What is the one reason you can't or couldn't start a business?

SFC Doug Lee — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 02:49:47 -0500

hi vets. For those you may want to start a business and haven't been able to, what is the reason or reasons why not?

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 15 at 2015 4:10 AM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 04:10:19 -0500

SFC Doug Lee. I am going to suggest the greatest difficulty is attracting investment sufficient to both launch and sustain a business until it becomes profitable enough to sustain itself and provide enough return on investment in a short enough time to satisfy investors and staff. The second greatest difficulty is most military personnel are not trained in for profit corporate finance, accounting, legal affairs, management, and marketing. Any small business requires broad range of corporate management skills not typically available within one or a few troops. That said . . . some small technical consulting / personnel staffing businesses started by our troops are very successful . . . like Blackwater (Xe Academi ) have succeeded beyond belief. For my company greatest difficulty was convincing early clients we could deliver as promised given we had no track record outside of military and intel operations management experience. What really helped was bringing on a CEO / CFO / General Counsel / CMO / Board of Directors with several decades of for profit business development and management experience . . . this opened a floodgate of nondilutive and investor funding. We remain woman veteran owned . . . but the guys put up a good front that supports business opportunities. Political support, operator experience, and connections were helpful. It quite frankly takes a lot of nerve to start a new business when you can far more easily work in another business. Warmest Regards, Sandy

p.s. Maybe the question should be what helps business. . . rather than why businesses fail before they start.

Response by Elizabeth Malkin made Jan 15 at 2015 9:30 AM

Elizabeth Malkin — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:30:00 -0500

SFC Doug Lee , this is a great question! RP members are often posting questions or ideas about starting their own businesses and trying to drill down to some of the root causes that might prevent them from doing so could be a big help. For any RP members thinking about starting his/her own business get in touch with RallyPoint's partner Matthew Thornton Thornton. Matt runs The Transition Center which is a FREE service for our members to help them gain a better understanding about how to start their own business and what kind of business to start. You can check out The Transition Center on RP here: https://www.rallypoint.com/organizations/the-transition-center-the-transition-center-llc

The Transition Center, LLC. | RallyPoint

Discover veteran friendly jobs at The Transition Center, LLC. and connect with military members and veterans working there now.

Response by CW2 Joseph Evans made Jan 15 at 2015 1:20 PM

CW2 Joseph Evans — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:20:16 -0500

Initiative, start up capital, experience, skills... It's a combination of problems. You can get a lot of good education about the way the military works, but it isn't so good at providing translatable skill sets to the civilian side.

Response by SSG John M. made Jan 15 at 2015 1:21 PM

SSG John M. — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:21:46 -0500

Money

Response by CPO Emmett (Bud) Carpenter made Jan 15 at 2015 6:19 PM

CPO Emmett (Bud) Carpenter — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:19:35 -0500

After I retired I bought a snap -on tool franchise. I was self employed but had strong corporate support I was a snap-on dealer for almost 20 years. If your are a self starter and a hard worker this is not a bad way to go. I retired as a snap-on dealer in June of last year. My week now consists of one Sunday and six Saturdays.

Response by MSgt Timothy Johnson made Jan 17 at 2015 12:04 AM

MSgt Timothy Johnson — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 00:04:19 -0500

I attended ever transition programe available. I felt everything covered was for individuals applying or sending a resume to a larger company like Walmart or Amazon. What the transition program failed to compare the idea of teamwork, honesty, integrity and being responsible with that of the civilian workforce. I was quickly hired at every company I interviewed with. The first was a large warehouse similar to what I did as an E3. I found out real quick that other employees were ready to jump me behind the building. Their reason was I worked too fast and had ideas for making our truck loading more safe and efficient. Next job - I was hazardous materials qualified inspector / certifier while working at a shipyard. There were tons of hazardous paint and marine coatings tossed everywhere in the yard. I volunteered to properly identify, store and dispose of all that stuff. I was laughed at and told they have no money and I had no business of knowing what was there. So if I knew the outside world was so cutthroat I would have opened my business befor all this. I have nothing right now due to fighting Parkinsons.

Response by LTC David S. Chang, ChFC®, CLU® made Jan 17 at 2015 12:40 AM

LTC David S. Chang, ChFC®, CLU® — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 00:40:54 -0500

I have started several, some that have done well, and some that floundered. The easiest part of the business is starting one up and winding one down.

There are about 27 million business in the U.S. and about 80% have one person or more. A small business is considered one with less than 500 employees.

I am at 60 employees right now and quite a bit of work! usually the top reasons why a business fails is lack of financing and the inability to monetize a business idea.

I highly recommend the lean-startup principle. It is about testing, then investing. You create a minimum viable product (MVP), launch it, get feedback, make it better, and then repeat. It is extremely easy to start a business nowadays with technology. and the advice you can get for free.

Try not to spend too much money upfront or start a business with high overhead. That killed me in one business venture. I had to bring in at least 60k a month just to break even and was way too much. Great learning experience. here are some business ideas that are less than 5k.

http://artofthinkingsmart.com/need-business-idea-55-less-5000/

Need a Business Idea or Want to Start A Home Business?

Need a Business Idea? Here are some that cost less than $5,000!

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Jan 17 at 2015 12:42 AM

CPT Jack Durish — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 00:42:04 -0500

Lack of confidence. Opportunity, money, everything follows confidence. Failure follows misplaced confidence.

Yes, it's really that simple.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 17 at 2015 3:07 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 03:07:10 -0500

I'm tempted to say that capital would be the main reason, however a close second would be risk. If I could afford to lose the money necessary to start a business... I think i would be starting them left and right.

Response by SGT Brian Richardson made Jan 18 at 2015 10:50 PM

SGT Brian Richardson — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 22:50:52 -0500

Preparation, overconfidence, lack of planning AFTER opening your doors and funding (too much or too little) can be some big culprits to failure. I am a big proponent to learning. And that does not always need to be in a classroom.

Find as many competent places to learn from as possible. Get hold of a great mentor. Read. Read some more. There will come a time to pull the trigger and if you have done your planning ahead of time, it will make a huge difference on the level of success you achieve.

But be ready to "pivot" as things will change and you need to be willing to adapt. Your customers will adapt...so if you don't, you won't have any more customers. And a business without customers is a hobby!

http://vetlaunched.com/best-time-start-business/

The Best Time to Start a Business | VetLaunched.com

The best time to start a business is now.

Response by SPC Larry Buck made Jan 19 at 2015 12:06 AM

SPC Larry Buck — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 00:06:21 -0500

Not enough money, I'm wanting to build a Perpetual Energy Generator, and it'll be expensive, but no body calls back!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 20 at 2015 12:41 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:41:06 -0500

Location, business type, skill-set, family obligations, capital. Quite a few variables.
There's a vast difference between a small entrepreneurship and owning a company. I hear this from younger service-members constantly" "When I get out, I'm just going to go into business for myself."
Sounds pretty easy. Where's your start-up funds? Do you know how much advertising costs? Store-front or home business? Employees? How many? Tax code? Overhead? Implementation? Travel? Hometown? Demographics? Experience? Tools? Technology...tools and software? Clientele?
The point is: The average person doesn't come of the military knowing all of these things.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 20 at 2015 12:42 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:42:21 -0500

the current economy is not favor for small businesses currently

Response by CPT Michael L.F. Slavin made Dec 8 at 2016 3:46 PM

CPT Michael L.F. Slavin — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 15:46:26 -0500

I was broke with no money and bankrupt. I wrote a business plan, raised $203,000 in 2 weeks from strangers and was a millionaire 3 1/2 years later.I tell you how to do it in my book, One Million in the Bank: How To Make $1,000,000 With Your Own Business, Even If You Have No Money Or Experience On Amazon). You really, really should read it. I have also written a Veterans' Guide To One Million in the Bank. It does have good original material, but you must get the main book.

You can do it. If you plan right. All of the 12 stories in my book, people were millionaires in 3-7 years from starting with nothing. Feel free to contact me with questions after or before you get the book, http://www.onemillioninthebank.com.
God bless! Good Luck!

Response by SFC Dennis A. made Dec 8 at 2016 4:42 PM

SFC Dennis A. — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 16:42:22 -0500

My wife said not just no but hell no