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Sir, I'll become the boss real soon, sir!(Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 28--As Eric Tirado ground excess grout from a client's shower, he was barely visible amid the dust that enveloped the bathroom like a sandstorm. No stranger to dust, 1st Lt. Tirado braved dust devils and roadside bombs in Afghanistan with the Florida Army National Guard. Frustrated with job-hunting or hungry to be their own boss, vets such as Tirado are deploying skills garnered through military service and giving business ownership a try in record numbers. Tirado, who now owns grout cleaning franchises in Melbourne and Orlando, decided to make his own way when he returned from Afghanistan in 2006. "My father always said, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained,' " he said. "So I said, 'You know what, let's try it.' " That's become the motto for a raft of recently returned veterans. "With the military training experience and mission-orientation that veterans possess, they are highly prized by" franchisers, said Terry Hill, a spokesman for the International Franchise Association in Washington, D.C. "Veterans . . . see small-business ownership as a path to the American dream." That may be because finding work after military service can be tough. Nearly one in five vets was jobless within one to three years of discharge, according to a recent study by Abt Associates Inc., a market-research firm with headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. A quarter of the vets who found work earned less than $21,840 a year. A 2002 U.S. Census report found America boasts about 3.2 million veteran-owned businesses, or 14 percent of all businesses. Federal help for business-minded vets "was pretty spotty" until the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999, said William Elmore, associate administrator for veterans' business development at the U.S. Small Business Administration. The act bolstered existing veteran-assistance programs and created programs to provide technical and financial assistance, improve access and nurture veteran-owned businesses. 'Good entrepreneurs' The SBA staffs each of its 68 district offices with a veteran business development officer and last year rolled out the Patriot Express Pilot Loan, a low-interest, quick-decision loan for veterans, transitioning service members and spouses seeking to start and expand small businesses. In Florida, the SBA so far has guaranteed 104 loans totaling $9,644,100. "This whole recognition of veterans as entrepreneurs and as good entrepreneurs is really growing," Elmore said. That growth is being supported locally by agencies such as SCORE, which partners with the SBA to provide counseling for entrepreneurs. The Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida also provides free counseling and seminars on topics ranging from business plans to patents for eight Central Florida counties. Veteran clients at the center are up 34 percent since 2003. "We try to provide hand-holding and connect veterans with proper resources," said Eunice Choi, the center's regional director. Even academia has invested -- especially in troops who return home with life-altering wounds. At Syracuse University in New York, Mike Haynie pioneered the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, a program that five colleges have adopted, including Florida State University earlier this year. "The traditional means to 'climb the economic ladder' are often closed to wounded veterans as a result of their disability, which means returning to the workplace may happen less frequently than we may think," said Haynie, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Syracuse. "Entrepreneurship is an opportunity for these vets who have given so much to our country to own their own futures rather than have to depend on someone else." Becoming a Grout Doctor When Tirado returned two years ago after working security details with 53rd Infantry Brigade, he wasn't interested in continuing his advertising gig. His brother-in-law suggested he investigate a franchise called Grout Doctor. Fortunately for Tirado, Grout Doctor is a vendor with VetFran, or the Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, a collaboration of the International Franchise Association, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the SBA and The Veterans Corp. that has corralled almost 300 businesses that slash up to 30 percent off franchising fees. So far, VetFran has helped more than 1,155 honorably discharged vets -- including Tirado -- become business owners. The 30 percent discount helped, yet Tirado said he still "spent every dollar [he] had. . . . I told my wife this better work. This is it." He charged ahead, handling estimates, doing the cleaning jobs, learning that being your own boss can be painful. But success eased the pain. He owned the fastest-growing Florida franchise in the company's history and was named Rookie of the Year. Success allowed him to hire employees and buy a second franchise. Running his business like a crack military unit, he said, makes all the difference. "I utilize lot of stuff I [learned] in the military," Tirado said. "In business, you've got to go with what you got." Darryl E. Owens can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5095. To see more of The Orlando Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.OrlandoSentinel.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |