Calling all female business owners! It helps to be WBENC-certified because it proves that a woman (or women) owns, operates, and manages at least 51 percent of your business. The WBENC women owned business certification (issued by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council) provides you with loads of benefits. You can attract more organizations and investors who want to work with women business owners, for example. Read on if you want to learn how to achieve this valuable certification:
Check out this awesome infographic made by the Women’s Business Development Center that takes you step by step on how to get certified. This is only one of the many resources available to help you. You can contact them directly and they will coach you too!
The Rules
In order to qualify for the WBENC certification, you must be:
- A citizen of the United States or a permanent legal resident.
- The person who manages and controls the daily operations of your business.
The Application Process
Applying for the WBENC certification is relatively straight-forward. However, you need to have the required documents to support your application. It’s easiest and makes good sense just to gather your documents together and then apply. Most documents are pretty simple to obtain, however, many of them won’t pertain to your business, so therefore you simply just say that the document is not applicable to your business.
These documents include:
- A signed, sworn affidavit
- A history of your business
- A signed copy of the WBENC user agreement
- Your resume
- Your professional and business permits
- Your birth certificate or passport (to prove your U.S. citizenship)
You will also need to include the WBENC processing fee with your application.
Why does the WBENC require all of this information? They are looking for evidence that your business supports female ownership and control.
Once you have compiled the required documents, register your application online with your business email address and create a password. You will need your email address and password to check the progress of your application and obtain your WBENC certificate.
What You Need To Know
- The WBENC will charge you a processing fee based on your annual gross revenue. This fee ranges from $350 (for businesses that make under $1 million per year) to $1,250 (for businesses that make over $50 million per year).
- It can take up to 90 days to achieve your certificate from the date you submit your application.
- Your certificate is valid for one year from the date of issue. You will need to apply for a new certificate every year, but will not need all the same documents again, just a couple for updating your membership.
The WBENC certification celebrates female business owners and can provide you with more career and investment opportunities. Follow the steps above and apply for your certificate online.
Benefits
- Access to a current list of supplier diversity and procurement executives at hundreds of major U.S. corporations and federal, state and local government entities that accept WBENC certification. WBENC is also an approved Third Party Certifier for the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contacting Program.
- National recognition of WBEND-Certified WBEs by thousands of major U.S. corporations and federal, state and local government entities.
- Formal and informal opportunities to pursue business deals with National Corporate Members and / or WBENC-Certified WBEs
- Full rights to use the WBENC logo right along side your own for proof of your certification and so much more
To learn more about woman owned business certification and to see what it can do for your business, contact them and see if this is right for you. Or you can contact Velocity Merchant Services today at 888-902-6007.
Other blogs you may be interested in are: Running a Business With Your Life Partner
or would you be interested in learning what the main differences are between female and male–run businesses?