Nature's Marvel -A Woman Owned Business Enterprise
Nature's Marvel qualifies as Women “WBE” Business Enterprise. The majority ownership and operation of the business is in the hands of US Citizens who are female. To meet their objectives, private and public sector firms search for women and minority-owned suppliers through programs that have formal certification processes. This is why we being a certified WBE is crucial to our success.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
There were close to 10 million women and minority-owned businesses in the U.S. as of 2013. All told, women own or operate more than 22 percent of all the businesses in the United States, making them an important contributor to the economy and a significant job-creation engine. Many businesses officially disclose the status of their owners to help them compete for contracts and clients. Therein lies the main advantage of being a WBE.
The WBE designation is founded on the notion that many barriers exist to being a member of a woman or women,
running an enterprise and competing with large, fully networked businesses. For example, WBE’s can be underfunded, have access to a smaller talent pool and sell to markets with lower spending power. In general, however, becoming certified as a legitimate WBE levels the playing field.
WHAT IS MBE CERTIFICATION?
It is a process/certification that a business enterprise claiming to be a women owned business must undergo to verify the company’s 51% ownership by a woman or group of women that are US-citizens, and own, manage and operate on a daily basis by the woman or group of women.
WHAT IS THE PRACTICAL PURPOSE AND BENEFITS OF MBE CERTIFICATION?
Corporations, the federal government, and state agencies all want to do business with women owned companies. WBE’s have the support of federal and state governments and private industry to help them start up, build and grow.
The benefits of WBE Certification really boil down to one word: access. Certification gives WBE’s exclusive access to top corporate purchasing agents, premium networking events, searchable supplier databases, affordable consulting services, technology programs, and vital introductions to nationally known corporations. Contracting with WBE’s is important to customers and Corporate America understands that you cannot expect women to buy things when you haven’t done business with women. Certification also gives WBEs access to doing business with federal and state governments that are mandated by law to ensure that all firms have an opportunity to participate in contracts that are paid for with tax dollars.
Doing business with a WBE counts towards the minority spending goals of top corporations, federal and state governments.
Many Fortune 1000 companies in America have supplier diversity programs in place. These programs are specifically designed for large companies to source products and services from women owned businesses. They do this in an effort to keep their businesses in line with the shifting demographic profile of our country. These companies recognize that a diverse supply base offers a competitive advantage in today’s multicultural business economy. Major corporations include supplier diversity as a core business strategy and are constantly looking for women owned businesses to work with. They have supplier diversity programs in place to calculate exactly how successful they are in sourcing products and services from women suppliers. Therefore one of the top benefits of WBE certification is that any contractual agreement between a corporation and Certified WBE is counted towards that corporation’s supplier diversity goal. The more they spend with Certified WBEs, the closer they get to achieving and surpassing their goal.
The federal government has a legal requirement that a minimum of 23% of total acquisition dollars (estimated at the trillions of dollars) are ‘set aside’ and must be spent with diverse businesses. To help reach this 23% goal, the federal government has special stipulations in place that help certified WBE’s compete for contracts with the federal government.