Certification Your Growth Key | how certification growth key

If you're looking for a way to differentiate your business, one of the ways to do that is through certifications. And certifications come in many different industries and in many different forms, some with government mandates and some without. My guest today is joining us from Las Vegas. She's running a hugely successful certification company. In diversity certification on the supplier side, Heather Fox is the president and co-founder of a company called Certify My Company, and she's going to talk to us about why companies should think about certification and the impact and the uplift in their business when they do it. Heather Fox, welcome to the show.

Thank you. Very excited to be here.

I'm excited to be here with you too, because certification isn't always thought of as being particularly sexy or interesting, but— right? But you are going to make it sound—

Right.

You're going to make it sound sexy and interesting because actually you've helped thousands of companies over your last 15 years since you started Certify My Company. And it's actually, according to you, a really great way to generate income. So Heather, tell us about Certify My Company. Why should companies To go through the rigor, really, and the rigmarole of certification?

Well, since this is the Unnoticed Entrepreneur, it helps you get noticed. That's really what it comes down to, right? It's a way to help your company get noticed. So, there are— we all, we're all consumers. There's a plethora of certification options out there and consumer options out there. So, how do we choose? Sometimes it's an influencer tell you. Sometimes it's because we have values that we want to support other women-owned businesses. So if that's one of your values, then you need to know the company you're supporting truly is owned, operated, and controlled by a woman and not just on paper and a man has been running the company, right? Or they were women-owned and now they've sold and so they no longer are, right? You at least need to know what you're dealing with. And so certification gives you that option because corporate American government entities and you and I alike, we're all looking for the best possible product. And all the studies show that Local, small, diverse businesses really offer greater value, greater ROI. And so, getting certified is an option, an opportunity to get you access to these bids and RFPs and different contracts.

Heather, thank you for clarifying that. So, just to be clear, this is certification. I had to write this down. It's supplier certification. It's on the supply side. It's not on the HR side, which is where people traditionally think of it as human resource development, for example.

Right. Right. So yeah, people often mix up the DEI and the supplier diversity side. So DEI is really your internal workers, your employees, your HR, as you mentioned, and supplier diversity is your supply chain. So people often know that in order to have, you know, we'll think of a 3-legged stool. The top of it, right, is your ultimate revenue, your max revenue. And everyone understands you need a diverse clientele. Most people get you need a diverse workforce, but what they forget is that 3rd leg is really your diverse supply chain.

You're right. We normally think of supply chain as based on cost, proximity, flexibility, payment terms, but not on diversity. How does having a company that has got certification help the company? You touched on it, but let's just in concrete terms talk about, you know, what's in it for the customer, and then we'll talk about what's in it for the company that pays to be certified.

Right. So for the customer, it gives them access to new thoughts, new ideas, right? If you are looking for somebody— here, a great example is Walmart actually did a study a few years, maybe 6 years ago now, whatever. But they wanted— they understood that women control 83 to 85% of all consumer decisions and about $20 trillion of global spending. And so they really wanted more money in their pocket. I mean, they're a for-profit company. I'm giving you— I'm not giving you verbatim what the study said, right? But that's really what companies do. They— the bottom line is about the bottom line. So they asked their customers, if you went in to buy like shampoo, again, I'm paraphrasing, and one was clearly identifiable as women-owned and one was not, would you be more likely to buy it? Right? All else kind of being equal within a couple cents, dollars of each other. What percentage, Jim, do you think said they'd be more likely to buy a product if they could easily identify it as women-owned?

I'm gonna go for 80% because the way you're pitching it to me.

90%.

Wow. Okay.

Now the fun, the craziest part was, and even more interesting to me is that over 98% assumed it was better quality when it was women-owned. So that means if, if you have a customer in there, let's say it's 2 cents more for this product, a quarter more over all of these purchases really adds up. That's what it does for a company. And actually just pulled up some statistics that are even newer. And it says consumers who perceive a brand to, to committed to diversity are 3.5 times more likely to purchase that brand's products. So that even means if you're going in and you think this big brand supports diverse businesses, now they're 3.5 times more likely to buy it. And there's so many statistics, we could go on for hours about them, right? But that's what it does because bottom line, right? It's about the bottom line.

Yeah. So you are making it sound sexy, Heather, already, you know, 3.5 times. So certification. Okay. So for the client, the person that's looking to purchase goods and services, they can say, I've got on the shelf or wherever they're selling their merchandise or their goods, this is supplied by a company that's defined by some diversity characteristics. Could you maybe clarify for us though, Heather, what are some of the criteria of being a diverse business? Because it may not be clear, and obviously you're an expert in this.

Yeah, and that's a great question. So there are 3 main eligibility requirements across the board. So first, I just want to kind of clarify what the demographics are that are eligible for certification, right? We talked about women. It's also ethnic minorities, which is in the US, and it's different in different countries. So this is specific to the US, what I'm just about to say. It's Black, Asian Indian, Asian Pacific, Native American, and Hispanic. That is what is considered an ethnic minority in the US. Other countries, they have Aboriginal. In other countries, it's, it's just your skin. At times they're tribal. You know, there's different requirements in different countries, but that's for the US. Then there's LGBT. owned businesses. In the US, we also have veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses for people who have served in the military. They are one of the highest unemployed groups in the US. And so, and it's, you know, veterans hire veterans. And so it really does save the economy and saves their mental health and everything else when they have positions and jobs. So there's veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. And then the last one is the disability-owned business enterprise, which everyone thinks, oh, if you can't see, hear, and walk, that's all it takes. But no, it's actually anything that requires management. So if you have a diagnosis or, or a condition that requires you to manage it, and that's everything from thyroid conditions, sleep apnea, ADHD, anxiety, depression, autoimmune disorders, blood disorders, right? The list goes on and on, but you need to manage it to run your life on a day-to-day basis. And that's actually one of the organizations here that's actually international. They certify internationally as well. So those are the demographics. So to qualify for one of these demographics, the company must be 51% or more owned, operated, and controlled by one or more people of that demographic. Now, so let's say you're 50% women and 50% Black-owned. Well, one of you are going to have to choose who gets the majority of the control and of the ownership because you can't mix and match.

Oh, that's interesting. So there is some nuance as well to the structuring of that. But I think also what you said, Heather Cox, is that It's important that it's at a shareholder and a finance level. It's not about the employees being amazed, right? And that's a very key difference, isn't it? Because it's about control and decision-making. Otherwise, you might have tactical hiring where people are just trying to get 51%, but the people aren't necessarily even gainfully employed, but they're just on the payroll, which would be a bit cynical, wouldn't it?

And it would go against the whole point of doing the certification also, right?

Exactly. But, you know, there are always some, some people who are in for some skullduggery.

Oh yeah.

So Heather, yeah, well, obviously that's, um, something we need to think about. So, but that's of course why Certify My Company has a role to play, because you are going in and making sure those companies are compliant. Now, what sort of an investment in terms of maybe time and, and money? You've certified thousands of companies in the last 15 years since you started the business. Is it taking a lot of time? Is it overwhelming for small businesses? Because sometimes certification can be a bit of a poison chalice because it takes so long to do and takes so much resource, it could be unaffordable. Just take us through, if you like, how, how, um, feasible it is for an SME.

Yeah, so for any business owner, whether they're small or multi-billion dollars in revenue, if you know, there's— there are some organizations that won't certify you once once you're past a certain revenue threshold or personal net worth threshold. But the private sector certifications, which is the ones that most Fortune 1000 corporate America wants, have no threshold. They want you to be a billion-dollar company. That's great, right? They want you to be big, bad, and wonderful. And so they, and I mean bad in a good way, not bad in a bad way, but they—

Yeah.

So it does take time because they are looking at everything from your tax returns to your financial documents to your, they have to prove you're an ethnic minority or prove you have a disability. So there are all those components. Now, most business owners, when they start their business, they start their business because they have a passion or they're really good at something that they're doing, right? Whatever their company does. Most business owners are not great at paperwork, however. So most often they don't look at their governing documents. They don't look at their organizational documents because that would actually be weird if most of them did. I mean, just after working with all these people for 15 years, most of them don't look at those documents. And so what happens is the majority of templated bylaws Or operating agreements. And I don't care if you spent $6 an hour or $600 an hour with an attorney, they use the same templates. So if they're using those templates, most of them do not meet eligibility requirements. And so if you're just signing your documents and you're not exactly sure what's happening, you may or may not be eligible. And one of the biggest topics I tell people is, for example, in— now, I don't know how familiar you are with US governing documents, but so I'm sorry if—

I'm not an expert. No, no, not an expert, I'm afraid.

Right. So in corporations, the governing documents are bylaws. So the majority of templated bylaws in the US, most people say to me, oh, well, CEO is the highest ranking title, when in fact it's president. So let's say you and I, Jim, start a company. And I'm like, well, I'm going to be the CEO because it's the highest ranking title and you're president. Well, now we're denied certification because president is the highest ranking title. And that's what has you listed as. And that's one of the requirements.

How interesting. How interesting. So there's a lot of As you say, detail, and then maybe people have to go in and restructure their organization or their job titles, at least in order to qualify.

As long as they run the company in a manner that renders them eligible, you know, you can help them fix the paperwork to match the way they're running the company. But we will not work with companies that are not truly eligible. Bad paperwork is one thing, manipulation is another.

Heather, so you help people to demonstrate their eligibility. Sorry, how long does it take on average for maybe a mid-sized company?

So, it's going to take most people anywhere from 20 to 40 hours to finish their application if they don't outsource it. I actually polled our single-owner clients because it was the least amount of variables involved. And I asked them how long they think it would have taken them if they didn't utilize Certify My Company. And now, these are companies that were kind of on the smaller side and they were single owners, right? So, they didn't have any of the complicated multi-hire hierarchical ownership structures. And the average was around 26 hours is what they assumed it would've taken them. And then I asked them how long they had to work on it because they invested in Certify My Company. And the average was just under 3 hours. That means we save people around 23, 24 hours of work. Now, as a business owner, what can you do with 23 or 24 hours?

Yeah, well, that's an amazingly short amount of time to certify. I guess I'd assumed it would take—

That's a lot of work. That goes into it. Once you, once you submit the application, you're looking at 90 to 120 days or more depending on the certification organization.

Okay, that's what I was wondering.

It takes—

and, and just to be clear, Heather, about the statutory requirement in America, is it statutory to be certified, or are these sort of non-government organizations so that, uh, a customer that's looking to diversify their supply chain is looking at really what is in effect sort of a non-government agency for validation.

So there are government agencies that certify on the state and federal level. There are also private sector certifications. The federal government in the US at least does have some requirements around women-owned small businesses, small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, and disadvantaged business enterprises, which is both socially and economically disadvantaged. Various states have them. Not all states. Nevada, for example, has nothing. But some states, some states do have, and it's not just industry-specific what they require. But most of the work that we do is really in the private sector, which is not— has no legislative requirements. It's just that they've determined they get better value from these small, local, diverse businesses, and they make more money. The shareholders make more money. And that's one thing shareholders really like to do is make more money.

Yeah, okay. Well, and it, and it sounds as though good business is good for business, uh, which is wonderful.

Do well by— do good by doing well, or do well by doing good, whatever that— that—

yeah, they're not mutually exclusive grammar at all. No, that's right, a bit of wordplay there. Um, so now, Heather, let's just think to the next stage, which is a company goes through your program, they get certified, uh, as being a a diverse organization in whatever configuration that is, um, how do they use that in their marketing? Because they're spending money on your program, and I'm sure it's very good value, but they must be thinking about what's the ROI. How do they— how do they use that in their own marketing? Can you give us some guidance on what people can or should do if they are certified?

So yeah, it is definitely a tool. It's not a magic wand. Uh, people sometimes say like, I got certified and nobody called me. Okay, that's not gonna happen. You have to actually utilize this powerful tool. It's still a tool, right?

Yeah.

And so they would— there's different ways you can do it. We actually created a course just because of that, because we found that over these years people were like, I'm not gonna renew my certification. I got nothing out of it. And I'm thinking, how is that possible? I've seen so much success from, you know, I've seen people have so much success from it. And I said, did you do this? Did you go here? Did you do that? And they're like, I didn't know I could. I didn't know I should. should. And so I was looking for a solution for my clients, and I knew I wanted something that would be— they could be at home to do it, because, you know, I have 5 kids myself. I couldn't always just take off willy-nilly. Um, I wanted something that was— that both talked about utilizing your certification to sell to corporations and government, as well as the other small, local, diverse businesses, right? Because we also buy stuff. Um, and I couldn't find anything. So what do entrepreneurs do when they can't find something?

Remake it.

Create it.

Yeah.

So I partnered with another woman-owned business who had some different expertise than I did, and we created this course called Diversity Masterminds, which teaches you exactly how to do what you're asking— leverage your certification. Because you have to know, first of all, depends on who you're selling to, right, how to market it. So you have to know how to use your local organizations, whether it be for local work or national or international work, right? You take advantage of the educational opportunities that they offer, to take advantage of some of the givebacks that you want to take part of, because The more they see you, the more they like, know, and trust you, assuming you're likable, knowable, and trustable, right? But the more they see you, then, you know, they're gonna want it. Then they can take it back because one of the biggest disadvantages, if you are not good at what you do, you're not gonna get the gig. But let's say you fooled somebody and you got the gig and you really couldn't perform like they needed you to. That's that supplier diversity manager, that one that's looking for the qualified, capable, certified diverse businesses. Now has to really go on an uphill to bring in other diverse businesses. So they, that's why they really wanna make sure you can do what you say you can do before they bring you into their internal teammates and business units. And so you can, you know, you can go to the conferences by marketing it. You just have to know, and you could go to a conference every week if you want to. That's not in my budget. Maybe it's in your budget, but you have to be strategic about it, which is why it's really, you really have to know how to use it and leverage it.

Yeah, very interesting. So it can be, as you say, something to differentiate yourself. And once people have gone down the— if the products are the same as everybody else and the price is the same as everybody else, maybe people like you, but they're also in B2B, there needs to be another more objective criteria, doesn't there?

Yeah.

Right. I mean, the like comes, but more than one person makes the decision so that the like isn't enough in B2B. In consumer, It can be, right? Which is of course one of the hallmarks of the differences.

Right. But it's that overall value is really what they're looking for. And so sometimes one of the things that we talk to our clients about is why are you worth 5 cents more than your competitors or people who say they do what you do? Why are you worth it? It's probably, you probably are. What's your overall value? What do you bring to the table that they do not bring? And I will say that I find that small, diverse local businesses have a really hard time and they'll be like, oh, my customer service. I'm like, hmm, that's an expectation, not a differentiator.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, and I think that's a really, really good point about how you're helping people through the process actually define more clearly their proposition, right? That, that then is probably unexpected as a value add for them, but something that they're getting as a result of looking internally in a way that they might not have done before.

Great tool as well, the whole certification process. You're looking at your documents that you probably were like Did I do meeting minutes last year? Did I have— like, you, you don't necessarily think about these things because you're doing your day-to-day. It's a great housekeeping tool on top of another added value to the certification process.

No, Heather, I can see that. So Certify My Company, and it does say diversifying your success, which is right. I can see how you're doing that for your, for your clients. And presumably, Heather, your clients are drawn from across the country. So how are you doing the marketing for Certify My Company? As an entrepreneur yourself?

Most of our, yeah, most of our marketing dollars are going to conferences, being at events where people will understand what we're doing. And, you know, when we go to some of the conferences, we're talking to the corporate representatives because we do have a lot of corporate clients who leverage, who have us, who will retain us to work with the suppliers in their supply chain that they have great relationships with, but they've never gotten certified. And so we take that process off their supplier's desk. So we go and talk to the corporations, educate them onto why we're part of their supplier development programs or why we make them a stronger company. And then also, we, you know, it's a lot of word of mouth with our entrepreneur clients. Oh, this one told that one and that one told this one. And that's how we get a lot of them. So, most of our marketing is being out, you know, talking to people like you who have a wide audience of entrepreneurs who just don't know about this world yet and being at events.

Okay. So, it's really going out and it sounds as though being quite evangelical, Heather. And, you know, I know In the best possible sense, right? As an evangelist, you know, of certification in an area where people might not have thought of it. This whole idea of, you know, supplier certification, supplier diversity certification is a new area for me as well, right?

Right.

So, I mean, I've in the past when I've had to fill out forms as a vendor for large companies, It's normally been about sort of tax compliance, for example, and making sure that we're financially compliant and not doing money laundering and things like that. If only I had enough money to be money laundering.

To do money laundering.

That's right.

You know, also a lot of these corporations, they're looking at your risk. Are you a risky supplier to them? And another benefit of the whole certification process is a third-party organization has reviewed your financials, reviewed, are you really a real business, and given you the seal of approval. So it also helps remove some of that perceived risk.

And, and for them, of course, they can say we've done some due diligence because we've only appointed companies that have gone through Heather Cox's rigmarole and, and certification program, right?

Well, we're not the certification organization. We are a third party that facilitates it with the, for the right certification for the client.

But I'm sure, Heather, that once you've helped them get their documents together, All the all the fields match up, and they're going to be right. Just sort of filling those forms. Yeah, exactly. And you can see them flying through the sky nicely. So you've been out meeting people, doing that work. If there's a mistake, Heather, that you've made in the fifteen years as an entrepreneur running Certify My Business, Certify My Company, sorry.

Yeah.

Certify My Company. What What would that be? Just a sort of a learning for those of us that could learn from you. What would that be?

I think it would be to— so, there's like, I have like a catchphrase this year, right? So, it's new places, new faces. And it was actually something I borrowed. There's a really funny woman in Vegas. Her name is Kenyatta. And she says, R&D is very important, rip off and duplicate. Why should you start from scratch, right? So, we call it repurpose and duplicate. But So, a colleague friend of mine named Ron DeVincent from Bristol-Myers Squibb, he says, new faces, new places. And I was like, it like sparked this, you know, when you have this like aha moment, as Oprah says, right?

Yeah.

I was like, wow, you know what? I'm not going to new places and seeing new faces. And so that really changed. So this year, especially, and next year as well, that's one of our biggest focuses is going to new places, new conferences, because just like with supply chain, the same old, same old breeds the same old, same old. So I'm gonna be going still to the supplier diversity events, 'cause I wanna see my corporate clients and talk about diversity masterminds. But there are, is, There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of entrepreneurs out there who are diverse and have no idea this access to opportunity even exists. And so being at those events and being on those panels and being in front of entrepreneurs at industry events, I wish I would've done that sooner because I think it would've really changed the trajectory because I would've gotten the word out sooner.

Well, it sounds as though you've got yourself to a place where now the business is so stable and so strong, right? You're doing meet and greet, but you're also doing more podcasts, I believe, Heather, as part of your outreach. As an entrepreneur, what would you say would be your guidance? What would be a number one tip that you might give me and my fellow unnoticed?

I would say the one thing I talk about is outsource to experts whenever possible, because if you don't have the time or money to do it once, You definitely do not have the time or money to do it twice. So you wanna make sure you get it done right the first time.

And as you say, the opportunity cost with doing it yourself is not just the time and the money, but the work you might have to do to repair it, right? If you damaged your business. So that's, I like that. So yeah, outsource. You don't have to do it wrong twice.

Just get it done right the first time.

Right the first time, right? Well, of course, that's why people come To certify my company, isn't it? Because it's going to take them time to learn that whole process and they only need it once too, right? Whereas you're doing it all the time. So you have that skillset. So you've got the repeat expertise.

Yeah. But also people will sometimes get wrong with, get certified with the wrong organization. So one of the first things we do with any client, potential client, which I pride ourselves on the consultative nature of our company, is that we make sure they're getting the right certification for them and their business. So they don't come back to me in 2 years and they're like, Why did you let me get that certification? I got nothing out of it. Because if you're selling to Coke or Pepsi, they don't care about the state of X, Y, and Z. They want a private sector certification. So, don't get state of whatever, right? And people don't know that because why would they?

Yeah, that's a really, really good point that not all certification is created equal.

Exactly.

Right? In that sense. So, it's not just about getting certification, but the right certification.

Exactly.

Heather, I could see why people come. I'm afraid I'm a— I'm not a very diverse organization, I, I don't think, so I probably can't apply for certification. Although the course I've got has been certified by a group in the UK called the Certificate for Professional Development, but it's, uh, it's more about the product rather than about the company, I think.

Right.

Um, Heather Cox, president, because obviously that's the biggest title to have, and co-founder, uh, and certified by my company. Now I know why you're the president. Now you know why I'm Now I know why you're president. If there is a book or a podcast that you'd recommend, what would that be?

So, I'll give you one book and one podcast. So, I'm a little biased on this. So, the book that I've read, I'm not someone who reads books over and over again. I know there's people who will be like, you can see their books are coming apart now because they've read it so many times. I am not that person. I like new and exciting, right? But I will tell you, I have probably read that Simon Sinek Start with Why. At least 3 times. There's just something about every time I get something a little bit new out of it. And then as far as the podcast is concerned, um, I also like to put myself in the room with people who have far exceeded where I even think I can be. And so I was, um, like Kara Golden, she's the founder of Hintwater. She has a podcast and she has some amazing entrepreneurs on there that they're kind of like, you know, the vision board entrepreneurs. Right. And so I've, so I like to listen to that one when I do my Business podcasting.

Great. There's Karen Hinton. Did you say her name is?

Kara Golden.

Oh, Kara Golden. Sorry.

She founded Hint Water.

Hint Water. Sorry.

Right.

Okay. Um, thank you for those. Simon Sinek, of course, is, is a well-known one, but the, the other, um, Hint Water entrepreneur I hadn't heard of. So thank you for sharing that.

Yeah.

Heather Cox in Las Vegas, how can people get hold of you?

So I would say go to our website, certifymycompany.com, or, um, our— or all the socials, @certifymyco, and you can find us there.

Heather Cox, we've been lucky enough to find you in Las Vegas. Thank you for joining me today and taking the time away, because I know you have a very busy domestic schedule as well. So thank you.

Thank you so much.

So we've been listening to Heather Cox talking about supplier diversity certification. And I have to admit that when I first had the opportunity to meet Heather and read the, the bio, it was completely new to me. And it may be completely new to you as well, or though maybe in America this is more common than it is in the UK. But as Heather's shared, it's often overlooked, and it's really a great way to, A, do a bit of housecleaning on your own business, but B, to differentiate yourself and to create positioning for your business. You could be best in class at what you do, but also demonstrate that you are a business that is doing good business for good. Thank you for joining me, Jim James, host of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur. I'm the least diverse business. I'm just a single white male in my own company, um, but I hope you've enjoyed my company, and I've certainly enjoyed Heather's today. So until we meet again, I just encourage you to Keep on communicating.