Two businesses approved for the 8(a) Certification in July 2015

 

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As our company continues to grow, we also continue to grow as owners and employees. By this, I mean our knowledge and experience grows along with the company. We learn new procedures which allow us to process applications and get them approved more fluidly.

Most recently, this month of July 2014, we were able to get two 8(a) Certifications approved. One within 7 days of submitting and the other within 10 days of submitting.

CLIENT NUMBER ONE: 

The first client, provides background check services so that employers may hire individuals with a clean records. They have been in business since 2011. I met the client at an expo last year. I soon found out that since they already do work for Federal Agencies, they wanted to apply and obtain the 8(a) Certification to expand their scope of their work. They did at one time try to do it in-house, however they were overwhelmed and did not have the resources to do it themselves. After speaking to a few consultants, they decided to hire us mainly because of the success we have had with previous clients and that we were local. After a few months of collecting supporting documents and meeting a few times in person, we were ready to submit. Our final meeting was held on June 24th. 2015. It consisted of a 5 hour session of going over the 8(a) application line by line and ensuring its accuracy. We then proceeded to go over the supporting documents. Finally, we spent the remaining hour or so packaging the certification.

The client sent the package our the following day on June 25th. The SBA approval process usually take up to 3 months as specified on their website. The client sent us an email in July 1st, 2015 with the SBA 8(a) approval letter attached. This was the fastest we have ver completed the 8(a) certification and both the client and I were excited. We will have a video testimonial with the owner on our website soon.

CLIENT NUMBER TWO:

The Second client, hired us in January 2015. Client has been in the construction business since 2010. After being requested to get the 8(a) Certification by a Federal Agency, the client hired a consultant in 2014. After months of work including the collection of documents and thousands of dollars in payments, the client was declined due to lack of information provided by the client. This of course was the consultants fault as they were in charge of assisting the client in completing the package thoroughly.

When I met with the client in January, he told me that they had made a mistake with the other person, that they were not professional and lacked the experience of completing the application. The client was hesitant at first to go through the process again, but after meeting with me and seeing other clients who have had success after hiring us he was ready to once again reapply.

We immediately took control and the first thing we did was review the previous application, identify its deficiencies and send him an email with items to clarify. Secondly, we had to update their SBA profile to represent his business accurately as it was incorrectly completed. Third, we began to collect supporting documents and complete the 8(a) application. After 5 months of doing damage control from the previous application, re-completing the application and gathering the supporting documents, we scheduled a meeting to review and complete the application. Our meeting lasted roughly 5 hours consisting of reviewing the application and supporting documents and finally packaging the certification so it is ready to submit to the SBA. The client submitted the application in Late June and they were approved after 10 days on July 10th of this year. We will be posting a video testimonial with the client on our website soon.

 

HOW DID WE GET THEM APPROVED SO QUICKLY?: 

Hiring a good consultant is key. Not only do we specialize in reviewing financial documents due to our educational background and experience in banking, but also have received training from the SBA spanning over 13 years. This allows us to know their products and procedures in detail. Secondly, every application we submit teaches us something new about how the SBA thinks and about that industry, so the next application that comes to our table makes it more complete than the previous.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO BEFORE HIRING A CONSULTANT?:

1. Do your research: Good consultants are hard to find.

2. Pricing should not be a determining factor: As the second example above states, the client could have saved a few thousand dollars by hiring us first instead of another.

3. Call and ask for references: Get feedback from clients they have assisted to better understand their style of work and success rates.

To learn more about our Certification Services Click HERE.

To view some of our Video Testimonials click HERE.