Every business owner that applies for SBA 8a certification must prepare a disadvantage narrative as part of their application.
How do you determine which type of narrative to prepare? Here are some tips to determining which narrative you need to prepare.
Eligible applicants for SBA 8a certification fit into two categories: designated groups or other.
Designated groups are US citizens who are currently comprised of these five minority categories:

1. Black Americans
2. Hispanic Americans
3. Native Americans (include:American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians)
4. Asian Pacific Americans (persons with origins from Japan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, Samoa, Guam, U.
   S.
   Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands [Republic of Palau], Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Laos, Cambodia [Kampuchea], Taiwan; Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Macao, Hong Kong, Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, or Nauru
5. Subcontinent Asian Americans (persons with origins from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives Islands or Nepal)

Which narrative do designated group members prepare? Since members of designated groups are considered socially disadvantaged by the SBA, they are responsible for only submitting economic narratives.
Other groups are US citizens who could be:

1. Women
2. Service disabled veterans
3. Non-designated minorities - persons with origins from countries not recognized as "designated".
   Some examples could include: Turkey, Palestine, Middle Eastern countries.
   

Which narrative do other group members prepare? Since members of other groups are not considered socially disadvantaged by the SBA, they are responsible for preparing both social and economic disadvantage narratives.
What types of information does the social disadvantage narrative contain? Your social narrative should include incidents of personal and professional discrimination and harassment from Personal Experiences, Education, Career and Business History.
What types of information does the economic disadvantage narrative contain? Your economic narrative should include incidents of personal and professional discrimination and harassment from Education, Career and Business History.
Another important aspect is to only include incidents that have occurred in the US.
For example if you were born and educated in a foreign country, the SBA 8a Review Team does not take into account these incidents.
When the SBA expects you to deliver both a social and economic narrative, however it does not have to be two documents.
You can prepare one document that addresses both requirements.
How long should the narrative be? Your narrative should reflect as many related incidents that you have experienced.
Our client narratives are typically five to nine pages long, however this past year, we delivered a 20-page narrative.
This was the exception, not the rule.
Narrative length really depends upon your experiences.