Often, people start a business out of passion. Maybe the passion is for entrepreneurship. Sometimes, that passion is the need for something outside the norm. According to the US Department of Defense, running a business offers disabled vets something a normal job would not.
Particularly for those struggling to deal with a separation from military service that they didn’t initiate and often didn’t want, Blass said entrepreneurship offers a new sense of identity.
“They are no longer that corporal or that sergeant or that captain. They are going through an identity transition, and to just get a job doesn’t always address that psychological identity need,†he said.
Entrepreneurship also holds allure to those who see it as a way to continue serving the country. “By being an entrepreneur, we are helping with the economic recovery,†Blass said. “You are creating jobs. … That message is not lost on someone who still wants to serve and is looking for some identity to latch onto.â€
Photo by US Army Africa