THE VETRN PROGRAM IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Veteran and Service-disabled veteran small business owners may apply to the Entrepreneur Program if they are beyond the start-up phase and have demonstrated a strong desire and commitment to build and grow their own small business and become successful.

VETRN is selecting applications for its Entrepreneur Program from prior service veterans, National Guard and / or family members who own an existing, established small business beyond the initial start-up phase, but are not yet ready to scale and don’t meet the requirements for attending the VETRN MBA Program. These MBA Program requirements include having been in business for one or more years, having a sustainable revenue model and a minimum annual revenue of $125,000 or greater.

Applicants to the Entrepreneur Program are most likely in the early stages of business development and seeking financial, sales and marketing and management training, along with networking and professional resource support in building a viable business plan and a sustainable revenue model.

VETRN is launching its VETRN Program in Entrepreneurship after ten successful years of running its VETRN MBA Program. A significant number of applicants have not met the minimum requirements for attending the VETRN MBA Program, which is about scaling an existing business with a minimum of one year in business, annual revenue of $125,000 or greater, and a sustainable revenue model. The Entrepreneurship Program’s mission is to provide similar training and professional resources to the early-stage veteran owned small business in need of completing a viable business plan and accessing the skills and resources necessary to become successful.

Participants who are accepted into the Entrepreneurship program will emerge with a viable business plan, after completing 80 hours of combined peer-to-peer mentoring, work assignments and classroom training. The program focuses on areas that are vital to small business success, including developing a viable business plan, understanding industry and key metrics data, team building and management, cash flow and financial management, sales and marketing techniques, networking, financing, and accessing sources of capital.

The Program in Entrepreneurship is a precursor to the VETRN MBA program. After successfully completing the Entrepreneurship program, graduates who then meet the minimum requirements, may apply for acceptance into the VETRN MBA program.

The importance of writing a business plan is not about the plan itself, but rather the value of gaining valuable knowledge, information, and insight about your business model as you go through the process of researching, speaking with potential customers, analyzing the numbers, making changes to your business model, product, or service offering, and sitting down to write the actual Business Plan. The reason for taking the time to do this is to minimize time, effort, capital and risk, all to improve the likelihood of success.

Given the amount of personal effort, angst, risk capital, funding needs, and time commitment required to start and operate a small business, the business plan gives business owners a roadmap and lets them understand what aspects of the plan are viable and which aspects are too costly or not feasible. Planning is essential to anyone who is starting down a path where there is bound to be obstacles and risk along the way. As an example: think of all the planning that went into D-Day by General Eisenhower and the Allied forces during World War II. A small business may not carry the same significance in terms of historical importance, but it carries many risks to its owners and their families, and must be carefully planned and all variables considered to mitigate risk in the same way.

In providing every opportunity for veterans and service-disabled veterans to be successful small business owners, VETRN is making available resources not commonly accessible to small businesses. Every business must deal with a host of issues, including the need for capital or bank financing, accounting, cybersecurity, or legal issues, finding and training the right kind of employees, marketing, or learning how to get everything done in a timely manner. That is why we are tied into an extensive network of professionals in the finance, legal, banking snd business community with the type of resources needed to be successful. These resources include attorneys, CPA firms, venture capitalists, investors, bankers, industry experts, corporate managers, leadership and business consultants, sales and marketing professionals, corporate CEO’s and CFO’s and others.