Woman Business Owner Finds Certification Process Complex but Rewarding

When Nancy Nehlsen decided to certify her marketing and public relations firm, Nehlsen Communications in Moline, IL, as a woman-owned business, she figured it would not be too difficult. After all, she had founded the company by herself 38 years ago: her name was on all the paperwork and even in the company’s name.

“Nehlsen Communications has been a woman-owned business since that day in 1972 when I put my Smith Corona typewriter on my kitchen table and started writing radio and TV scripts,” Nehlsen said. “So when I decided to become certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, it didn’t occur to me that they would require extensive proof.”

She soon discovered that the certification process was far more complex than she had imagined – and there was a good reason for that high level of complexity.

An Excellent Networking Opportunity
Nehlsen decided to become certified by the WBENC because it is the nation's leading advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to corporations. “I recognized it as an excellent networking opportunity,” she said.

The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) is a non-profit organization and America’s largest third-party certifier of businesses owned, controlled, and operated by women. Major corporations that meet the Council’s criteria are classified as Corporate Members, and some government entities also hold Member status. Member organizations must show a commitment to actively conducting business with WBENC-certified companies.

“The certification process entailed forms, essays, emails, phone calls and financial records,” Nehlsen said. “One major stumbling block came when they asked to see a paper trail of the financing I used to start my business. That would have consisted of a 38-year-old receipt for my old typewriter. My Dad loaned me the money to buy it.”

Due Diligence                  
In time, a representative from the Chicago office of WBENC visited Nehlsen in her office. “I joked with her about the sinister distrust they seemed to have toward me,” Nehlsen said. “The representative explained that many times, they will check out a business seeking certification and find the alleged owner answering the phone at a reception desk, while her husband, the actual owner, made deals with clients in his executive office.”

The representative made it clear that the rigorous WBENC application process was part of their due diligence, to make sure no one took advantage of the certification to get more business.

“Unfortunately, many people would stoop to lying about the gender of their company’s owner to get more business,” Nehlsen said, “and, some will even lie about their ethnicity. So the WBENC has to work hard to catch imposters during the application process.”

Nehlsen is now glad she took the time to go through the certification process, and she encourages other women business owners to do the same. “It may seem like a lengthy process,” she said, “but it’s completely necessary and well worth the effort. Once the process is done, everyone will know that you are a woman, and you own the business.”