When Peter Kane opened Vintage Barber Shop in 2013, it wasn’t unusual for him to go two or three days without a single customer. Now, four years later, he can barely keep up with the daily stream of walk-ins and regulars to staff the shop, located on East Avenue in Warwick.
“I have days where … I just do 10 hours straight of haircuts,” said Kane. “It’s not in me to have someone sitting there waiting while I eat my lunch.”
For Kane, the discipline to grind through an overwhelming workload is one of the ways his experience as a military veteran sets him apart from the average business owner – and Kane isn’t alone. At least 13 percent of veterans in Rhode Island own small businesses, representing 9,900 businesses, or roughly 10 percent, of all small businesses in the state, according to a study published earlier this year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Over the last four years, the SBA has established 20 grant-funded Veterans Business Outreach Centers across the United States to provide entrepreneurship training and support for veteran business owners, free of charge, including the VBOC of New England located at the Center for Women & Enterprise in Providence.
“Veterans have managerial skills, operational and logistical skills [that they learned in the military], which are key to being a business owner,” said Brian LaFauci, project director at the VBOC of New England and a 12-year veteran of the R.I. Air National Guard. “Where they do need help is with the business acumen – developing a marketing plan, doing market analysis and seeing where their competition lies, handling their finances.”
The New England VBOC began its operations in Providence last summer. Since then, LaFauci said, the center has hosted 22 “Boots to Business” business-training sessions, as well as 18 additional veteran-specific courses.
The VBOC also has handled 129 requests for individual counseling from veteran-owned businesses that involves a holistic assessment to evaluate each business’s needs and tailor a plan of action that might include business training, mentorship, financial assistance or a combination of all three.
One source of financial support for veteran-owned businesses is the SBA, which guarantees loans to veteran-owned businesses. In fiscal 2016, the SBA’s Rhode Island office supported 22 veteran loans totaling $9.8 million, an increase over the 15 loans worth $4.1 million in fiscal 2015. So far this fiscal year, the Rhode Island SBA has guaranteed 13 veteran loans for a total of $5.5 million, on track to surpass last year’s numbers.
Despite this growing support for veteran entrepreneurs, many vets have no idea what benefits are available to them as business owners.
When John Rogers started his own business as a construction and remodeling contractor in 1990, the VBOC program didn’t exist. He’d worked as a carpenter for his father before serving in the U.S. Army from 1980 to 1983, and once he decided to make a career out of it he founded his contracting company, John B. Rogers & Co., in his hometown of East Providence.
It wasn’t until Rogers bumped into U.S. Sen. Jack F. Reed on election day last fall and mentioned that he owned his own business that he learned about the VBOC in Providence.
Since first reaching out to the VBOC, Rogers has completed a business-planning course and the eight-week Professional Learning Exchange program hosted by the CWE in partnership with Bond Bros. construction firm. This fall, he’ll be starting the six-month StreetWise MBA program with Vetrn, a nonprofit and VBOC partner in Norton that offers free training for veteran small-business owners and family members.
“I’m sure there could’ve been other ways to get help, but this presented itself right in front of me and gave me an avenue to pursue classes that might not have been available to me,” said Rogers.
Not all veterans elect to participate in the government-funded programs available, however. Before Kane opened Vintage Barber Shop, he’d spent several years looking for a career that would offer a change of pace from his three years in the U.S. Army between 1998 and 2001, and four years in the National Guard from 2002 to 2006.
After trying a few jobs that didn’t satisfy him, in 2013 Kane decided to open up his own shop. He looked into government programs for veteran entrepreneurs but ultimately just took out a personal loan of $15,000 to get started.
Through online marketing using Yelp, Google and Facebook, Kane was able to build Vintage Barber Shop’s clientele base. Eventually, word got around about Kane’s discount for active military, veterans and law enforcement – on top of his competitive pricing – and they quickly became regulars.
“Anybody who’s in the service, you’ve got to get a haircut at least once a week, so they appreciate that discount,” said Kane.
In 2014, Kane hired a second barber to help him meet the rising demand, and a third just last year. He’s now considering hiring a fourth.
“I really can’t complain at all. I’ve been lucky,” he said.
