Marc-Anthony Arena ⋅ Rochester, NY Teknosophy, LLC ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Christianah,
Thank you for your service! I'm honored to have the chance to offer whatever advice I can.

If I'm not mistaken, you have the expertise in the solar products you mentioned, and may even have a sales plan. What you're then looking for is the crew with the experience, correct?

The beauty of your business is, you don't have lots of upfront investment. You're being paid for your product expertise and for your ability to introduce the 4 parties (customer, parts manufacturer, installer, banker). I suggest partnering up with a local bank to offer your customers financing - you may need someone there to go above and beyond to come up with a custom financing offering tailored to your customers.

What it all boils down to is convincing them why they should help you. In your case, it should be easy, since you're essentially offering the installation companies, and the banks, more business! I'd suggest writing a packet or brochure of some sort (I do one for my business that's around an 8 page pitch for a project I'm working on). Your first piece of the puzzle is familiarizing the reader with your company and what you bring to the table. The second piece of the puzzle is the pitch to show why it'd be great to become an installer for your up and coming business (look 'em all up on Google or the yellow pages and send the packet to all of them), and the third is the pitch to potential bankers. Once you have 1 or more bankers and installers, you can add them to your packet and use it when presenting to potential clients, showing you've partnered with strong companies.

Hope that helps!
Marc

Kris Larson ⋅ Sarasota, FL U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 4 years served

Greetings Christina,

I started my company in 2014, Sounds Creative Inc. Prior to that I attended the Florida State University Entrepreneur Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities in 2011. This was truly invaluable experience. I am not certain if you have heard of it, if not I highly recommend you look into it. There are other major universities involved in the program and there may be one in your area that would be more accessible to you. This is a fully funded program and is a no cost training and 9 day boot camp on the campus you are accepted to.

Regarding your solar business. I believe this may be of service to you. There is an entire program within the DOE (Department of Energy) specifically created to train and educate military veterans in the solar energy field. I would contact them and tell them that you have started your solar business and wish to create jobs for your fellow veterans and how you would be able to assist you in transitioning them out of the program into the real jobs and projects you are working on creating.

The other option is finding local veteran sub-contractors through either your local Voc rehab program and also at local university, state college and technical institute career resource centers. They may have veterans using their education benefits that are needing work while in school and also studying the field or learning the trade.

I have a vast network, resources and knowledge base that I have been working on myself to connect with fellow veteran business owners and provide service and support to. For example, I would be interested in assisting in developing website and marketing to help you generate business. Feel free to contact me at kris@soundscreativeinc.com if you would like to setup a time to talk and see if there is any possibilities to collaborate.

Here is the link for the DOE program.
http://energy.gov/articles/new-solar-energy-job-training-pilot-program-veterans

Here is the link to the EBV program.
http://ebv.vets.syr.edu/

I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,
Kris Larson
Sounds Creative Inc.

Marlene Boychak ⋅ Newark, DE CSC ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi, I love that you've started this business. I am environmentally conscious so this fits in with my interest. I would recommend that you apply for government grants and join the Small Business Association. I am sure there are companies out there that are doing exactly what you are looking for. Make sure to research these companies before signing any partnership because they could potentially ruin you business.

The government is big on renewable energy so get in touch with someone who can point you in the right direction. You can even look into subcontracting for the government as a small business owner and woman owned you are ahead of the competition.

Good luck.

Ronald Perry ⋅ Webster, NY The Empire Group ⋅ 37 years experience

Hi Chris,
Thank you for your service to our great country!
I can't exactly offer guidance on financing, however, I highly recommend contacting your local SCORE chapter. They are staffed by executives who are highly experienced, many of whom are retired. Be specific in what you need so they can assign an appropriate mentor. I am a copywriter specializing in business to business promotional material. You can contact me when it's appropriate to create web and print content.
Ron Perry (585)269-9076, rjperry5@gmail.com, www.copywriter-ronperry.com