New Web Site has Everything you need to get started.

Starting your own business can be overwhelming.  Every vetrepreneur’s got so many unanswered questions. Here’s the good news – you can find most of the answers you need without ever leaving home.

The Virginia Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network recently launched the VetBiz Resource Center to assist vetrepreneurs with common questions and issues relevant to starting and maintaining a new business.

Bringing the Best Together

The center is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Veterans Assistance and Services Program grant. “We knew there were a lot of good resources out there, but we wanted to pool all of them and put the information together to create one central place that veteran business owners could go to for assistance,” said Jody Keenan, director of the Virginia Small Business Development Center Network.

Keenan helped write the proposal that led to the grant in 2008. The Web site (www.vetbizresourcecenter.com) launched late last year and focuses on four key areas that vetrepreneurs commonly face:

1. Making the transition from active military service to owning a small-business.
2. Learning how to secure government grants.
3. How to obtain financing
4. How to develop a deployment plan for Reservists and Guards.  

Susan Lee- Merrow, business counselor and project manager, who helped to create the site said it’s interesting and interactive for people to use and “provides a lot of useful information.”

 Segments for Success

Each module contains a short Flash movie and a list of printable PDF resources with extensive information on each of the aspect of the subject. “We expect veterans to listen to the movie to get an overview of the subject and its relevance to them, then to print out the appropriate PDFs to use as references as they tackle the issues,” Lee-Merrow said.

L. Gordon Sumner, Jr., co-owner of two businesses, said he found the new Web site helpful. Sumner is in the process of fine- tuning the business plan for Patriot Pride Corps, a supplier of office products and services.

Sumner worked with Lee-Merrow through the Virginia SBDC and when he learned of vetbizresourcecenter.com. He said he’s glad that he could have many of the useful resources available at any time, from just about any location.

“While the SBDC office is conveniently located for us, it isn’t for everyone,” Sumner said. “I just wish it was up a year or so ago when we were starting out. And even though we aren’t a brand new businesses, I can pull up the IRS checklist, for example, and use it to check what we are doing.

In addition to assisting veteran entrepreneurs all over the country and world, Lee-Merrow also expects other SBDC counselors to utilize the services and to refer veteran entrepreneurs to the Web site.

For more information visit www.vetbizresourcecenter.com.  

Full Download! To watch a video about the  VetBiz Resource Center visit
www.navoba.com/vetbizvideo  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omtXfAwPQT4.

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