The Most Important SBA Requirements For 8a certification

Are you are a member of a disadvantaged or a minority group? Do you own a small business in the U.S.? What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take the opportunity to compete for federal government contracts! All this means you can do business with the federal government once you are 8a certified by the Small Business Administration or the SBA in the U.S.

However, getting 8a certification isn’t an easy affair. The SBA rejects almost seven out of ten applications they receive. You definitely do not want to be one among them. So, what you need to do is be very particular with what they actually require. They are very strict with the approval process.

Here we have mentioned the 8a certification requirements. Follow them rigidly to get your 8 a certification application approved at once.

Disadvantaged requirements

You need to be socially as well as economically disadvantaged in order to be eligible for the program. If you belong to any of the presumed groups like African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics or Asian Americans, you will be eligible to apply for the certification. If you do not belong to any of the above-mentioned groups, you will need to submit documents if you want to prove the SBA that you have been socially deprived in the American society. For that you need to prove you have been discriminated in the U.S on the basis of geographic location, cultural prejudice, race or ethnicity. You also need to prove your economic status to the SBA. You should be able to prove that you do not have a personal net worth of more than $250K. The individual must prove that he/she faces a hard time competing with other businesses because of lack of fund or credit opportunities.

Ownership and control requirements

Being a disadvantaged individual, you need to own at least 51% of the business. Also make sure you control your business, which means you should have the full-decision making power.

Small Business Requirements

You should have a business, which is small in size. The size standard is actually set by the SBA. So, if you consider your company to be small, it won’t do. Your firm needs to be small according to the standards set by the Small Business Administration. If you are a manufacturing or a mining firm, keep in mind that your number of employees shouldn’t exceed 500. But if you are a non-manufacturing firm, you need to make sure your annual revenue doesn’t exceed seven million dollars. Once your business meets the SBA definition of small business, it can qualify for the 8 a certification application.

Additional Requirements

The eligible small business should have at least two years of business experience in the domain it intends to offer service to the federal government. The applicant must also have a good character. He/she shouldn’t have any criminal records. The individual should have the tenacity of being successful in the business.