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Veterans have honorably served our country and often play a valuable role in our economy. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), veterans in the United States own over 1.9 million businesses and employ nearly 5.5 million Americans.
For vets transitioning from military service to the world of entrepreneurship, a wealth of resources exists, including free training, education, funding and networking events to help ensure their new venture succeeds.
We’ll explain essential steps for veterans starting new businesses and share resources that can help every step of the day.
Military veterans are often motivated entrepreneurs eager to get started. While starting a business has many factors, here’s a look at the basic steps involved and where entrepreneurs can find helpful resources for each stage.
All entrepreneurs ― veteran or civilian ― must develop a great business idea. The sky’s the limit for military veterans entering entrepreneurship. For example, high-level businesses like RE/MAX, FedEx, Walmart and GoDaddy were all founded by military veterans. Many successful veteran entrepreneurs attribute their business success to their military experience.
Dave Liniger, founder of RE/MAX, says the military gave him the maturity and confidence to meet the realities of starting a company. “The military really gave me the chance to grow up,” Liniger shared. “It also taught me self-discipline and a sense of responsibility.”
If you need help coming up with an idea, consider the following:
Don’t worry about having a seemingly bad business idea. Successful ventures like Craigslist and Peloton defied the odds and market expectations.
After settling on a great business idea, it’s time to create your road map to success via a business plan.
Business plans outline your business goals and how you plan to achieve them. For example, your business plan will include a marketing plan that details your product positioning, target audience, optimal messaging and the best marketing channels, such as social media, direct mail and print advertising. Additionally, you’ll need a business plan when it’s time to seek funding (see below).
Consider the following resources to help veterans write their business plans:
Don’t be tempted to skip the business plan ― it’s the best way to centralize your thoughts and goals in a concise document that can evolve over time.
Veterans have more incentives and funding options available than civilian entrepreneurs. Consider the following funding sources. Some, though not all, are specifically for veterans.
Crowdfunding
With crowdfunding, you receive money from individuals who want to donate to your business. This money isn’t a loan, so you typically wouldn’t have to pay it back.
Mike Kim, a U.S. Army veteran, used Kickstarter to launch KPOP Foods. He and his co-founder set a $10,000 investment goal for their flagship product, KPOP Korean Chili Sauce. They blew past it, reaching $10,000 in eight hours. In total, they received $37,627 in pledges from 1,219 backers.
Kim says his experience as an Army project manager in Southern Afghanistan taught him resourcefulness and a can-do attitude.
“Launching my own business, I never tell myself I can’t accomplish a task,” Kim shared. “I ask myself instead how I’m going to accomplish a task. Doing this over and over again, you’ll be surprised at your own resourcefulness and creativity.”
Here are some resources to help make crowdfunding work for your veteran-owned startup:
Veteran-specific investments
Venture capital firms invest in your startup in exchange for partial control, equity and sometimes a seat on your company’s board. Some VC firms and angel investors work exclusively with veteran entrepreneurs.
Consider the following investment options for veteran entrepreneurs:
Loans
Small business loans for veterans are another excellent option. Here are two resources to consider:
Grants
Business grants aren’t loans; you’re not required to repay them. Here are some veteran-specific resources for grant funding:
Women veterans can also explore specific business grants for women to gain additional funding options.
If starting a business from scratch seems overwhelming, consider buying a franchise. Franchise costs can vary widely, with some of the cheapest franchises having minimal fees and a low initial investment. Plus, when you buy into a franchise, you get upfront guidance from the franchisor and begin your career owning a business with an already well-established brand.
Jeff Allen, an Army helicopter pilot and current franchise owner, had just transitioned to a public affairs job at the Pentagon when a life-changing event altered his perspective.
“On September 11, 2001, I was sitting at my desk when the Pentagon was attacked,” Allen recalled. “My team survived and, while I did take a brief hiatus, I ended up returning to active duty for another 10 years once the war started.”
When he finally did retire, Allen looked for a franchising opportunity that matched the mission he’d chosen for his life.
“Protecting people is in my DNA and I took that with me when it came time to start my own business,” Allen shared. “I chose to open Dryer Vent Wizard of Middle Tennessee, a business that helps prevent dryer fires through regular maintenance and inspections.”
Allen saved money during his military career to become an entrepreneur after retiring from active duty. Regarding choosing a franchise, here’s his advice: “You have to find the business that fits you and your lifestyle best.”
Here are some resources for veterans considering buying into a franchise:
As a veteran, you’re already familiar with the federal government. You can continue this relationship as a veteran business owner by becoming a registered government contractor. Securing a government contract means steady work.
The General Services Administration oversees contracts for the federal government and considers veteran-owned businesses for contracts before civilian contractors.
This veterans-first policy levels the playing field for veteran-owned small businesses bidding against larger firms. Here are some resources to help you do business with the government:
Entrepreneurship requires a broad skill set, including small business accounting basics and interviewing skills.
The GI Bill has helped cover all or some of the costs of higher education for millions of vets, which is good because education isn’t cheap.
Chris Rawlings is a former Marine who did two tours of duty in Iraq. He’s now the owner of Veteran LED, a lighting and energy design company. Rawlings invested in his education after leaving the military, attending the Entrepreneur Bootcamp for Veterans at Florida State University.
“In addition to the education it provided, I tapped into such specialty providers as legal services, marketing and website design,” Rawlings shared. “Those resources helped keep me from feeling overwhelmed about parts of my business that required specialized training.”
Here’s information about programs and resources that help veterans learn essential business skills:
Veterans are a tight-knit group and professional connections in the business world are just as crucial as they are in the military. Many organizations, both nonprofit and paid, work to connect veterans with business professionals and mentors.
Paul Dillon, a U.S. Army Reserve first lieutenant and service-disabled veteran of the Vietnam War, helped pioneer one such organization. Dillon, who retired from consulting in 2006, started a second career helping veterans start their own businesses.
“My business didn’t start out with the idea of helping veterans,” Dillon explained. “I started out thinking that I was going to provide project management and business development services, but that didn’t work out. I had to pivot several times before I found a niche that worked.”
Dillon created the concept for a business incubator in Chicago, which eventually became Bunker Labs, a national nonprofit that assists veteran entrepreneurs.
Here are some other resources to connect veterans with partners in the business world:
Use LinkedIn to network and connect with other veterans to grow your business, find partners, seek advice and more.
There are educational and financial resources specific to service-disabled veteran business owners, including VA grants and free comprehensive business programs at major universities.
Here are a few resources to help service-disabled veterans get their businesses going:
The following resources are also excellent options for veteran entrepreneurs to explore:
Small business owners across the country bore the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and veteran-owned businesses weren’t immune. The federal government took steps to help struggling small business owners, signing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act into law in March 2020 and later the Paycheck Protection Program. The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans provided business owners with low-interest rate loans they have 30 years to pay back.
Now that the pandemic is behind us, surviving small businesses have learned valuable lessons in being flexible with their business models. Some of the effects of the pandemic have persisted, such as a continued shift toward e-commerce and BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store) models and a preference among customers for contactless payments.
Many veterans enter entrepreneurship equipped with the soft skills necessary for business success. “The military excels at teaching transferable ‘soft’ skills of critical thinking and multitasking, teamwork and leadership, integrity and motivation, among others,” said Edward Slavis, a former U.S. Marine infantry officer who served in Iraq. “I apply these skills to my real estate business but they could be employed in any field.”
When it comes to starting a business after your military career has ended, aside from financing your business, the biggest investment you’ll make as an entrepreneur will be in your knowledge and skills.
Starting a business is a challenge, but just like in the military, you can rely on the advice and support of other service members. Contact the organizations listed in this guide and you’ll see the passion and expertise of people devoting their lives to helping veteran entrepreneurs. You’ll know that you aren’t fighting this mission alone.
Donna Fuscaldo contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.