respond to your requests for information and guidance, and will extend to you a
professional helping hand.
5. You will be able to grow your business quickly and without extensive capital
investment, if that is what you choose to do. Participation as an 8(a) and/or SDB
doesn’t necessarily mean small contract levels. Today, these companies compete for
contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Adequate preparation for and the capture
of just one of these contracts could provide a company with annual revenues in the tens of
millions of dollars. Outside of the 8(a)/SDB arena, it may take decades for small
businesses to achieve anything approaching this level of annual revenues; most never do.
6. You will be introduced to the politics of business. The 8(a) and SDB programs are a
political creation. Designed to bring minority business people into the political arena,
the programs deal extensively with government regulations, Congressional appropriations
and legislation, and oversight by the Executive Branch of government, which is tasked with
governing and operating the 8(a) program. Ownership of an 8(a) or SDB company could be
your best opportunity to sit at the same table with the President of the United States, to
testify before Congress on legislation dealing with small and minority business, or to
meet with your U.S. Senator to discuss the ramifications of pending legislation.
7. You can take as great a position in the leadership of the minority business community
as you’re willing to take on. If you’re looking for an outlet for your
leadership skills and are willing to put in the effort, there are countless opportunities
at the local and national levels within the minority business community that would suit
your talents well.
8. You will be able to take advantage of myriad business educational opportunities dealing
with just about any issue in business that you can think of. The SBA hosts many
educational seminars, courses and even graduate degree programs centered on the needs of
minority businesspersons. Most of these programs are free, and require only that you to
expend the time to take advantage of them. Typically, these educational events will
feature such topics how to develop a business plan, conducting marketing and sales, how to
develop a financial system, how to bring products or services to market in record times,
or how to recruit a proper staff. The subjects cover essentially every aspect of business
life, and are available to you simply because you are aware of them as a result of your
participation in the 8(a) and/or SDB Program.
9. You will experience the satisfaction of growing a significant business from only your
dreams, and enjoy great triumphs and personal relationships along the way. If you have the
typical ego that most entrepreneurs have, then building a monument to yourself and your
accomplishments probably is something you would like to achieve.
10. You should live very comfortably, and make a king’s ransom when you decide to
sell your business. Rarely do small businesspersons get the opportunity to build a
business from Ground Zero to an entity worth $5 million or $25 million or $50-plus
millions of dollars. This level of business growth and success, however, is being achieved
every year by more and more 8(a) and SDB-certified companies.
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Testimonials
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