The SBA's Boots to Business program offers free two-day entrepreneurship training to service members, veterans, and military spouses. Participants gain confidence and business skills through courses delivered in-person and virtually as part of the DoD Transition Assistance Program, with ongoing support from mentors and resource partners.
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When I got out of the military.
I didn't know that I'd be able to do this.
SBA gave me the confidence to do it, and now that I'm doing it, I feel extreme pride. I feel proud that I was able to create something, develop it, manage it, and watch it grow.
If you're an active duty service member, part of the National Guard or Reserves, a veteran or a military spouse who's ever thought about owning a business, the U.S. small Business Administration has free programs and resources to help get you started. They can help you decide if entrepreneurship is right for you, teach you the fundamentals of business ownership and how to acquire and run an existing business, or start and grow a brand new one. It all begins with the free two day Boots to Business course that you can take either in person or virtually. Offered as part of the DoD Transition Assistance Program, this Introduction to Entrepreneurship course is hosted at military installations worldwide, serving service members and their spouses. For those without access to a military installation, Boots to Business Reboot brings the course to local communities for veterans of all eras, National Guard and Reserves and military spouses.
The great part of Boots to Business was that they not only give you the tools to figure out what kind of business you want to start or if you are the kind of person who wants to start a business, but what I have found to be the most helpful was the outreach and the advice that they provide on a continuing basis after Boots to Business Boots to.
Business is designed with the military community in mind, showcasing how success in the military can effectively translate into successful business ownership. In the Boots to Business course, you'll learn how to develop business concepts along with what's in a business plan, available financing and marketing options, and many other important fundamentals to set you up for success. After completing the course, you'll be connected to SBA's extensive collection of resources and resource partners, including Veterans Business Outreach Centers, Small Business Development Centers, Score Business Mentoring, Women's Business Centers, and many more.
The resources like VBOC and the sbdc, they're great opportunities. They assist with financing, they assist with business planning, they assist with just developing you as a person, developing you as a business owner, developing your ideas, putting you into contact with just a variety of different networks that are there to support you and show you how to be successful.
So whatever stage of military service you're in active duty, about to transition, veteran or a military spouse, SBA has the information and resources to support your journey toward business ownership every step of the way.
I wish I had reached out to the SBA earlier on. There's all sorts of amazing programs out there. I mean, there's the Boots to Business program, or you can check out and find mentors, or even go into a small business development center and meet a real person who can help you think through how to start your business. So I would encourage anyone starting a business to reach out to the sba.
To learn more about the Boots to Business program and other SBA resources for the veteran community, visit SBA.gov B2B.
