One of my biggest passions is helping service disabled veterans become business owners. I recently had the chance to speak at an event that I actually participated in about five years back called the Veteran’s Entrepreneurship Program at Oklahoma State University. This year, it was held at The University of Florida in Gainesville, and I had the great honor of helping to lead some of the brightest entrepreneurial minds that are coming out of our country’s military.

I’m incredibly proud to be associated with this organization, which was established for service disabled vets who are in the process of creating a business or growing an existing one. I think they had something like five hundred applicants that had to be whittled down to the thirty-four veterans. The caliber of folks that became what we call “delegates†was just outstanding. These delegates then got to attend in house training; an emergent boot camp type event. It’s a relatively intense eight day course where they dive deep into various subject matters, focused on small business; marketing, financials, how to establish yourself and understand the importance of cash flow.

It was an interesting experience to be there as a presenter, having gone through the process myself just a few years earlier. I have to say, after they announced me and I took the stage to speak to these veterans, I was really hoping not to mess it up! The first thing that struck me was the level of intensity and focus I was receiving from the group. We had representatives from every service of the military there; some had been out of active duty for a few years, while others were on terminal leave. But all of them had the entrepreneur spirit in common. We also had five or six women there, which was a big jump from the one woman participating five years ago. I’d like to see us get to a more even percentage because our women serve this country just as honorably and strongly as our men do.

If you’re interested in becoming a candidate for next year’s event, you’ll have to fill out an application, which is basically a bio explanation of your business or concept. I truly enjoy helping service disabled vets find their entrepreneurial path and I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about the event.  Contact me, Joe “VetBizMan†Perez, directly.

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