The National Survey of Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs is a multi-year, annual and longitudinal, study of veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs. This effort is one of the first national initiatives to develop data-driven research focused on military-affiliated entrepreneurship. The research seeks to gain better insights and understanding of military-affiliated entrepreneurs and identify economic, political, and socio-cultural factors that serve as barriers to entrepreneurship for military-affiliated individuals. This brief provides the latest insights from the 2021 NSMAE survey.  The findings reported here are from both a longitudinal and cross-sectional sample of over 2,000 veteran entrepreneurs. Future briefs will include subsequent data analysis on focused topics and various populations within the military-affiliated community. This annual survey and forthcoming public dataset will be an enduring source of current insights for public and private sector leaders, policymakers, and community-based organization on systemic barriers to and drivers of entrepreneurial success among veterans and their family members.

Entrepreneurial Characteristics

Motivations

Opportunity Recognition

Chance to implement own ideas/creating something

32%

Personal Independence

Make own decisions

36%

Maintain Personal Freedom

36%

Work Life Balance and Flexibility

Improving quality of life

26%

Having more free time/flexible hours

25%

Financial Independence

Opportunity to be independent/increase personal income

35%

Helping society/supporting community

21%

Consider themselves to be a social entrepreneur
0 %
indicate this is their first venture
0 %
have had multiple ventures
0 %
  • 36% owned 1-2 businesses
  • 47% owned 3-4 businesses
  • 17% owned 5 or more business

Military Transition into Entrepreneurship

were interested in entrepreneurship prior to the military
0 %
had difficulty with the transition from military to civilian life
0 %
indicated that entrepreneurship was helpful in finding a purpose after military
0 %
indicated that entrepreneurship made the transition easier
0 %

Top Transitional Challenges for Veteran Entrepreneurs were:

Loss of sense of purpose/camaraderie

26%

Financial struggles

25%

Getting socialized to civilian culture

25%

Loss of connection with military community

25%

Finding employment for myself

24%

Business Characteristics, Growth, and Sales

The Nature of Business

In 2020, their businesses/ventures were:

  • Profitable (52%)
  • Breaking even (14%)
  • Reporting a financial loss (34%)

Businesses/ventures were in

  • Service-based business (57%)
  • Both product and service-based business (31%)
  • Product-based business (12%)

85% consider themselves successful entrepreneurs.

YET

56% depends on their top five customers, and in case they lost those top five customers they would either get out of business or would reap significant negative consequences.

Business Certifications

are formally or informally certified by a national, state, local certification body
0 %
find the process of obtaining certification to be difficult
0 %
Of those with certification, 49% generate revenue from clients that require certification(s)
0 %

64% are certified by Center for Verification and Evaluation, through the VA/Vets First (CVE).

61% are certified by Small Business Administration (SBA).

Top Business Designations:

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses

71%

Veteran-Owned Businesses

65%

Small Business Certification

35%

Barriers to Entrepreneurship

Disability-Related Experiences

have a service-connected disability
0 %
indicate that service-related disability creates obstacles in their business
0 %
do not feel supported by Medical and Disability Service providers
0 %
entrepreneurship helped overcoming disability related challenges and barriers.
0 %
entrepreneurship helped with the recovery process
0 %
entrepreneurship played a significant role in my recovery process
0 %

Barriers to Entrepreneurship

Lack of access to capital
0 %
Problems finding good employees/contracted personnel
0 %
Lack of financing
0 %
Current economic situation
0 %
Irregular income
0 %
Federal regulations and policies
0 %
Taxes and legal fees
0 %
Lack of mentors for my business
0 %
Lack of experience in entrepreneurship or business ownership
0 %

The prevalence of certain problems and barriers faced by these veteran entrepreneurs changed dramatically between 2020 and 2021; when comparing the percentage of veteran entrepreneurs in our longitudinal study the biggest changes occurred:

 20202021 
Problems finding good employees29.9%39.0%9.10% Increase
Dealing with federal regulations & policies16.5%27.8%11.30% Increase
Lack of financing37.5%24.1%13.40% Decrease

Business Capital

Start Up

96% required initial start-up capital for their business venture.

of those required funding needed less than $25,000
0 %
of those required funding needed between $25,000 and $99,999
0 %
needed more than $100,000 initially to start or acquire a business
0 %

Growth

92% needed funding to expand or grow a business in 2020.

of those required funding needed more than $50,000
0 %
of those required funding needed more than needed more than $100,000
0 %
of those required funding were able to secure the funding needed to expand or grow the business in 2020
0 %
of those required funding were not able to secure any funding at all
0 %

Sources of Capital

80% of our respondents required financing in 2020.

personal and family savings of the owner
0 %
CARES Act's Payroll Protection Program (PPP
0 %
business credit card
0 %
CARES Act's Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)
0 %
personal credit cards
0 %

Startups (0-3 years old businesses)

Personal and family savings of the owner

71%

Personal credit cards

34%

CARES Act's Payroll Protection Program (PPP)

16%

CARES Act's Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)

15%

Businesses Older Than 3 Years

CARES Act's Payroll Protection Program (PPP)

47%

Personal and family savings of the owner

42%

Business credit cards

33%

CARES Act's Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL

28%

54% applied for credit/financing with a lender or creditor.

Of that 54%…

were not declined by the lender or creditor
0 %
obtaining partial funding
0 %
were declined
0 %
  • 61% did not reapply anywhere
  • 28% were turned down by the same or different institution

Debt Overview

The average business debt of the respondents in 2020 was $191,686.

66% report business debt on credit cards.

have less than 10% of their business debt on credit cards
0 %
have 10-99% of their business debt on credit cards
0 %
report all (100%) their business debt to be on the credit cards
0 %

66% report business debt on credit cards.

pay an interest rate that is 10% or higher
0 %
pay more than 20% interest rate
0 %

How much stress does your business’ financial condition cause you?

No stress at all

18%

Not very much stress

20%

Some stress

40%

A great deal of stress

22%

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Finance

do not feel that capital is readily available
0 %
do not feel that the federal funding resources and support (PPP, EIDL, etc.) have been helpful to their business
0 %
are not aware of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) resources
0 %

Government Support and Programs

find it difficult to cope with governmental bureaucracy
0 %
do not feel that there are enough adequate government programs to support their business
0 %
find it difficult to obtain licenses and permits
0 %

Community and Networks

feel responsible for their community
0 %
can find people in their local community to relate to
0 %
feel a sense of belonging in their local community
0 %
have difficulty navigating resources within their local community
0 %

Wellness

79% reported good to excellent general health while 21% reported poor or fair health.

Reported loss of energy either often or constantly during the past week

17%

Reported feeling burnout either often or constantly during the past week

17%

Reported difficulty concentrating either often or constantly during the past week

19%

During past year 4% considered attempting suicide.

Of that 4%…

sought help
0 %
did NOT seek help
0 %

Covid-19

were able to successfully adapt their business during the pandemic

87%

were able to accommodate remote work

79%

lost business

64%

identified additional opportunities for their business during the pandemic

56%

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