ISO Certification: What You Should Know About This Important Credential

If your company doesn't know about ISO certification, it's time to learn more. This is one of the ways that companies can stay competitive in today's marketplace. Today's economy is becoming all about the global environment, not just individual nations. In order to do business with others around the world, it's important to know who they are, what they want, what their rules, regulations and expectations are and more. A business owner who decides to stick his or her head in the sand and only be informed about what's going on locally is going to suffer. Here are some things to know about this type of certification.

What It Stands For

The initials I.S.O. stand for International Organization for Standardization. The mission of this org is to provide standards for businesses around the world. It is a non-government entity that represents one-hundred sixty-two countries in both the public and private realms. In order for nations to import, export and do business with each other, they need to understand all about best practices and the gold standards around the globe. This allows for understanding each other and developing effective communication. It's also important to know what other competitors are doing. This is why it's helpful to attend trade shows, both to present yourself and develop brand recognition but to see what they have to offer and learn from it. In learning about one's competitor, it's helpful to understand what to do and what not to do. What are they doing right and what could you be doing better?

How Standardization Helps Businesses Compete

In order to compete, forming a network to learn industry tips, language and efficiency tricks are all quite useful. Why reinvent the wheel? Learning from those who are streamlining their own organizations will help companies streamline their own. In today's cutthroat financial marketplace, it's crucial to create a tight ship and only spend on items that will make the product or service better. Cutting costs that hurt quality or employees is definitely not good for the bottom line in the end. Many orgs have made the mistake of cutting costs to make the profits soar temporarily but if quality or employee morale suffers, the company may become toast. All decisions should be made on maintaining quality, being smart and doing the right thing. Growth is a good thing as long as it's moderated and planned in gradual increments in order to avoid an unmanageable entity. By watching others around the world and adhering to standards, everyone in the industry wins. By networking, lingo and language that are used by those in the inner circle are picked up as well. Knowing the language is a way of communicating easily.


When it comes to running a company in today's global economy, every tool that can be obtained will be helpful. One tool that businesses can use to enrich and grow their companies in a competitive world market is ISO certification. Everyone else is doing it and your company should too.