IN THIS STORY:

>Three Routes to Business Ownership

>Buying an existing business

>From the ground up

>Sidebar: Helpful Resources for Entrepreneurs

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Lt. Col. Marc Guttman, USAFR, wasn’t sure what career path he should take once he left his full-time position in the Air National Guard. He just knew he shouldn’t wait until he was forced to retire at 55 before entering the civilian job market.

Guttman, who spent 30 years in the Air Force and the Air National Guard, needed assistance making the transition. So he paid an executive placement firm $5,000 to help him land a job. 

With their help, he revamped his résumé, learned how to “dress for success,” and participated in mock interviews and salary negotiations. In the end, he received three job offers, all of which paid six-figure salaries. 

“In every single one, I was going to be working for someone who is younger than my oldest child,” he says. “I just couldn’t do that. I couldn’t work for some preppy. I’d been in charge of masses of people in military organizations most of my life, and I didn’t think I could become the corporate stereotype.”

Ultimately, Guttman decided to go to work for himself. Today, he is one of millions of Americans who are small-business owners. 

Three Routes to Business Ownership

Many former and retired military members have gone on to have successful second careers as small-business owners. Some have taken an idea or concept and used it to build a business from scratch. Others have purchased an existing business or bought a business franchise.

Guttman and his wife, Kathy, decided the best way for them to become small-business owners was to buy a business franchise. Because they both had experience in the shipping industry—Marc as a transportation officer and Kathy as a sales representative for a trucking company—they chose a franchise that would allow them to use those skills. They applied for and received a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, and in February 1998, they opened a Handle with Care packaging store in Englewood, Colo.

Handle with Care specializes in shipping fragile, large, awkward, and valuable items for residential customers—a market niche the Guttmans believed wasn’t being filled. Indeed, the Handle with Care franchise in Englewood did so well that in July 1998, they purchased an existing franchise in Littleton, Colo. A few months later, they purchased a third franchise and opened a store in Lone Tree, Colo. 

By the end of 1998, Guttman had resigned from the Air National Guard, entered the Air Force Reserves, and was working full-time running the three stores. In 2001, the Guttmans took on a business partner and opened a Navis Pack and Ship Center in Denver, which handles specialized freight for commercial customers. 

Although the stores complement each other well, the Guttmans have experienced their share of challenges. In 1999, they decided to close the Littleton store after they determined it was in a bad location.

In his capacity as an Air Force reservist, Guttman has been sent overseas twice since Sept. 11, 2001. According to Guttman, this not only led to strained relations with his business partner, it also caused the Handle with Care store in Englewood to close in 2002. Still, Guttman says he has no regrets and will continue to serve in the reserves.

“I have my backpack, and I would leave tomorrow morning if called,” he says.

Through the SBA, Guttman obtained a Military Reservists Economic Injury Disaster Loan that helped him get back on track. Today, he reports, the Handle with Care Packaging Store is thriving, and in July 2003, the Navis Pack and Ship Center moved from a 2,800- square-foot facility into a 7,000- square-foot building. 

Guttman says he’s glad he became a small-business owner because it’s allowed him to spend more time with his two children and use the skills he acquired in the military in a way he finds satisfying.

“If you found joy in what you did while you were in the service, then find a way to do it on a career basis or an entrepreneurial basis,” he says. “There are so many freedoms and benefits to being your own boss, it’s just unbelievable.”

Buying an existing business

Cmdr. Rod Hicks, USN-Ret., did plenty of homework before he purchased Paul Davis Systems, an existing franchise business in Rock Hill, S.C., which specializes in fire, smoke, and water damage restoration work. 

Hicks, who separated from the service in 1994, began thinking about opening his own business while working for an executive placement firm in Charlotte, N.C. Unsure of where to begin, he visited the SBA Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, which helped him assess franchising options, identify local business opportunities, and develop a business plan.

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