Minority Business Owners: The Four Steps to Getting Business with Fortune 500 Companies.

Ms. Lynda Ireland, President and CEO, of the New York/New Jersey Supplier Diversity Council (The Council) was a guest of mine on the Listen to Grow Your Business radio show on HarlemTalkRadio. So many business owners get certified and never get any business.

Are you one of those business owners? If so, you are not alone! Help is on the way!

Ms. Ireland gave the inside scoop on how to get certified as a minority business enterprise (MBE) and maximize your certification to get significant business with private industry as a small business owner. Her organization seeks out, identifies, and verifies viable minority owned businesses that have the capacity to do business with its Fortune 500 members.

There are different governing bodies that can certify your company as a MBE business enterprise. The goals and objectives you set forth for your organization will determine what entity is best for you to pursue certification with. If you want to do business with the private industry sector, then The Council is one of the organization you should consider for certification.

Here are some “pearls of wisdom” that Ms. Ireland shared with our listeners that can significantly increase your probability of success in getting business with a Fortune 500 organization.

Get certified – the certification process entails completing an application that demonstrates that you are truly a minority owned business, a site visit, and application fee which is determined on a sliding scale basis based on the revenues of your organization. The minimum application fee is $200.00
Do due diligence – upon getting certified, you are provided a list of all the Council’s corporate members. Utilize this list to identify the organizations that you can potentially do business with. Research these organizations so that you are very clear on the needs of the organization and how your product or service can address those needs.
Develop a marketing strategy – create a plan of how you will establish and build connections within the organizations you have identified as viable candidates for your product or service.
Develop capacity – Ms. Ireland stressed the importance of not over inflating your ability to get a job done. If you don’t have the capacity to do a particular job, identify other organizations that you can subcontract under or partner with.

Bonus Tip: Listen to my conversation with Corey Smith, Director of Supplier Diversity at NBC Universal to get additional tips on what it takes to get business with a Fortune 100 company! As a corporate member of The Council, his organization looks to The Council to provide viable vendors who can do business with NBC.

The Council facilitates the relationship between the MBE and corporate members in several ways. The different programs they offer are a virtual academy that provides instruction on how to complete a Request for Proposal (RFP) and how to do business with Fortune 500 companies.

In addition, they sponsor a large trade fair open to all their corporate members and minority business enterprises as well as mini-fairs between specific organizations and small business owners. These fairs allow the corporate members and the small business owners to make an initial introduction with one another. They also provide seminars where entrepreneurs can meet and network with one another to build strategic partnerships.

One of the big advantages of becoming certified with The Council is the opportunity to have access to the Business Consortium Fund. This fund provides a wealth of services such as advance funding and guaranteeing up to 85% on bank loans. It is a great resource for the small business owner who has a contract in hand from a corporation and needs access to capital to grow their business.

The Council is just one resource among many to help you grow your business. Whatever resources you decide to take advantage of, SEIZE and MAXIMIZE it to move one step closer to living your vision!