Owner/President: Nancy Huaco Lang Company: Cultural Horizons, Inc. Address: 11824 Central St. Kansas City, MO 64114-5536 Phone: (816) 941-7000 E-Mail: Web Site:www.cultural-horizons.com Type of Business: Market Research & Consulting
The Business: Cultural Horizons, Inc. is a marketing research and consulting company that helps healthcare provider companies and organizations meet the needs of ethnic markets both in the United States and globally. We accomplish this by developing marketing platforms that address business and cultural opportunities. Our approach is to move beyond mere language translation issues. We focus on three areas: corporate and brand strategy development, education and awareness and relationship development.
Challenge: One of the biggest challenges for us was getting all aspects of the business in place and functioning, along with registration with all appropriate government agencies. It always takes longer than you think. The Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Center and the SCORE mentoring program helped us navigate some of these issues.
Advice: Depending on your industry and where you are soliciting business, third-party certification will not guarantee you any new business. You still have to demonstrate a true, competitive and value-added benefit to your clients. Certification does show a prospective client that you have met the rigorous criteria to be a certified minority business enterprise and have been verified as a "going concern." Certification also allows access to special training courses and brings long-lasting friendships, which you need in business and in life.
In certain industries, third-party certification can be a door opener. In others, all your competitors are MBEs, and in some cases, it is the "icing on the cake" that differentiates you from competitors, allowing you to capture the business. MBE is a "card" that should be played appropriately and discreetly. It requires some finesse.
