

To help veteran entrepreneurs flourish in business, we asked business professionals and CEOs this question for their best advice. From finding a mentor to getting your finances in order, there are several resources for veterans that may help your entrepreneurial efforts thrive.
Here are eight helpful resources to help veteran entrepreneurs reach their goals:
One program that aims at supporting veteran entrepreneurs is Boots to Business (B2B). The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers the training program as part of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) by the Department of Defense. Veteran entrepreneurs can undertake the training to learn about entrepreneurship and other fundamentals of business ownership. It generally prepares veterans on the aspects of entrepreneurship and the challenges of the dynamic business world, setting them up for success.
- Harriet Chan, CocoFinder
Veteran entrepreneurs are used to facing challenging situations and have learned to adapt effectively to any competitive environment. Even though entering the world of entrepreneurship is exciting, there are a plethora of things any entrepreneur should overcome to succeed. One of these derives from the fact that any entrepreneur’s life is filled with endless files and content that need to be gathered for business records. Use a company-wide document management system (DMS) to organize all your important documents in one place. Advanced business software with built-in DMS also provides secure storage and sharing capabilities so that certain documents can be shared with others and access is controlled.
- Spiros Skolarikis, Comidor
While I am not a veteran, I have close family who served in the military, and a couple of them became small business owners! After my father-in-law served the country, he partnered with my mother-in-law and started a small business with a windfall. But I know that not everyone has the same circumstances. If you need funds to start or grow your business, Street Shares specializes in financial solutions such as loans, lines of credit, and contract financing for veteran-owned businesses. I love that you can also invest in veteran-owned businesses through this platform.
- Meryl Schulte, Markitors
Warrior Rising is a philanthropy that empowers veteran entrepreneurs by teaching business skills and best practices. The organization pairs veterans with experienced industry mentors. These professionals volunteer their time and expertise to help veterans design and launch a business. Mentors provide invaluable insights and offer the structure and support former soldiers need to weather the often lonely and challenging nature of the entrepreneurial world. The resources Warrior Rising provides can help veterans avoid common pitfalls and early frustrations and prosper while running a self-made business.
- Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding
The National Veteran-Owned Business Association helps veteran business owners by offering a variety of assistance at the state, local, and federal levels. They can certify your business as veteran-owned and offer networking and training opportunities. They can even help businesses by providing information on how to obtain government contracts.
- Jeffery Brown, Big Fig Mattress
One resource to help veteran entrepreneurs succeed is making sure they know how to handle their company's finances. It would be helpful to them to have money management skills and tools they can rely on to make sure their business is in the best shape possible. Bookkeeping software could be advantageous to use as well. They should also make sure they have a good accountant to assist them with their taxes to help them avoid any tax issues in the future.
- Ben Cook, Jr., Printed Kicks
Military Entrepreneurship programs can help veterans transform the damaging effects of war into successful entrepreneurship opportunities. Military Entrepreneurship (ME) programs help veterans build upon skills learned in military service by providing training and technical assistance resources needed to launch or expand small business ventures. This is done with mentoring from experienced people, experts on economic development topics such as access to capital markets and intellectual property law, as well as angel investors.
- Altay Gursel, Metriculum
VetTix provides free tickets to events for all branches of currently-serving Military and Veterans, including the immediate family of troops KIA. To date, they have given away almost 10M tickets to events ranging from sports to music to theatre. Why is VetTix a good resource for veteran-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs? Because events (and fun) can help reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, and build life-long memories. It’s so important to have an outlet to relieve the stress running a business can cause, and VetTix is a great resource every veteran should be aware of.
- Brett Farmiloe, Terkel
Copyright © 2023 SCORE Association, SCORE.org
Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.