Today is Memorial Day; a day we dedicate to honoring those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. And, although my blog articles usually address the types of issues confronted by any entrepreneur or small business owner, I want to take this opportunity to focus on veteran-owned businesses and veterans thinking of starting their own business.
While every aspiring entrepreneur starts off in business with certain strengths and weaknesses, veterans bring a unique set of assets and liabilities. I feel qualified to write about this subject because I have served in the military, held executive positions in large companies, and have owned several small businesses.
My experience in the military taught me several things that have served me well in my civilian life as a small business owner:
- Goal achievement requires hard work, focus, discipline and tenacity
- Performance is enhanced by loyalty to subordinates and among team members
- Strategic plans, when executed flawlessly, lead to victory
Apparently I am not the only one who sees the business benefits of military experience. In an article published in the New York times titled, “Management / The military model: Image-conscious firms snap to attention”, Holly Hubbard Preston compares the military model and a typical corporate structure. After World War II, most large companies were organized hierarchically since that was what most managers, who were veterans, understood. As an example, AT & T, a typical large U.S. company, had 14 levels of management, similar to the U.S. Army. If fact, the most elite European business schools of business and engineering are still organized along military lines.
Today, although large companies have become flatter in an effort to become more responsive to change, they are demonstrating a renewed respect for the value veterans bring. The renewed interest in people with military backgrounds has been fueled by the seeming epidemic in corporate scandals. The assumption is that people who have served in the armed forces have more discipline, courage, leadership and integrity than the general population.
Jeanne Branthover, director of the New York office for Boyden Global Executive Search has been seeing a trend in her Fortune 500 clients to recruit top-level executives with military experience. They want people who can lead under difficult circumstances.
Sim Sitkin, a professor at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, asserts that the military prepares people to accept “high levels of responsibility at a relatively young age” and provide the type of crisis management training needed in a business.
However, Sitkin also asserts that the military is more decentralized and less hierarchical than it used to be. Officers are trained to respond independently and creatively to rapid changes in the environment.
In response to this new demand for military talent, business schools are offering new programs. The Fuqua school at Duke in collaboration with the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, has a program offering a subsidized master’s of business administration degree to active military personnel.
Apparently, others have reservations about the merits of a military management model in a civilian organization. According to Zoli Erdos, Editor-in-Chief, Program Chair, Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, thinks that small businesses need a team of partners and collaborators rather than a military model.
P. Keskonis and KM Siddiqi, in their article, “Military Management Style Not Good For All Businesses”, make the point that in a large organization, a military management model with strict controls may not have much of an adverse impact because of the influence of many internal and external factors. However, in a small organization, where the owner or boss is intimately involved with operations, employees, and customers, an authoritarian management style and strict controls can erode morale, increase absenteeism, reduce productivity and lead to high turnover.
Regardless of your perspective relative to the value of a military background in a small business, we owe the brave men and women who lost their lives while serving in the military a debt we can never, ever repay. However, there are many ways we can demonstrate our appreciation for the many sacrifices made by service men, women and their families.
One way we can demonstrate our appreciation is to hire veterans. The transition from military to civilian life is challenging enough without the added stress of unemployment. Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) is a non-profit organization that provides career placement assistance to returning service men and women, specializing in those who are injured or disabled. HHUSA serves veterans from all branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, Reservists and Coast Guard.
Another way we can demonstrate our appreciation is to buy from veteran-owned businesses. There are currently three million veteran-owned businesses in the United States. The goal of the National Veteran-Owned Business Association (NaVOBA) is to convince corporate America and the government to consider using veteran-owned businesses as preferred vendors.
SCORE offers many resources to assist veterans who want to start a business or have one they want to grow. SCORE offices nationwide have programs and services specifically for members of the military community, some of whom will be leaving the service soon and others who completed their terms years ago. Helpful resources include:
- Insights for veterans with leadership tips, grants and an introspective questionnaire to help determine if starting a small business is the right option
- Directories of state programs and other resources for veterans
- Statistical research on small business owners who are veterans
- Links to business loan programs, including SBA Economic Injury Loans, Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loans and the Patriot Express Loan Initiative
- Information about specific SCORE programs for veterans and links to SCORE’s free online and face-to-face mentoring, online workshops and eNewsletters
In addition to SCORE, the Small Business Administration SBA) offers assistance through The Veterans Business Outreach Program (VBOP). The program provides entrepreneurial development services such as business training, counseling and mentoring, and referrals for eligible veterans owning or considering starting a small business. There are sixteen organizations participating in this effort serving as Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC).
If you would like to contact me, you can do so by visiting my LinkedIn page or emailing me at mike.clough@bestbizpractices.org.
Posted by: Mike Clough
