Nick Green built one of the largest self-storage operations in outstate Minnesota, growing it from 24 units behind his father’s shop to 454 units across 100,000 square feet. He bought and scaled a family plumbing company, acquired his largest competitor, merged them into a full-service HVAC firm, and sold both businesses at a premium. He is currently constructing his fourth iteration of the climate-controlled self-storage facility he’s optimized over the years.

He did not build any of it alone.

Growing up in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Nick spent a lot of time with his next-door neighbor. He was a World War II veteran named Dick Kay, who had stormed the beaches at Normandy. Dick Kay was in the later stages of lung cancer when he would sit with Nick and tell him about his life as a soldier, and later as an entrepreneur, starting a business called Kay’s Printing in Fargo, ND. A man who had survived the worst thing his generation could imagine had come home, built businesses, traveled the world, and had a great life. Nick thought he was the coolest man he had ever met.

“I remember how emotional he was telling me his story of the war, and how his friends were mowed down when the ramp dropped on D-Day, and how scared he was. I was probably too young, but he was dying and knew he didn’t have much time, and wanted me to know his story. He showed me all of his war trophies he brought back. I just remember I wanted to do what he did, serve like he did, and be like him. It was very inspiring to me to hear his story,” Nick said. “I probably followed in his footsteps more than anything.”

That was Nick’s first blueprint. Not a business plan. A veteran who showed him a path to live life entirely on your own terms.

Nick enlisted in the Army right out of high school in June 2001. 9/11 happened on his first day of infantry school at Fort Benning. He earned his parachutist badge, completed the Ranger Indoctrination Program, and spent four years with the 3rd Ranger Battalion, completing three combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

He had the Ranger discipline to start and the grit to scale. He had a small self-storage facility he had built for passive income, and he was in school for engineering. He even went back overseas when the money was too good to pass up. But he didn’t really have a firm direction, and he didn’t feel particularly confident in his ability to be a business owner.

Learning the Fundamentals

In 2012, Nick went through IVMF’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) at Louisiana State University. It was one of the earliest cohorts in the program’s history, and his first exposure to any formal business education. He showed up thinking he was the least qualified person in the room.

“There’s people with these cool businesses,” he said. “I’m just plumbing and HVAC, and then building some self-storage.”

A Ranger with three combat deployments, sitting in a room full of veteran entrepreneurs, was convinced he didn’t belong. He saw ambitious tech businesses, or other novel ideas that made him feel like his business was pedestrian by comparison. But, by the end of the program, something shifted. “Oh, I’m just like them,” Nick said, “and I’m fully capable of this too.”

IVMF research shows that 71% of veteran entrepreneurs report their military experience helped them adapt and persevere through business challenges, and 93% say their military skills directly contributed to their success. Nick already had those skills. What he didn’t have yet was the conviction that they counted. EBV closed that gap, and put him in a room with other veteran entrepreneurs who understood exactly where he was standing and the challenges he was facing.

“I had my course charted and had an idea of where I wanted to go, and how to try and implement. I was unsure about some things, and going through the LSU EBV training really set me forward on the path of buying out my Dad and also massively expanding my storage business. It was the encouragement through the IVMF network that really gave me the direction and confidence boost to massively and rapidly expand my storage.”

EBV showed Nick how his expertise and military experience connected to business fundamentals and explained them in a way that made sense. It also connected him with veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs on the same journey, and those a few steps further down the road. Scott Lewis, founder of Spartan Investors, became a mentor through the IVMF network.

His advice included knowing when to walk away. “It’s time to sell, sell,” Nick remembered. “Sometimes when you bring the business to a certain point, someone else could bring it to a different point and do a better job than I would. I can build my business to a certain point, command a premium price for selling it, and then that’s that.”

Nick followed that advice to the letter. It changed the trajectory of his self-storage business from a side operation behind his dad’s shop to a facility he exited at a premium.

That is not just entrepreneurial instinct. It is a practiced fundamental. It became the most valuable lesson Nick took from EBV: he wasn’t obligated to scale the facility into some nationwide competitor. He could just sell to someone else at a premium price and repeat the blueprint in another area.

Paying it Forward

Nick has attended Veteran EDGE for years, though his role has shifted. He went in as the veteran who felt least qualified to be there. Now he is the one other veterans go to for advice.

“I’m always a lot more open and honest and forthright about my businesses than I would be with any other person,” Nick said, describing the trust inside the IVMF community. That openness runs in both directions. A friend called him yesterday, connecting a newer veteran entrepreneur with Nick for guidance on financing. The community that once helped Nick find the missing pieces of his blueprint is now a vital resource for others in the community.

“Half of it is just giving them encouragement,” Nick said. “You have the tools, you have all the training in the world. But just someone telling you, yeah, you’re squared away. You’ll have no problem with this. You can do this.”

A World War II veteran once did the same thing for a kid in Detroit Lakes. Sat with him, told him what was possible, and showed him what a veteran’s life could look like after service. That kid became a Ranger, came home, and started building. The blueprint started with a neighbor. The IVMF community showed him how to define his own success. Now Nick is making sure the next veteran entrepreneur can dictate the terms of their life, and what success looks like after service.

IVMF Has Helped 100,000 Veterans Pursue Entrepreneurship

Nick Green is one of 100,000. His businesses are not flashy. They are built to last, built to sell, and built to build again. That pattern did not happen by accident. It happened because expertise and grit met business fundamentals, and a community rooting for him to win.

If you are a veteran or military spouse who has not found the missing piece yet, the community is here. The expertise is yours. The fundamentals are here. Explore the community of 100,000 veteran entrepreneurs who started the same way, and discover the missing pieces that take your business to the next level.