By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
With the end of his career in the New Jersey Army National Guard drawing closer every day, Sgt. Jorge Ditren knows he wants to own a graphic design business when he reaches the 20-year mark and retires from the military.
"I knew I wanted to eventually own a business in the art field. As a child, I was always interested in drawing. Art is my true passion," said Sgt. Ditren, who lives in North Brunswick Township. He is assigned to the 42nd Regional Support Group at the Somerville National Guard Armory.
But how does a budding entrepreneur, who has spent most of his adult life in the military, launch such a business? The answer lies with Rider University’s Veterans Entrepreneurial Program, which graduated its first group of military veterans earlier this month.
The 14 graduates represent the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. Their proposed businesses range from a brew pub and restaurant, a mobile automobile service and a banquet/wedding venue. One veteran already owns and operates two small businesses — a carpet cleaning business and a real estate rental business.
The fledgling Veteran Entrepreneurial Program was given a jumpstart with a $50,000 grant from Grand Bank and its chief executive officer and president, Mark Wolters. He told the graduates at the graduation ceremony that he comes from a military family, and the program is his way of thanking the veterans for their service.
"We ask you to leave your families behind, to leave your children, to miss birthdays and anniversaries. We ask you to stand in the cold, in the heat, to destroy armies and to build coalition governments. (To say) ‘thanks’ is not enough," Mr. Wolters said.
Professor Ronald Cook, who is the director of Rider’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, said the program allows veterans to take a concept and create a business plan for it. The students learn about the fundamentals of accounting, and how to conduct specialized library research.
In addition to two half-day workshops, the students attended six sessions over six weeks. That’s where they learned how to build a business plan — from the mission statement to creating the business description, Professor Cook said.
"The students would give (their homework assignments) to me and I would review it and give them one-on-one feedback, which is crucial to their success. Feedback is key to understanding the material," he said, adding that it is better to "tweak" a business plan now before they sink time and money into it.
Now that the veterans have completed their classroom studies, they are being linked up with a mentor, Professor Cook said. The students will work with their mentor from now through next summer. If a veteran has never operated a business, "it’s nice to have someone to turn to" for help, he said.
Sgt. Ditren, who is among the first group of graduates, has been operating his own advertising art and design business — "Dgrafics" — for several years as a part-time, home-based business. But the full-time National Guard soldier realizes that he needs to get ready for the next step when he retires in about a year.
Sgt. Ditren acknowledged he was hesitant about opening a business because "I didn’t know about the paperwork. What does it take to run a business? I want to retire at 20 years (in the military), and I want to be sure it will be a smooth transition (to civilian life)."
That’s why he decided to enroll in the Rider program. When he received a flier about the program, his reaction was, "This is perfect. I can learn how to write a business plan. You don’t know what you know. You come here and the professors break it down for you. It’s not as difficult or scary as I thought it was at first."
A business plan, Sgt. Ditren said, covers everything from the mission statement to the projected revenue to the number of employees. It offers a potential investor "a smart guess" on the business’ trend for the next three years — how it will operate and make money, he said.
Sgt. Ditren assumed he would need an office, but he learned that he could keep it as a home-based business. Because it is a computer-based business, he can hire employees "all over the world," he said. The same applies to clients, he added.
So does Sgt. Ditren think the transition from military life to civilian life — and becoming the owner of a business — will be easy?
"I think being in the military as long as I have has helped me. You learn in the military that you have to be flexible and adaptable. I can run a business. The way I see it, if you can run a platoon of 30 soldiers, you can run a business of 10 employees," Sgt. Ditren said.
