John Crocker ⋅ New York, NY Enterprise Iron ⋅ 30 years experience

First, thank you for your service.

As to advice, I worked for large multinationals for a couple of decades, and in 2002 left to start my own business with a partner. We've grown from the two of us to several hundred employees.

IMO, there are probably three things that I'd emphasize.

First, take care of your people and their families. My partner and I made this commitment early, and have never wavered. Every employee has multiple options for medical, dental, vision, STD, LTD, etc. 90% paid for, 80% of their families paid for. In the short run, it cuts down on our bottom line. In the long run, our retention rate is around 97%. We attract the best talent, and no one wants to leave.

Second, figure out what you are doing, and outsource everything else. For instance, my firms specializes in technology and operations in the retirement industry. It is common for me to have a consultant that lives in Arizona, and works in Washington DC and Charlotte. Figuring out how to do the taxes and reporting on that would be a nightmare. So we could either hire a dozen people, or ... outsource HR to a PEO. We outsourced it. Our business is retirement, not tax law.

Finally? And this is very personal, and maybe the most important thing. Perseverance. When you own something, when you're the guy at the top (and you care about your employees), there will be great days, and terrible, really terrible, days. I work on large, complex contracts. There's times when we would spend 4 months working on a proposal. Getting the word that we didn't win it is heartbreaking. But then you get up in the morning, shrug it off, and start working on the next one.

I've been doing this for 16 years, through ups and downs. Boom and bust (the 2008 market crash hit us hard). Assume this will happen to you. And persevere, not matter how dark things look. A clear headed vision, and focused intent regardless of current circumstances is what wins the day.

I'm on ACP trying to help because the fortitude and values and training soldiers need to have to step on a battlefield are the same as those needed to run a business.

Final note? Running your own business may be the most stressful thing you can do with your life. Everything is on your shoulders. You have freedom that you don't have if you work for someone else. But you are never off work. I can sit on a beach in the BVI whenever I want to. But will be doing emails and conference calls when I'm there. What I will say is that once you build something yourself, despite the stress you'll never want to work for someone else again.

Good luck man.

Chuck Beretz ⋅ Carlsbad, CA Cloudforia ⋅ 20 years experience

I want to underscore what Barry said earlier: hire well. It is not easy but it will be worth the effort. One of the best pieces of business advice I ever heard was that "A" players hire "A" players, but "B" players hire "C" players. Only hire "A" players. Anything other than "A" players -- especially in a small business -- will have a disproportionately large ripple effect as you grow. You may even have the opportunity to grow faster if you hire more people but don't be tempted -- only hire the best. It will pay off in the end.

One characteristic I always look for in a candidate is passion. That is, people are either wired to give a damn or they are not. It isn't something I can teach.

Barry Sosnick ⋅ Greenlawn, NY Great Whites Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics ⋅ 5 years experience

Excellent question...let me know when you find the answer! ????

I left Wall Street as an equity analyst to help my wife setup her dental practice. I thought it would be easy: I taught business and had experience with larger companies. I learned a few lessons.

First, have a marketing focus. Marketing isn't sales or advertising, although they are components. Instead, it is a customer focus. I used to start every lecture with a quote, "the goal of a business is customer satisfaction and profit is the reward." In other words, if you set out to make money, you will have a a more difficult time than if your drive is to delight your customers.

Second, find your niche. You will not have everyone as your customer and that is OK. Your company can't compete on price against larger and more efficient suppliers. Therefore, find a unique but valued reason for customers to choose your business.

Third, stablish the right culture. Ours is about compassionate care and working as a team to provide it. You need to find your own secret sauce that appeals to your market niche.

Finally, hire well. Business owners have little time. That said, if you are going to devote time to one area, it is hiring. The job candidates should value your culture and demonstrate how they can contribute to it. Every position deserves equal attention, including "low level" staff, such as receptionists. An excellent staff reduces turnover and makes improves customer service.

I hope this helps!

Joshua Bastman ⋅ Huntsville, AL ⋅ 3 years experience

I do not own, have put considerable into starting, but never gotten over the crusp to open. Funding fear.

Veterati may be your best resource. It's absolutely free to you too, as a vet.

https://www.veterati.com/

Troy Derheim ⋅ Fargo, ND U.S. Army, Specialist ⋅ 3 years served

Thank you everyone for the Reponses, all the information is very helpful!

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

Hi Troy,
I've owned small businesses since 2001; I started my current business in 09. For me the most important thing is advice from my mentors, who've been "working on me" since I was in high school. There are a lot of retired people out there with a lot of experience and wisdom.

I do not attend business networking clubs, because most have very stringent rules on attendance which don't take into account our busy schedules. I do, however, recommend cultural clubs: Italian, German, etc. because they're warmer.

99.9% of my business and vendors have come from word of mouth, so don't discount the power of a real paper business card!

Hope that helps and thank you for your service!

Sandy Balazic ⋅ Phoenix, AZ G/O Digital a TEGNA Company ⋅ 3 years experience

Hi Troy,

Having/creating a solid business model will help with both short and long term goals. Also, when the time comes for you to put your business online, get people that have your best interests in mind. A good web dev person, a good web designer, good hosting and most importantly good content. Currently Google has best practices for content and site structure. It's important for you to be seen online by following Google's plan, since they crawl your site. :) While many now want to just go with images, don't fall for that, they are important, but 300 words per page isn't too much to ask for reading material. Along with that, good SEO with Metadata, image tags, and page structure is important. Both for your business and for user experience.

When starting up, be sure to tell people who you are, why you're in business and what it is you want to accomplish. People love stories and how others decide to do what they do. Become that person online they would want to do business with in person as well.

https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/ is a good article. Don't get too crazy, WordPress has some amazing themes that you can keep simple for you to navigate while making it responsive and user friendly.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Sandy

mike gordon ⋅ Tendon Mfg ⋅ 35 years experience

What specifically are you looking for ? Do you have a business idea you need financing for ? Do you want to start a business, but not sure what it would be ? I started this business 30 years ago, if you want to email me on the side it's mike@tendon.com

Deb Yeagle ⋅ Tampa, FL Plan To Win, Inc. ⋅ 39 years experience

Troy-
Thanks for your service!
In addition to SCORE, I recommend checking out your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which is also a free resource. Assuming you are still in the Fargo, ND area, the website for your local office is provided below:

http://ndsbdc.org/fargo.cfm

Good luck and thanks again!
Deb

ACP AdvisorNet Staff ⋅ New York, NY ⋅ 10 years experience

Hi Troy,

Thank you for posting, and thank you for your service.

I'm an Operations Associate here at ACP. I'm not a small business owner myself, but I have spoken and worked with a number of veterans and service members who are building their own businesses. While I cannot speak from any direct experience, I would like to pass along a few resources that may be helpful to you.

The following article lists a number of resources and organizations that are geared toward veteran-owned businesses. Many of these services are completely free to use! https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/7-top-veteran-owned-business-resources_us_5a0c76e8e4b006523921857b

Consider looking into SCORE, a nonprofit that offers free advice and services to individuals who are developing their own businesses. Specifically, SCORE offers mentoring and educational services related to small business: https://www.score.org/

I'd also recommend using AdvisorNet's "Community" tab to get in touch with advisors nationwide. You can search for advisors by career field and reach out to them via private message. Let me know if you have any questions navigating this feature of the website.

Once again, thank you for your service, Troy!

Best,

Shane