StreetShares: Empowering Veteran Entrepreneurs

Veterans and military spouse business owners have dozens of great resources to help them become more successful. Joining the StreetShares Foundation community is another way for veteran entrepreneurs to get business tools, hear stories from other veteran entrepreneurs and a chance to win cash money for their businesses.Yesterday, the StreetShares Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to inspire, educate and support veteran business ownership, announced the winners of the Veteran Small Business Award. This time, the focus was exclusively on military spouse business owners. The winners are:

• First Place: Brooke Barnes, Air Force Military Spouse, Co-founder of edge co-working (Clovis, New Mexico) $5,000
• Second Place: Kathryn Thomas, Navy Veteran and Military Spouse, CEO of Yoga 4 Change (Jacksonville, Florida) $3,000
• Third Place: Abbey Sass, Army Military Spouse, Co-founder of Civil Sass (Chatfield, Minnesota) $2,000

Let’s learn how these military spouse entrepreneurs and the dozens of other veteran business owners won one of the Veteran Small Business Awards.

1. Get Inspiration from Other Veteran and Military Spouse Business Owners

Veteran entrepreneurs have unique stories their time in uniform and translating skills learned on deployment to business ownership. Military spouse business owners have different backgrounds as the foundation of military families. Despite the challenge of frequent cross-country PCS moves, a ton of military spouses have found ways to continue work and build small businesses.The StreetShares Foundation gathers dozens of stories from winners of their veteran business grant. Anyone can get inspired by the veteran entrepreneur who builds a technology-based business to military spouse business owner who started a publication written by military kids.Here’s a little inspiration from the first place winners Brooke Barnes and Jessica Johnson of edge co-working, a co-working space for military spouses living on Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico.“There aren’t a lot of career opportunities in a small town, so working remotely is a great option,” said Jessica. “With backgrounds in marketing and engineering, we feel that it’s important to keep your skills sharp and to continue professional development.”“Jessica and I were lucky to take our jobs with us and to work remotely for the first time,” Brooke said. “But, we missed being around the office, socializing and feeling motivated from coworkers.”They saw other motivated military spouses like them, who also wanted to continue working full time in a remote location. Thus, edge co-working was born earlier this year.“The Veteran Small Business Award is a game changer for edge co-working,” said Jessica.Brooke and Jessica plan to use the $5,000 toward marketing, bringing in professional speakers and career coaches and licensing their business to serve military spouses in duty stations all over the country in smaller cities.

2. Get Business Tools and Educational Resources to Guide You Along the Way

Education is a key to building success. Veteran and military spouse business owners have a ton of resources available to them already, including programs such as Bunker Labs and Bunker in a Box, Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans, and Veteran Business Outreach Centers across the country, just to name a few.The StreetShares Foundation creates free tools such as videos, ebooks and articles aimed to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. The latest ebook, “The Government Contractor’s Handbook for Veteran Business Owners,” includes eight chapters full of helpful hints and step-by-step guides.

3. Apply for the Veteran Small Business Award for a Chance to Win up to $5,000

Veteran business owners and military spouse entrepreneurs can apply for the Veteran Small Business Award for a chance to win one of three awards at $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000.“Every veteran business owner should apply for this. It’s idiotic not to,” said Courtney Wilson, CEO of DropZone for Veterans and first place winner of the January veteran business grant.It’s a pretty simple process to apply. Just visit the StreetShares Foundation website and download the featured ebook. Then submit your application by writing a 300-word summary and submitting a short video about your business. The Foundation grades each applicant on five items:

• Business idea
• Use of award funds and potential impact
• Product-market fit
• Team and company history
• Influence of the business on the military and veterans community

4. Mobilize your Fans and Followers

If your business is chosen as a finalist, you’ll have a chance to be presented to the public for a vote. This is your chance to mobilize your fans and followers and to let them know what you’re up to.If your business is chosen as a finalist, you’ll have a chance to be presented to the public for a vote. This is your chance to mobilize your fans and followers and to let them know what you’re up to. “The voting process was a ton of fun and it gave us a lot of exposure,” said Abbey Sass, co-founder of Civil Sass and third place winner of the May Veteran Small Business Award. “It gave us a chance to let our friends,“The voting process was a ton of fun and it gave us a lot of exposure,” said Abbey Sass, co-founder of Civil Sass and third place winner of the May Veteran Small Business Award. “It gave us a chance to let our friends, family, and fans know what we’re doing and to ask for their help. It allowed them to be a part of our company.”The StreetShares Foundation typically chooses 10 business owners as finalists. They give several tips and tricks to gather more votes throughout the voting period. But it’s up to you to spread the word about the competition. The StreetShares Foundation is another great resource for veteran business owners and military spouse entrepreneurs looking to grow their business. Visit streetshares.com/foundation to apply for the next round of awards. The StreetShares Foundation is the nonprofit arm of StreetShares, Inc., the financial solution for America’s heroes and their communities providing business loans, lines of credit and government contract financing.The StreetShares Foundation is another great resource for veteran business owners and military spouse entrepreneurs looking to grow their business. Visit streetshares.com/foundation to apply for the next round of awards. The StreetShares Foundation is the nonprofit arm of StreetShares, Inc., the financial solution for America’s heroes and their communities providing business loans, lines of credit and government contract financing.