What about women business owners?
Women are classified in the SBA Other category, so you need to prepare both a social and an economic disadvantage narrative focused on four areas: Family, Education, Career experience, and Business History.

As a minority woman, can I apply in both categories?
No, you can only submit in one category and we suggest submitting your application as a minority since you only have to meet economic disadvantage.

How many 8a firms are Caucasian woman-owned?
Of the certified 8a businesses, less than 4% are currently woman owned.

“When the economy turned I realized that obtaining an 8(a) certification was mission critical. I contacted Karen.  She immediately kicked into action and within days helped me formulate a narrative based on my personal experiences.  When I received my 8(a) certification, I was told that “preponderance” cases are always difficult, mine passed the requirement with flying colors! Thanks Karen!”
-  Margaret O’Donnell, Chemical Safety Software

What information will my narrative contain?
A successful narrative contains references to your personal and professional failures, missed opportunities, overt and subtle discrimination or harassment in the workplace, and the financial hardships that caused these events. Your narrative is enhanced with letters of support from those who witnessed these incidents.

What is your time worth?
Can you afford to take off days or weeks from your business during this shaky economy, to try and write your narrative?  We understand your time is valuable and make the process as quick as possible.

We start by sending you a comprehensive list of questions to review. Then we conduct a 2-hour phone interview to efficiently gather your information. Taking your words, we craft a well organized narrative meeting the SBA preponderance of evidence criteria. Expect to get your narrative back within five business days, ready to cut/paste into the online 8a application.

Testimonial – ” Thanks for your help on my narrative. I am sitting here crying looking at my SBA acceptance letter.”
- Leslie Bernal, Dusty Ducts, MI

Why choose The 8a Mentor?
We are uniquely qualified.   The 8a Mentor is a division of Design2Train, a current 8a woman-certified company. We can give you special insight into the entire process. We prepare narratives weekly, so our writing skills are well honed to serve you.

We’ve taken the worry out of writing with our proven system. In fact even if you are a good writer, you will find this assignment to be a challenge and will want to seek our specialized services.

In fact, many of our clients come to us very frustrated after wasting weeks or even months laboring on what to write about in their narratives.  Others have gone through the humiliation of getting their applications rejected by the SBA. Where are you in the process?  Ready to get your narrative done?
> Sign-up for the Narrative Writing Service