According to National Business Women’s Council (NWBC), female business owners are outpacing their male counterparts in record numbers. And although women spend less time and money in their businesses overall, some WOSB’s (woman-owned small business) are refocusing their priorities on participating in government contracting opportunities.
Since 2011, the WOSB Procurement Program has sky-rocketed in participation and women are taking full advantage of the 5% set aside for them. As a result, Women-owned small businesses are gaining greater access to government contracting opportunities with agencies hitting 4.15% of the 5% set-aside goals in FY2017. This number shows a steady increase in growth from FY2016 and optimism for the WOSB Procurement Program as a whole.
Now that we have some facts out of the way, I have listed 4 good reasons why is the best time to be a woman in business:
- The WOSB Procurement Program
In the fiscal year of 2017, the government spent $11.0B in contracts with women-owned small businesses. That’s a huge number and even a fraction of that number could catapult your business. As a WOSB myself, we all need to be leveraging our status with agency and prime contract customers. We need to own it!
- We do business differently
As women, we possess business qualities that make us different, and I am speaking from my own experience. As part of my marketing strategy, I make it a point to reach out specifically to other women-owned small businesses. In fact, there should be more women banning together to team. In my view, we are more proactive, more focused, and able to pool resources and follow up, which are all essential to winning more bids.
- Women are more apt to find a mentor to grow their organizations
Women are not afraid of asking for help! Unlike men who tend to enjoy figuring things out on their own, women are more open to learning from other people’s experiences. We love to share and that is a valuable trait when it comes to business. There is strength in numbers and we know that.
- Women make up 73% of the service managers in the healthcare industry
If you are in the healthcare or social services industry, you are precisely in the right place, especially those in government contracting. The latest government spending data revealed that in the fiscal year of 2014, the government spent $21.5 billion on healthcare-related products and services, a 6.6% increase over 2013. Sixty (60) separate government contracts were awarded to 33 companies, many of which contributed to establishing healthcare.gov.
According to the Washington Post “Healthcare is the new oil” and HHS is now one of the top 3 contracting agencies. In FY2014, HHS exceeded its WOSB goals awarding a total of 6.55% of its contracts to women. So if you are thinking about starting a business in this industry, your future is looking very optimistic.
Currently, women are starting businesses at a rate of 1.5 times faster than their male counterparts and this is great news for all of us. With women leading the way in entrepreneurship, we are paving the way and creating our own terms as they relate to business. It’s a great time to be a woman — especially in government contracting! If you are a woman-owned small business and are looking to get in on the 5% set-aside contracting game you need to know how to play.