As the United States winds down its commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq, the men and women who served there are coming home to their families, their communities—and the worst job market in decades.

That’s why a growing number of veterans are investigating the possibilities of small business ownership.
The Veterans Business Resource Center in St. Louis has helped 540 veterans since 2010–almost half of that was in 2012 alone, said Darcella Craven, executive director of the organization. She said the increase is, in part, due to the number of veterans coming home from operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

“In just in one year, we had nearly twice as many as we had in the past three years,” Craven said. “Veterans are inquiring about entrepreneurship in numbers we haven’t seen before.”

According to government research, veterans are 45 percent more likely to be self-employed than the general public.

For some, it’s often a question of necessity. This summer, the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans was roughly the same as the overall population’s—but for the past few years, veteran unemployment has been in the double digits, well above the civilian rate.

And, Craven noted, many have injuries that keep them from returning to their old jobs. Add that to the skills they acquire in the armed services and resources specifically geared toward their needs, and there will likely be more veteran entrepreneurs on the horizon.

Skills for the Task

The government realizes that returning veterans are going to need help if they want to become entrepreneurs. In 2012, the military joined forces with groups like the Small Business Administration and Syracuse University to create the Boots to Business program, a major initiative that offers business training to transitioning servicemembers.

Of course, veterans already have special skills they’ve developed during their service.

Michelle Boylan, an Army veteran, has founded two businesses: the Party Store and Lazy B Ranch in Leavenworth, Kan. One veteran trait she said translates well into the business world is the ability to make decisions.

“This population is very goal-oriented,” she said. “Sometimes if you take yourself out of the veteran population, you find people that do a lot of second-guessing and zigzagging. Vets don’t seem to be that way; they are capable of making good decisions and moving toward achieving their goals.”

Mike Prevou, owner of Strategic Knowledge Solutions, spent 25 years in the Army, and he understands how military service can prepare someone for the business world, especially when it comes to leadership and delegation. He has learned to focus on the core competencies of his organization and outsource tasks like accounting and human resources.

“You have to know your strength and find a partner who you are compatible with to work the other side of the business,” he said. “I learned to find a good crew to work with and focus on the core business.”

Craven used to train women entrepreneurs and said she could always tell the difference between civilians and veterans.

“When they meet a challenge, the military person digs down deep and remembers what it was like to do pushups during the first day of basic training,” she said. “I could just say, ‘When you went to basic, did you know how to run two miles in 10 minutes or load a howitzer?’ No. It was easier for me to pull that determination out of them.”

Life Without a Drill Sergeant

While veterans bring a lot of strengths to business ownership, many of them face special challenges, too.
The armed forces have systems in place for everything, and nearly each minute of the day is scheduled. When they enter the business world, former servicemembers find they have to put their own systems in place.

Another big challenge is networking. When they leave the service, veterans often lack the kind of community connections needed to start a business.

“Building a network can be a challenge, but there are a lot of tools out there right now like LinkedIn that let you get into the middle of conversations on various disciplines, learn their language, see who the players are and reach out to them easily,” Prevou said.

Veterans also have to shake the need to “accomplish the mission at all costs.” They have to master the ability to stop when a project isn’t meeting expectations and move on to others that are.

“It was really hard to say we need to pull the plug on something (because) it’s draining resources and it’s not going to
get us to where we want to be,” he said. “You have limited resources at first, and if you aren’t going in the right direction, it could be disastrous.”

It’s all about learning to think like an entrepreneur.

“It’s difficult for someone that comes out and wants to do something on their own,” Prevou said. “While they were serving the country, they haven’t been thinking about how to fill niches and innovate.”

A Helping Hand

Craven can rattle off at least half a dozen places veterans can go to find information on starting their own businesses. There are so many resources, it can be dizzying, and she warns new entrepreneurs against “researching yourself into paralyzation.” Starting with an organization like hers can help filter the noise and move in the right direction.

Though the Veterans Business Outreach Center is based in St. Louis, she assists people throughout the Midwest and works closely with many groups in the Kansas City area. Her organization provides consulting services for starting a new business or redeveloping or growing an existing one.

Prevou highly recommends Kauffman FastTrac, the entrepreneurial training program. In 2011, FastTrac teamed with Accenture to create a program specifically for veterans.

FastTrac for the Veteran Entrepreneur uses the program’s traditional materials, but includes aspects for veterans like seeking federal contracts, utilizing loans and the importance of networking.

“Many have been in the military from a young age or been in it for some time; they don’t have a point of reference on how to translate ideas to the business world,” said Michelle Markey, FastTrac’s vice president. “We introduce them to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it broadens their network significantly.”

The program has been a “grand slam,” according to Markey. FastTrac had planned to train 275 veterans in 2012, but worked with 300 across the country and online. This year, the goal is to reach 500 people.

“As people are transitioning back into civilian life, we know that more and more today are seeing entrepreneurship as a viable career option,” Markey said.

Words of Advice

Prevou said he works with veteran entrepreneurs who say they want to start businesses but truly have no idea what goes into running one.

“They don’t know what is involved in being an entrepreneur, so they plow into it and realize it is more work than what they thought,” he said. “Creating a new company is kind of overwhelming sometimes. A lot of people come out and think they are going to go into their own business and work 8 to 5 and find out quickly that’s not the case.”

The first question veterans need to answer is whether or not they really want to be an entrepreneur. The best way to do that, according to Prevou, is to shadow others. He recommends hanging out with people who have started their own businesses and doing research on the foundations and structures a company requires.

And if entrepreneurship is your path, Boylan said it’s vital to have a passion for what you do. Her ranch was born from a favorite hobby of hers and the party store was something she had on her bucket list.

“What I did was turn things that I like to do for fun into a business,” Boylan said. “You really have to love what you are doing.”