Attitude is the Key to Vetrepreneurial Success

As a veteran, you have the skills, maturity, and experience needed to succeed. Initiative and drive are your motto, and – if you hadn’t noticed – the motto of most business owners. So why not try being a vetrepreneur? You could be doing yourself a big favor!

You’ll also be doing yourself a favor if you understand that the biggest obstacle to starting a business isn’t knowledge or even skill. It’s attitude.

Attitude is the largest contributor to making or breaking many new businesses.

The recipe for successful business owners was written in 1937 by Napoleon Hill in his book “Think and Grow Rich”. Hill wrote that people must “take charge of their minds, conceive their goals, and make their plans to achieve them.” That wisdom still holds true today.

Starting a new business requires a plan and an iron resolve attitude to see that plan succeed. You must have the confidence that you can grow your business and be prosperous.

What can you do to eliminate those doubts and help realize your dream of owning your own business?

Write Down Definite Business Goals

Knowing where you want to go will make getting there much easier. Burn this positive image into your brain day and night by reading it over and over again.

Do Your Homework

Identify and write down what you need to accomplish. Then identify your strengths and weaknesses so that you know where you need to work harder. Talk to other business owners who can offer you help and inspiration. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Be Honest With Yourself

Do you really believe you can be successful? Be honest! Write down the problems and look for solutions. People often let unconscious fears create rationalizations as to why they should fail.

If You Can Believe It, You Can Be It

Positive affirmations may seem silly, but they eventually create an atmosphere that your goals are possible. By removing negative words and emotions from your goals, you remove obstacles to your success.

A clear vision of what your business represents and what you want to see it become provides a roadmap to the future. Write those goals down. When goals are left only in your head, they are changeable. By writing your plans down on paper, you have created a concrete contract with yourself. You declare, definitively, that you are going to accomplish your mission. That commitment is a very large step in giving you the right “business” attitude.

In the military, you learned how to live a life of service. You did things most wouldn’t even dare to attempt. Your belief in yourself and your faith in your team made it possible to push through the doubts of failure. So what is preventing you from doing it now?

A lack of confidence stops most people before they even start. A lack of faith stops just as many the first time things get difficult. But you can do it!

Your military skills have taught you to organize. Your military experience has taught you how to correct course and be adaptable. Your military family is always there to offer advice and support.

When you unshackle yourself from 
the weight of self-doubt, you are free to fearlessly explore  for opportunity and 
success.

Written by Drs. Herb Brown and Paula Saunders