For military spouses trying to establish and maintain careers flexible enough to weather constant moves and other challenges of military life, owning a portable business can have its advantages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But how do you know whether you’ve got what it takes to be an entrepreneur? It’s a path that could be rewarding for you and your family, or a risk in a variety of ways \u2014 especially financially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Business ownership is a challenging vocational path. But it becomes less challenging and less like work if you find an opportunity to build a business around something that you’re passionate about, whether that’s a product, or a service, a for-profit or not-for-profit business,” said Mike Haynie, executive director of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only you can make that decision. Passion is key, but other primary elements are self-discipline, persistence and courage, Haynie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some fear is healthy, because it’s a significant step, he said. But you must overcome the fear that holds you back from exploring possibilities. In that regard, research and training are critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Military spouses can do some research and training through the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship, or V-WISE program, offered by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families in cooperation with the Small Business Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
V-WISE provides tools to help you become a successful entrepreneur \u2014 from helping you find that thing you’re passionate about to learning business skills that can turn ideas into growth ventures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barbara Carson, the SBA’s acting associate administrator for the Office of Veterans Business Development, said the program aims to help people make a decision about the entrepreneurial career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Successful entrepreneurs are not necessarily bigger risk-takers, but they are well-informed, Carson said, investigating “all the variables that look risky.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The programs help save people from making decisions that could end up hurting their families, financially or in other ways, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carson, an Air Force reservist as well as an Air Force wife, launched her personal training and resilience business while stationed in Okinawa. She found a kindred spirit in another woman veteran who had wanted to start a business for a long time, and they navigated the process together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marine wife Brittany Atkinson said she didn’t always intend to start her own business. She has a degree in agriculture resource economics with a focus in business, and wanted to create a peanut butter for people with allergies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But she found that such a product is already on the market, so she decided to start a business offering sweets and snacks, catering to those with food allergies and specialty diets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her desire stemmed from her own multiple life-threatening food allergies, so she has personally experienced the limited choices. She incorporated her business, is working on a business plan and menu, and hopes to open in early 2016 in the Norfolk, Virginia, area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chelbi Barnard, wife of an Army retiree, describes herself as “a jack of all trades,” like many military spouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this time, she said she knows she has the passion to get her startup greeting card business “Lemonade Expressions” off the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My goal is to execute everything this year,” she said. “I’ve never felt as strong as I do about this venture. \u2026 We target problems and sweeten them up in a very loving way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These days, she said, “I wake up very early, ready to work. I have found purpose.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Determine whether you’ve got what it takes to be an entrepreneur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":88777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3343],"class_list":["post-52406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-off-duty"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"AVPIRVNVMJGEFGZWSYRZURI5TI","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/2015\/06\/20\/starting-a-business-how-to-decide\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n