Veterans as Entrepreneurs: Resources to Help Vets Start Small Businesses

A Bureau of Labor Statistics report issued in March 2013 stated that the unemployment rate among veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts was 9.9 percent. While the rate dropped 2.2 percent during 2012, veterans still experience more difficulty finding employment than the average American worker. While some veterans have improved their skills by going back to school on military scholarships, others have turned to the idea of starting their own small businesses.
Starting a small business is an uphill battle for anyone. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that 50 percent of small businesses fail in the first five years. At the same time, small businesses are crucial to the health of the American economy. According to the SBA, small businesses:

  • Employ half of the employees who work in the private sector
  • Pay 44 percent of private payroll in the U.S.
  • Created 65 percent of the new jobs generated in America during the last 17 years
  • Hire 43 percent of high-tech workers like computer programmers, scientists and engineers
  • Produced 31 percent of the U.S.’s export value in 2008
  • Generate 13 times more patents per worker than larger firms

Currently, 13.6 percent of veterans are self-employed. Owning small businesses can unleash the creativity of an entire generation of veterans, and their discipline can generate the focus that helps businesses succeed. The public and private sectors have created multiple tools that will help vets who want to become entrepreneurs.

University Resources

Colleges and universities offer a variety of programs to give veterans the skills that they need to start small businesses. Vets can learn business skills without committing to lengthy degree programs.

National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program. Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) Riata Center offers veterans, particularly disabled veterans, training for starting and sustaining a small business. The training is based on OSU’s entrepreneurship curriculum, and veterans can earn up to 24 hours of continuing education credit.

Boots to Business. Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Business, in partnership with the SBA, starts its program by showing vets a 12-minute video depicting entrepreneurship as a lifestyle. The video is followed by 90 minutes of training, after which vets receive a book called “Introduction to Business Ownership.” If veterans continue in the program, then they can earn an eight-week “mini-MBA” during online classes.

Mentors and Association Memberships

Aspiring veteran entrepreneurs can benefit from meeting mentors and from networking in small business associations. Some helpful organizations include:

Veteranscorp. Veteranscorp connects vets with other small business owners and with mentors that can help them turn their vision into a workable plan. The organization also connects vets with Federal Protégé Mentor Programs and teaches them how to secure federal government contracts.

National Veteran-Owned Business Association (NaVOBA). Joining NaVOBA gives veterans the opportunity to register their businesses in the organization’s “Buy Veteran” portal. Federal, state and local governments, as well as private corporations and the general public, use the portal to develop partnerships and distribute requests for proposals (RFP) to veteran-owned businesses. In addition, NaVOBA advocates for policies that favor veteran entrepreneurship and holds local meetings that provide training for vets.

Financial Resources

Veterans can access loans from the SBA’s list of preferred lenders. These lenders have a higher SBA guaranty of 75 percent, which allows them to make loans to higher-risk candidates with less money to invest upfront. Vets also have access to dedicated financial resources, including:

Patriot Express Loans. These loans, administered by the SBA, provide loans of up to $500,000 for veterans, service-disabled veterans, Guard members, reservists and Transition Assistance Program members. Even spouses and widowed spouses of service members can access these loans. Additionally, Patriot Express offers a Revolving Line of Credit to access working capital. All businesses must be at least 51 percent veteran-owned. Veterans who were dishonorably discharged are not eligible.

Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loans (MREIDL). If a vet owned a business before being called to service and the business has failed or met serious financial problems, then vets can obtain MREIDLs as a source of working capital.

As an entrepreneur, Harold Lautner opened and operated a number of small manufacturing businesses. Since his retirement, he has served as a small-business mentor helping veterans develop their own businesses with a focus on obtaining government contracts.

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