How Minority-Owned Businesses Can Catch a Break

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These can help entrepreneurs gain access to corporate procurement programs, although many government programs buy only from citizen-owned businesses.

Many small business owners find that their fellow certified vendors become their clients. Within the WBENC list, for example, up to 50% of certified business owners sign procurement contracts with other small women-owned businesses.

The SBA's 8(a) federal certification program promotes access for socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs— those who face bias because of their identity and therefore have limited access to the free enterprise system—to federal contracts. It also serves as a directory of qualified small businesses for prime contractors. State and local governments may also offer their own certification programs. Generally, certification as a minority or woman-owned business also allows entrepreneurs to attend pre-bid conferences on state and federal contracts. SBA.gov/about-SBA/sbaprograms/8abd

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTs

Several organizations work with entrepreneurs to demystify the government contracting process. "It's really not that complicated or difficult, you just need to know what it entails," says Barbara Kasoff, president of advocacy organization Women Impacting Public Policy. wipp.org

Kasoff notes that the SBA is an excellent place to start. But her organization has also joined with American Express Open to launch the Give Me 5 program, named after the 5% of all federal contracts that are supposed to go to women business owners. It offers monthly Webinars and other tools for those who want to sell to the federal government. In November, Amex launched Open for Government Contracts, an online tool that walks one through the process of applying for a government contract. openforum.com

Minority groups may also offer assistance with federal contracting. The USPAAC and the Hispanic Chamber offer extensive online resources to help navigate the government procurement process and offer training on how to make bids. "The opportunities are there," says Javier Palomarez, president of the Hispanic Chamber. "We want to make sure that our members are prepared and ready to take them."

EDUCATION

Many colleges and universities offer significant resources for entrepreneurs, and plenty are open to the community. For established businesses, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth offers one-week courses such as Building the High-Performing Minority Business and Growing the Minority Business to Scale. Other schools have programs for launching or growing a business. Among Babson College's offerings is Moving from Managing to Leading, an executive course for women leaders. The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University also offers an executive program in partnership with the NMSDC. tuck.dartmouth.edu; babson.edu; kellogg.northwestern.edu

INFORMATION RESOURCES

Rather than offering services to members, the National Women's Business Council, a policy advisory council to the President and Congress, serves as an information clearinghouse. Resources include research on entrepreneurship and papers on current issues that affect entrepreneurs, as well as lists of other organizations that may provide aid. nwbc.gov

Choi is a staff writer for BusinessWeek SmallBiz in New York.

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