WOSB, do you qualify?
The WOSB and EDWOSB rules in plain English covering ownership, control, size, and economic caps, with a live self-check.
Four rules cover WOSB and EDWOSB together. The first three apply to everyone; the last only if you are pursuing EDWOSB specifically. Answer what you know and the verdict updates as you go.
At least 51 percent of your business is owned by one or more women who are US citizens
Ownership has to be direct and unconditional, not a stake that depends on someone else's future approval to use.
A woman owner controls both the day-to-day operations and the long-term decisions
SBA checks who actually manages the business, not just who holds the title, including who signs contracts, hires and fires, and sets direction.
You are small under your primary NAICS code
Size standards are set per industry code, in dollars or employees.
If you are applying as EDWOSB specifically, the woman owner's personal finances fall under SBA's economic disadvantage caps
Standard WOSB carries no personal wealth cap. EDWOSB adds one, in exchange for reaching a slightly wider set of set-asides.
Verdict
Answer the rules above and the verdict updates as you go.
WOSB eligibility comes down to ownership, control, and size, with one additional rule if you are pursuing EDWOSB specifically. Every rule that applies to you has to hold at once.
Ownership is necessary, control is separate
At least 51 percent of the business has to be owned by one or more women who are US citizens, and that ownership has to be direct and unconditional, not a stake that depends on someone else's future approval to use fully. Separately, a woman owner has to control the business, day-to-day operations and the long-term decisions both. SBA checks these as two different questions, and a business can pass one and fail the other, most often when a non-owner manager or a minority partner is the one actually running things.
The rule that trips people up most
Control catches more businesses than ownership does. A woman can hold 51 percent of the stock and still fail this rule if a co-founder, an outside manager, or a silent partner is the one actually signing contracts, setting prices, or deciding what the business takes on next. SBA looks at daily decisions as closely as it looks at the org chart, so if someone else is functionally running the company, fixing that is a real operational change, not a form filled out differently.
Size, the same as everywhere else
You also have to be small under your primary NAICS code, the same size standard that applies to every small business certification. Size standards are set per industry code and get updated from time to time, so an old check is not a safe one to rely on. If you have not checked your current standard, see size standards before assuming the answer.
The EDWOSB add-on
If you are applying as EDWOSB rather than standard WOSB, the qualifying owner's personal finances also have to fall under SBA's economic disadvantage caps. Standard WOSB carries no personal wealth cap at all, so a woman owner who does not fit the EDWOSB caps can usually still qualify for WOSB itself.
One more thing worth checking early
WOSB and EDWOSB set-asides only exist in industries SBA has designated as underrepresented for women-owned firms, a shorter list of NAICS codes than most people expect. Passing every rule above still will not unlock a set-aside if your specific industry is not on that list, so check it on SBA's WOSB program page before you count on the certification helping you.
If you qualify, what is next
Certification runs through SBA at no cost, or through an SBA-approved third-party certifier for a fee. See which certification is worth your time if WOSB's facts do not match yours. The other certifications check different things, and one may fit your business better right now.