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Very serious about starting a small business.

Recently have been introduced to the major U.S. small business category: Disadvantaged Businesses

Looking further - a company comprised of 51% or more of socially disadvantaged individuals.

I am a minority listed in the socially disadvantaged page but I never thought of myself as disadvantaged.

Why am I called disadvantaged and should I register as one ?

Any point in the right direction is greatly appreciated..

Thank You!

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The status you are referring to here specifically has to do with "federal contracting opportunities". Is your business looking for a federal contract? In what field? – Henry the Hengineer Sep 25 '12 at 19:18
@Henry the Hengineer: in DoD, aerospace. Does this not apply anywhere else? – Greg McNulty Sep 25 '12 at 20:57

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There are federal and state mandates to allocate certain percentage of contracts to mentioned type of businesses. If you fit the criteria, you should register. Also, if you are subcontracting with companies working on federal or state contract, this registration also will benefit you. Those large corporations are also required to allocate portion of the contract too.

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ok, cool, I didn't realize that was still an issue in today, I thought that was something maybe used in the 50's? looks like it is an advantage here to be called disadvantaged, I'll take it. – Greg McNulty Sep 25 '12 at 22:15
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I have worked for minority owned company, women-owned company, and bunch of startups - those programs help a lot of small shops become reputable companies that end up employing a lot of people. They do need to change the "disadvantaged" title, since it turns away too many people from legitimate contracts. – Apollo Sinkevicius Sep 26 '12 at 18:37
nice! yeah, I was very confused by that word socially disadvantaged. Now I am curious how socially disadvantaged I am in other areas besides business? – Greg McNulty Sep 26 '12 at 19:54

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