Community Navigator Pilot Program – Success Stories
CNPP Builds Business Network for Entrepreneur
Dewayne Kimble had some big shoes to fill when he decided to start his business. His grandfather, father, and a number of aunts and uncles had all run successful businesses.
He didn’t give entrepreneurship much thought though as he served in the U.S. Army and then went on to work at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As he neared retirement, he began thinking about starting his own business.
“I saw the need for veterans to be educated on the disability compensation claims process, to alleviate frustration and give their VA claim the due process it deserves,” says Dewayne, founder and owner of KMD89 VA Claims Consulting.
As with many veteran entrepreneurs, Dewayne had the skills but wasn’t sure how to start. “I thought because I have an MBA that I could handle this myself, but I quickly learned that my MBA was out-of-date, obsolete.”
He went to a number of programs aimed at helping entrepreneurs but came away feeling he had learned little of use. Then, in 2019, his business mentor, Dr. Andy Gold, connected him to Startup Training Resources to Inspire Veteran Entrepreneurs (STRIVE).
The STRIVE program is an entrepreneurship program offered through Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). STRIVE is a three-phase program for veterans with a budding business that helps them identify, overcome, and mitigate challenges and pave the way for veteran business ownership success.
That’s when things started looking up. “STRIVE taught me how to understand and read a profit and loss statement, calculate profit margins, put together a feasibility plan, create a 30-second elevator pitch, and I could go on,” he says.
Feeling armed with the tools he learned at STRIVE, Dewayne set out to build his business. However, additional roadblocks popped up. Dewayne especially was having trouble connecting with other businesses to find the support he needed. He spent a lot of time looking for a lawyer, CPA, and bookkeeper but could not find people who were capable or the best fit for his business.
He decided to again turn to his business mentor Dr. Gold, with the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), for guidance. NACCE is part of IVMF’s Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP), a program funded by the Small Business Administration to help reduce barriers to entrepreneurship. IVMF’s CNPP provides free access to trusted experts, training, and one-on-one services to help veteran and military-connected entrepreneurs run successful small businesses.
“I didn’t have the time to sit at my computer all day, researching and interviewing contacts,” says Dewayne. “Through NACCE’s help and CNPP, I was able to quickly get connected to the services I needed. CNPP made it easier and streamlined the journey for me.”
“I don’t know where I would be without these programs,” says Dewayne. “When I got involved with NACCE and programs like STRIVE and CNPP, I started connecting more with other veteran entrepreneurs and using the resources and input they provided. Not only did I start to see growth in my business, but I saw growth in myself as an entrepreneur.”
CNPP Helps Unleash Small Business Success
Just call her the Chief Mess Maker, the CMM for short. Tina Steffen loves to play with cardboard boxes and packing paper, materials her family uses a great deal in their multiple moves as a military family.
Tina’s messes aren’t really messes, though. She creates fun, functional items like paper rings, postcards, stickers, and notecards as the owner of Unleashed Creative Studio. She also designs original artwork and offers pop-up workshops, such as making journals from recycled materials. Through her business, Tina wants to help people rediscover their creativity and encourage them to use it.
As a veteran and military spouse, Tina believes owning a business provides the flexible schedule her family needs. Plus, she says, “We move a lot. I didn’t really want to go back to school and try to get a career, only to find out that we’re moving to this new place. So, I decided to start my own business.”
Unleashed Creative Studio is not Tina’s first business.
She has had several over the past 15 years; however, running a business, even one you are passionate about, is not without its challenges. While she knew she wanted a job that allowed her to homeschool their daughter, she was not always sure how to set up lasting processes.
Tina says she likes to make sure everything—from accounting to state regulations—is completed properly. “It’s a big learning curve,” she says.
“I would set things up, then we would move to another state, and I wouldn’t be sure if I should dissolve the business or try to start a new one. It’s mostly those kinds of things that have prevented me in the past from doing well as an entrepreneur.”
What has made the difference for her current business?
While researching ideas, Tina discovered the IGNITE conference, a free one-day business conference for military-connected entrepreneurs offered through Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). At the conference, she met Rob Kissner, a business mentor from Iona University’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
Iona is part of IVMF’s Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP), a program funded by the Small Business Administration to help reduce barriers to entrepreneurship. IVMF’s CNPP provides free access to trusted experts, training, and one-on-one services to help veteran and military-connected entrepreneurs run successful small businesses.
After the conference, Tina signed up for a one-to-one call with Rob. And now Rob is her business guide, coach, and cheerleader.
“Any time I would start to think I don’t know what I am doing, or what I am making is crappy stuff, I reach out to him,” says Tina. “Then we brainstorm.”
“Having someone to bounce ideas off of and to remind me that I know what I am doing has been hugely invaluable,” she adds. In addition to brainstorming, Tina’s business coach has helped her with determining a business structure, setting pricing, and creating proposals for design work.
Tina says she can’t imagine where her business would be now if she had heard about CNPP and gotten a business coach 15 years ago. “I might still be successfully running my first business.”
But she says, it’s like that old saying: when’s the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When’s the second-best time? Right now.
“If you want a business, get a business coach,” she says. “Even if you don’t think you need one, start there.”