Caption: Michael Stacks, an active-duty sailor, started Bold Mariner Brewing Co. with his wife. The Small Business Administration is encouraging troops, veterans, and their spouses to consider launching their own businesses.
By Gina Harkins, senior staff writer
Breweries, coffeehouses, clothing companies, and construction firms. Those are just some of the veteran-owned businesses popping up across the country — and Uncle Sam wants you to get in on the action.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is recognizing servicemembers-turned-business owners this week to get more veterans and military spouses to consider entrepreneurship.
“We want to connect those who are thinking about entrepreneurship with the resources that SBA and their partners can provide to them — often for free in their communities — to get their business going,” said Air Force Reserve Col. Barb Carson of the SBA’s office of veterans business development.
Carson, who’s married to another Air Force officer, has experience with launching a startup. Her family moved to Japan after her husband got a new assignment, which took Carson away from her job at the Pentagon. She teamed with another female veteran to start an outdoor physical training business.
“We had special forces folks and military spouses ranging from ages 18 to 64,” she said. “We had a blast training in the jungle, and it was empowering for me to find something that I was good at.”
This year’s National Veterans Small Business Week, which runs through Nov. 4, will showcase successful veteran-owned companies as a way to inspire others to follow suit. Throughout the week, the SBA will hold webinars and online interviews with small business owners to raise awareness.
Here’s a look at some of the services veterans and their spouses can tap into — along with what makes them prime candidates for small business ownership.
The right move? SBA offers training tailored for transitioning servicemembers and military spouses called Boots to Business. Carson encourages those considering entrepreneurship to attend the two-day events, which help troops determine whether they’re making the right move.
There’s even value in people finding out entrepreneurship might not be the best fit, Carson said. Business startups require a great deal of capital, and people should be 100 percent prepared.
“It can be months or even over a year before you start generating enough revenue to support yourself, let alone a family or another employee,” Carson said. “Financial literacy of business is different than personal finance. …You really need to be fluent in that.”
Help is available. Carson encourages those ready to take the next step to get in touch with one of the SBA’s Veterans Business Outreach Centers, which offer training, counseling, and mentoring services. Women’s business centers and SCORE chapters are also good resources, she said.
“All of us Americans have paid taxes to create these resources,” she said. “Business owners can get one-on-one advice on anything from the legal structure they should set up to marketing and research on pricing.”
Who’s getting involved. Nearly 50,000 troops and military spouses have attended one of the Boots to Business talks at 213 military installations worldwide, Carson said, and early data shows that more than 30 percent of those attendees have started their own business.
The program is most popular with mid-career officers and enlisted troops. More than 20 percent of the attendees have been women.
When those already out of uniform expressed interest in the program, the SBA teamed with Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families, First Data Corporation, and Market Foundation to launch a Boots to Business Reboot that’s offered in local communities. That program has allowed another 2,000 veterans to complete the training in 103 cities across the country.
Continued service. One of the top reasons veterans cite for wanting to start their own business is continued service to community, Carson said. Small business ownership can offer transitioning veterans a new mission.
“Veterans want … to create jobs in a town that they came from after they’re done serving in the military,” she said. “That’s really meaningful.”
The 2.5 million veteran small business owners in the U.S. employ about 5.5 million Americans, including many other veterans and military spouses, Carson said. Veteran-owned business have raked in more than $1 trillion in receipts.
What it takes. Owning your own company can be risky and stressful — but veterans are resilient, Carson said, and it shows in their approach to business.
“Persistence is one of the top skills that you need,” she said. Veterans aren’t scared off by challenges that come along with business ownership and have a knack for assessing risk, which is necessary when it comes to making high-stake decisions.
Veterans are also quick to identify business trends based on skills they’ve learned in the military, Carson said. Servicemembers are spotting opportunities when it comes to starting businesses related to information technology, cybersecurity, and even drones.
Gina Harkins can be reached at ginah@moaa.org. Follow her on Twitter at @ginaaharkins.