You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

6 Ways Small-Business Owners Can Celebrate Veterans Day

By Carol Tice

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

I know families where dad serves on a submarine or a destroyer and is gone six months at a stretch. The sacrifices these families make -- the absences, living with the fear -- are hard for the rest of us to even fathom. And worse -- at my kids' schools, the flags seem to fly at half-mast about every other week, as we honor another fallen soldier from one of our bases.

What can we do to help veterans once they return? Here are some ideas:

  1. Patronize veteran-owned businesses. There's a directory of them here, if you don't already know of one.
  2. If you have employees, give them the day off. Veterans Day is often one of those holidays that gets glossed over, or that doesn't seem important enough to close up shop. It is. Give your workers a day to attend a veteran's parade or just think on what we all owe our service members.
  3. Offer veterans a discount. Service members deserve a break. If you give a deal to seniors, kids, or any other group, consider putting veterans on your list.
  4. Help a veteran start a business, or grow one. There are great organizations such as The Veterans Corporation that exist just to help vets become entrepreneurs. Many franchisors also offer special programs to assist veterans in becoming franchisees. If you know about a resource and see a vet struggling with their business, lend a hand.
  5. Tell a veteran you appreciate their service. Sounds corny, but they deserve our thanks, and I bet they'd love to hear it said out loud.
  6. Talk to your kids about the holiday. It's important that the next generation understand all that's been sacrificed for their benefit.

What will you do on Veterans Day? Leave a comment and let us know.
Carol Tice

Owner of Make a Living Writing

Longtime Seattle business writer Carol Tice has written for Entrepreneur, Forbes, Delta Sky and many more. She writes the award-winning Make a Living Writing blog. Her new ebook for Oberlo is Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Multibillion-Dollar Crypto Fraud

Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan said that the loss amount to the victims of Bankman-Fried's crimes surpassed $550 million.

Side Hustle

This Mom Started a Side Hustle After a 'Shocking' Realization in the Toy Aisle. Her Product Was in Macy's Within the Year — Seeing Nearly $350,000 in Sales.

Elenor Mak, now founder of Jilly Bing, didn't plan to start a business — but the search for a doll that looked like her daughter inspired her to do just that.

Growing a Business

To Achieve Sustainable Success, You Need to Stop Focusing on Disruption. Here's Why — and What You Must Focus on Instead.

Instead of zeroing in solely on disruptive innovation, embrace a pragmatic approach to innovation, recognizing and leveraging the potential within ongoing industry shifts.

Marketing

5 Ways to Get on the Media's Good Side (and Stay There)

When you're trying to make a name and a mark for yourself and your business, it's really important to get on the media's good side — and stay there.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Told Meta Engineers to 'Figure Out' Snapchat's Privacy Protections: 'We Have No Analytics on Them'

Recently unsealed court documents detail "Project Ghostbusters," Meta's project to work around Snapchat's end-to-end encryption to intercept data.