Is it a good idea to start a business in the army?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 00:49:41 -0400

Part of the reason why I want to go back active is because I need to start over, civilian life has been kicking my butt. However I’ve always wanted to be a business man. I figured I would ask advice from the seniors before I make my ultimate decision.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2022 7:32 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 07:32:31 -0400

Trying to run your own business while being Active Army will be extremely difficult. Your time will be predominately dictated by Army, while little hours will be left to run your business.

If you think you can pull this off, then give it a go but I don't recommend it.

Response by Cpl Vic Burk made Aug 21 at 2022 8:30 AM

Cpl Vic Burk — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 08:30:06 -0400

SPC Private RallyPoint Member You didn't say what kind of business. My opinion, it will be hard to be active duty and run a successful business. But as they say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2022 8:43 AM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 08:43:41 -0400

Starting your own small business typically involves needing to dedicate 80 hours a week to it for the first couple of years.
It's tough enough to get command concurrence and have the time pull off a part time job at 15-20 hours a week on active duty. I doubt you would find the time to successfully start a small business on active duty.
Many people are able to start a small business while in the Guard or Reserves, the Reserves being easier with no state activations. And Tricare Reserve Select is the most affordable health care option for the self-employed.

Response by MAJ Ronnie Reams made Aug 21 at 2022 9:47 AM

MAJ Ronnie Reams — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 09:47:16 -0400

Just make sure it is an honest business. Real story, in 1967, I knew a MSG that ran club system at IIFFV Plantation. He was a wheeler, dealer, kinda reminded me of MSG Bilko, portrayed by Phil Silvers on TV. Lots a stories that I could tell about adventures on Cholon docks. Point is, when he got to be the Army CSM, it all came crashing down. So keep your business and the Army business separated.

Response by SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM made Aug 21 at 2022 12:25 PM

SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 12:25:50 -0400

I think if you are in the Military you should devote all of your time and energy in being a Professional Soldier.

Response by SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM made Aug 21 at 2022 12:40 PM

SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 12:40:47 -0400

What is also important is why you joined the Military. Typically soldiers should not solicit to others that they serve with. This frowned upon as a soldier.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2022 1:27 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 13:27:44 -0400

I was in the National Guard and transitioned back to the regular army. I went back to the regular army because I wanted to be a full-time soldier. I have the others that wanted to go back to the Army for similar reasons to what you have and honestly I am not a fan of it. The regular army isn't a program that helps you restart your life for an opportunity for you to start a business. Serving active duty to be your primary goal and if you have the ability to start a side hustle then so be it. If you're joining the Army so you can have the ability to have a side hustle then I think your journey for the wrong reason.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2022 1:58 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 13:58:56 -0400

Having ventured in a few VERY small things I could see something that can be set to Auto Pilot working.

For example, you could do everything from Amazon, and to include Amazon being the one to hold the inventory and fulfill the orders. You'd be only needed to order more inventory.

However............. the Amazon fees are exuberant. Amazon takes NO capital investment risk on buying the inventory, they do next to nothing to advertise selling the product through their platform and they charge you monthly servicing fees and get a cut of each sale. It's basically you buying inventory to be sold through a retail store, you rent the shelf space, you bought and own the inventory, the store charges you a monthly fee for the space, and they take a cut when something sells.

It's is however very doable from a E4 in the army that might not have any time to deal with anything business related except from the occasional reorder of inventory.

The thing that I've become successful in is being a consultant, but that still requires video conference calls and things that take up a lot of time on my part. The work itself can follow me anywhere so long as I can get to the internet, but it would come to a halt if I were deployed or in my Annual Training period.

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Aug 21 at 2022 2:33 PM

SSgt Christophe Murphy — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 14:33:59 -0400

Plenty of folks have a side job or small business on the side while in the military.

But I would warn that it’s hard to both be active duty and equally hard to start a business. Plus you have the hurdles that come along with training and deployment commitments.

Go into it knowing your limitations and restrictions and don’t go into expecting it to solve all your issues.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Aug 21 at 2022 3:50 PM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 15:50:35 -0400

There are many challenges to starting a business on active duty, especially if it is not mobile. You will deploy, PCS, and attend schools-none of which are optional, and usually unable to postpone for any private matters such as private business.

As you progress in rank, carving out the time needed to run a business will put you in a compromising position. The Army expects 100 percent of you all the time. Not answering the phone isn’t an option.
Guard and Reserve may be a bit easier, but several challenges still remain.

While I have known sone to to be effective with such endeavors, they were positions that did not require brick and mortar.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2022 4:38 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 16:38:52 -0400

You know, one of the unintended side effects of being a Career Counselor is that you hear so much bullshit that you learn to smell it immediately.

You are not a candidate for an entrepreneur. Civilian life is kicking your butt, you have no chance at this stage of your life of starting a business. You can't handle your own self, how are you going to handle employees and a business?

This is like listening to someone say that don't want to join a specific college sports team because they have a lower chance of making it to a professional league. You're not in pro league shape right now. If you aren't crushing it in civilian life right now, you're not launching a business either. The Active Duty Army isn't holding you back from starting a business, you are. If this was something you wanted you would be on it, not looking for other people to give you excuses about why you never started

Response by SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM made Aug 21 at 2022 7:44 PM

SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 19:44:01 -0400

Also, if you try to conduct business with the soldiers you work is usually taboo. Solicitations in the military is frowned upon. People can also report you if they feel that you are putting pressure on others when conducting business. Sometimes when people leave active duty try to pray on soldiers, because of their past rank and or influence. This can be a slippery slope.

Response by SP5 Dennis Loberger made Aug 22 at 2022 10:08 AM

SP5 Dennis Loberger — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 10:08:01 -0400

If you wish to be a business man where you will have all your time to focus on that. If civilian life is kicking your butt now, the Army is no place to be when starting a business. My Dad started his own business when I was a teenager. The amount of time, energy and commitment is more than the spare time you would have in the military. The military requires commitment as well. There is no doubt that an online business would be possible versus a brick and mortar type of business. I would recommend you find a successful person in the filed you are interested in to mentor you. The greatest likely for success in starting a new business is as a civilian. Either way, formulate a plan and execute it. Good luck

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2022 5:00 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 17:00:50 -0400

The hardest part of a 1000 mile journey is the first step, after that, the other foot will follow.

I found out in my years, that humans are always in a hurry. Take your time and go with the current, swimming against it, will get you tired.

The answers are always in front of you, all that is needed is, to make a decision on what the answer is, and go with it.

What ever you choose, do it the best you can, with what you have at the time, and go forward.

That's all I can I say young man. When I got older, I looked at my life that went by, and all the chosen answers, took me where I'm at now.

Response by A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney made Aug 23 at 2022 6:53 AM

A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 06:53:11 -0400

I'm A Retired Businessman,
5 Years In Management For FMC (Purchasing Dept Manager)
And 27 Years Self Employed, (Printing Business)
Whether Or Not You Should Become A Businessman
While In The Service, Depends Upon Several Factors.
How Much Free Time Do You Have After Your Military Duties~~~,
How Much Money Do You Have To Get Started ~~~~
~~~~How Long Will It Take Before Needing A Profit,~~~~
~~~The Type Of Business Do You Want To Enter Into.. ~~~
~~~ Do You Know Enough About The Business, To Run It Properly~~~
~~~~~Married, Wife, Kids, Other Responsibilities, .. ETC....
Because #1 ~~ IF You Have Any Free Time...You Can Kiss It "Good Bye".
#2 ~~ Do You Have The Skills Necessary; If NOT That'll Take a LOT of
Time To Learn Well Enough To Own Any Business, Any Time Soon,
#3~~ If you Have Enough Money To Get Started ....
#4~~Can You Afford To Lose It, If The Business Falls On It's Ass?
And 85% Of New Business DO.!
#5~~ Reference ANY Relationships, You'll Have To Reduce The Time Spent With Them
To Around ZERO.

OH,... And Everyone You Know Or Even Speak With, Will Tell You
"This Isn't A Good Time To Go Into Business"~~~~"You Have Too Much Competition In That Type Of Business"~~~ " You'll Never Make It A Success Because It's To Difficult"~~~~~ " Why Take A Chance, If You Don't Need To."~~~~
~~~~ And EVERY Other Thing Which Is Against The Possibility Of Your Succeeding~~~

~~~~~~BTW: I RETIRED At 56....... While Watching Them Return To Work Every Day~~~~
~~~~See My Bio... It's a Real Pisser...~~~~

Response by COL Carl Jensen made Aug 29 at 2022 10:38 AM

COL Carl Jensen — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 10:38:37 -0400

I was married when I went into the service, earning 71 dollars a day once a month, I needed to take on a second job while off duty. I have a hobby job now that I do in retirement, but I could have done it while I was an EM. (Of course when you are young you don't think of it.) If you have a skill i.e. painter, plumber, electrician mechanic which you can do with a tool equipped vehicle, why not, after duty hours. It's your time. If you have artistic talent, do Art and craft shows. Don't knock that one, it will surprise you. I actually made a good living with it. (You can google me or put my name in on eBay search.) Wisdom comes late in life. My EM years had me working off duty in a drug store, restaurant, and a band, all at different times. If I had to balance out civilian vs military, I'd combine them as I did. I did the conscripted time as a draftee, went OCS, and joined the Guard and Reserves as an officer. I was told by a civilian co-worker who was a retired WWII vet, to "stick it out. you won't believe what the benefits are at the end." He was right, so I remained in for the duration while I continued on as a civilian. Going into your own business is risky, but in my case, I took the risk in my later years. IMO, risk is the key to all businesses. It can be a crap shoot either way.

Response by SSG Bill McCoy made Aug 29 at 2022 7:34 PM

SSG Bill McCoy — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 19:34:53 -0400

Start a business ... IN the Army? Uh, NO! If you're in the Army, then that IS your business. Now, if you're doing some side things like making decals on a vinyl cutter, which would hardly be a business, yeah ... okay; so long as you it doesn't detract you from your Army business.
As for going back into the Army because, "civilian life" kicks your butt ... that doesn't sound like a very good reason. Of course if you're saying that you found Army life more rewarding, and enjoyable, then fine, go for it. But if it's simply because you're having problems like performance evaluations or following directions ... then, no.
Your post is too vague to really give you an answer; but SFC Private RallyPoint Member has probably given the best reply because, vagueness is like a lack of, "attention to detail."

Response by SSG Bill McCoy made Aug 29 at 2022 8:00 PM

SSG Bill McCoy — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 20:00:52 -0400

Okay, what ARE YOU DOING?
You posted this on 21 Aug '22 about going active, AND about the idea to, "start a business in the army," [SIC]; then:
you also posted on 26 Jun '22, asking about your chances of an assignment to Japan or Korea, and
you posted on 23 Jun '22 about talking to an AIR FORCE recruiter for Special Warfare.

SFC Private RallyPoint Member is obviously on to something as even I smell bullshit.

Response by MAJ Byron Oyler made Aug 29 at 2022 8:20 PM

MAJ Byron Oyler — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 20:20:59 -0400

The last two years of my career I was able to pretty much set my own hours and even then I would not have had time for a business. JR enlisted active duty certainly do not have the time I had.

Response by SPC John Tacetta made Sep 11 at 2022 10:49 PM

SPC John Tacetta — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 22:49:45 -0400

When I served, any side gig had to be approved at the company level, so you might want to consider that aspect of anything you're thinking of doing.

I run a small consulting business and I honestly can't see there being enough time in the day to run any kind of serious business while on active duty. Maybe a car wash at the local parking lot every other weekend or something along those lines. I never tried myself, but I see my friend dabble with Etsy and Craigslist, and man, that's just too much effort for too little reward.

Both the Army and a business will demand all your time: choose one.

Response by Emily Tribon made Jul 11 at 2023 5:44 AM

Emily Tribon — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 05:44:12 -0400

Hey there! It's great to hear that you're considering starting a business and looking to the senior members for advice. Going back to active duty in the army can indeed provide a fresh start and new opportunities. Being a businessperson has its own set of challenges and rewards, so it's important to weigh the pros and cons. Researching and consulting with experts like us llc for non residents https://startfleet.io/ can definitely help you make informed decisions. Best of luck with your ultimate decision, and remember that your determination and drive will play a key role in your success!

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