Military Connection: From Military Service to Business Owner

By Debbie Gregory.

In the course of military training, the government has inadvertently conditioned Veterans to be successful entrepreneurs. The military teaches discipline, problem solving tactics, and leadership.  These are also the qualities of successful entrepreneurs. So why aren’t more Veterans putting these skills to use and starting their own businesses?

Jack Nason, CEO of Nason Inc. knows all about the similarities between military experience and running a startup. “The real fight of entrepreneurship takes place in the battlefield of the mind,” says Nason, a Gulf War veteran and successful small business owner of a transportation company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Despite federal incentives, the trend of veterans becoming entrepreneurs has declined in recent years. In fact, the statistics reveal that since 1996, the number of Veteran owned businesses have dropped significantly.

In previous years, approximately 13% of businesses were Veteran owned, whereas last year, that number shrunk to approximately 5%.

There are theories as to why this decline in the Veteran start up rate is happening, including a demographic and generational shift. An excess of six million Veterans will be entering retirement age within the next 15 years. That means more and better opportunities for younger veterans to start or expand businesses, particularly those with federal contracts attached.

Given the high rate of unemployment for Veterans, now may be the best time for Veterans to employ themselves and show the world why the US military is the best anvil to forge an unbreakable entrepreneur. They may not have been born into money or an entrepreneurial family, but that hasn’t stopped some of the greatest American businessmen from achieving great success.
The combination of more funding and less competition should spur more veterans to start their own businesses in the coming years, and we at MilitaryConnection.com hope to see their dreams become reality.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: From Military Service to Business Owner: By Debbie Gregory