Are You Eligible to Hold an 8a Certification?

Having an 8a certification for your small business is everything you can do to start your dealings with the federal government. If you want your business to get 8a certified, you must first see whether it is eligible for the certification. Getting certified is not that straightforward as it appears often. You need to meet several requirements in order to qualify for the 8a Business Development Program. 8a Certification consultants are the perfect touch points in this regard.

Here’s what you will require for getting 8a Certified.

Are you a Small business owner?

This is the first and foremost requirement for businesses that want to acquire 8a certification. So, only if you have a small size business, you will be able to get your business 8a certified. However, any small size business won't be eligible. Though 8a certification consultants will provide you better ideas regarding this you should always know the requirements on your part. The Small Business Administration has set a regulation pertaining to the small size of the firm. The businesses need to meet that size requirement for being eligible for the certification.

For example, if you are an owner of a mining or a manufacturing industry with less than 500 employees working in your firm, you will be considered to be eligible for the SBA 8a certification.

Then again, if you are an owner of a non-manufacturing firm with annual revenue less than 70 million dollars, you can apply for the program.

Are you Socially Disadvantaged

You might wonder, how a socially disadvantaged person can start up his own firm, but federal government has such provisions, where a socially disadvantage group can start off a small business and run it. But, to own the certification, you have to be a small business owner. This means you need to belong from any of the groups like African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans or Asian Pacific Americans. You can also earn this status if you can show to the SBA that you have suffered from racial, cultural and ethnic prejudices in the American society. Take to 8a Certification Consultants for more.

Are you Economically Disadvantaged?

Any 8a certification Consultants would tell you that you ‘d be considered as a small business only when you have 250,000 dollars as your personal net worth. If the amount is more than that in any case, you might not fall under that category.  You should also be able to show the SBA that you are unable to compete in the business world because of lack of fund and credit opportunities.

Disadvantaged owner to have majority ownership

Make sure that the disadvantaged owner has the largest share of the ownership. The Small Business Administration doesn't only require the businesses to be socially and economically disadvantaged but also demands majority ownership of the disadvantaged individuals in the business. This means if the business is at least 51% owned by a disadvantaged individual, the company will qualify for the SBA 8a certification. Seek assistance from the 8a certification consultants for the same.

Have you completed at least 2 years in Business?

The SBA demands the SDBs to be in the industry for at least 2 years. This is because a number of young businesses have been seen to fail before reaching the two years of age. So, if a business has survived two years in business, it will be qualified for the 8a Business Development Program.

Other qualifications where 8a certification consultants will help includes the following

• The character certificate of the entrepreneur.

• Whether the firm deals with products/services that the federal government buys.