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Business Ideas for Veterans

Franchise Opportunities for Veterans

Almost 90 percent of veterans and active duty service members expect to start a second career after they leave the military. And, after researching what types of business ideas for Veterans are out there, almost two-thirds of those service members envision owning a business as their career path, according to a survey conducted by The UPS Store.

It makes sense that veterans would naturally have the entrepreneurial spirit and drive to succeed required to own a business. During their time in the military, service members hone many of the skills needed to be successful entrepreneur. The UPS Store understands this and is proud to have so many veteran-owned businesses in our franchise system.

Within The UPS Store network, there are 223 veteran franchisees operating 432 The UPS Store locations who have participated in the VetFran program. The VetFran program offers qualified individuals $15,000 off the franchise fee. 

Jimmy Ochoa, franchise owner of The UPS Store 7272 in Bensenville, IL, spent 20 years in the Navy. After retiring, he noticed that his community was missing out on all of the services that The UPS Store has to offer. At the height of the pandemic, Ochoa opened his very own The UPS Store in Bensenville. “Everyone was on lock down, no one was out shopping, so it was twice as hard to create market awareness that we were here,” Ochoa said. To combat this difficulty, Ochoa held raffles to give gift cards to other local small businesses. Ochoa attributes his store’s success to promoting happiness and kindness to his customers and creating a welcoming environment that inspires his community to keep coming back. 

If you’re a veteran or active service member, we thank you. Your military service helped keep the American dream alive. Now, it’s time to start living your dream of owning your own business. If you’re looking for great business ideas for veterans for your post-military career, check out The UPS Store.

Why Veterans Make Great Franchisees

Veterans are uniquely suited for solving the most pressing challenges life can throw at you – but that’s just part of the reason why they make incredible entrepreneurs and amazing The UPS Store franchise owners. The UPS Store franchise system is a perfect business idea for veterans thanks to the unique abilities that our ideal franchisees have in common with veterans like:

  • Working as a team: Veterans know that the success of an organization relies on every member working together to build a team and a business that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
  • Executing a plan: The UPS Store provides our franchise owners with a proven business plan and ongoing support, but it’s on them to execute. Which is exactly what our veterans learn to do while in the military.
  • Thriving under pressure: Veterans know things don’t always go according to plan. The military provides service members the training and discipline needed to remain calm and thrive under the most pressure-filled situations.
  • Working hard to accomplish a goal: Business owners dream of a self-made life, but not all have the commitment and work ethic needed to accomplish their goals like veterans do.

Why The UPS Store is a Great Business Idea for Veterans

We Offer Discounted Franchise Fees for Veterans

We are a proud participant of the International Franchise Association (IFA) VetFran program. As our way of saying thank you for your service to our country, qualifying veterans receive $15,000 off the franchise fee for opening a new The UPS Store location.

Our Dedication to Veterans

In 2021, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked The UPS Store in the top 10 franchises for offering incentives and other programs to help veterans become franchisees. Nearly 300 of our centers are owned and operated by veteran franchisees. 

We Provide the Support of an Established Brand, You Enjoy the Benefits of Owning a Business

Here’s what one of our veteran franchisees said about his experience opening his The UPS Store location:

“The advantages of owning a franchise versus being an independent business is the business model they provide. We have support at the local level and regional level with continued education, training and marketing help. It’s a much greater opportunity to succeed with that support in the background. I get up every day and enjoy going to work, helping people, talking with my customers and solving their problems.”
Entrepreneur's Franchise Top Rated for Veterans in 2022 badge

We Proudly Support Our Veterans

Participating partners with the VetFran program, The UPS Store offers qualifying veterans $15,000 off their franchise fee to start their new business. To learn more, contact The UPS Store Franchise Development Team.

Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 Ranked #4 in 2023 badge

Ranked for over 30 Consecutive Years

The UPS Store has been ranked #1 in the postal and business services category for over 30 years and remains in the top 5 overall for the seventh consecutive year according to the Franchise 500 list.

Kristin Howard

Franchisee, Michigan

The reason my husband and I decided to go into franchising and specifically with The UPS Store, is the different opportunities we're given with the business. The UPS Store has name recognition as well as opportunities to expand.

Debbie Adams

Franchisee, Kentucky

What I enjoy most about being a The UPS Store owner is working with my customers. We are the solution specialists for our customers.

Jim George

Franchisee, Illinios

My favorite part about The UPS Store network is the camaraderie with other franchisees. Everybody loves to help everybody else. You’re really part of a family.

Greg Murray

Franchisee, Florida

The interesting thing about The UPS Store is that when a customer walks through the door there's an extremely high probability that they're coming there to do something that is important to them. So at the end of the day, what we do for customers is very important and they are trusting that we are going to do it well.

See the Full Testimonial

Mariana Huberman

Franchisee, Washington, D.C.

One of the things that I love about The UPS Store franchise system is that you're not ever in this by yourself. The franchisees of The UPS Store network are great.

Heidi Morris

Franchisee, Colorado

The thing I enjoy most about being a The UPS Store franchisee is I get to get up, go to work and know that I'm helping other business owners succeed in what they're doing.

Bob Brown

Franchisee, Tennessee

Owning a The UPS Store franchise has changed my life because it's finally given me the opportunity to engage my customers and my staff and be able to take real pride in what I do. As a franchisee, we get faced with solving peoples' problems every day and we do everything we possibly can to try to help.

Marie Jensen

Franchisee, Oregon

My favorite thing about The UPS Store is the variety. I love the variety of customers, I love the variety of services; getting to know the customers, meeting their needs, finding out how we can help them accomplish what they need to accomplish and seeing how happy they are. That makes me ecstatic.

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Tad Mollnhauer

Franchisee, Florida

With the products and services that The UPS Store provides we can make a difference in people's lives and that is the best reason for being a The UPS Store owner.

Joy Batchelor

Franchisee, Idaho

What makes being a The UPS Store franchisee worthwhile at the end of the day is the customers. The customers treat us like we're family.

Paul Erchinger

Franchisee, Texas

One nice benefit of owning a The UPS Store franchise for me has been that it gives me the opportunity to be more involved in the community. As I make relationships with others it seems like no matter what the environment is, in one way or another business comes out of that and that's not my objective—it's been a secondary benefit to being involved in the community.

Chris Reminder

Franchisee, Ohio

There are several things that I really enjoy about being a The UPS Store franchisee. First and foremost it allows me to get to know the people in the local community and that is a lot of fun. We get to see people on a regular basis. We get to know their life stories. That's a lot of fun.

Bruce Jones

Franchisee, Kentucky

Since we have joined The UPS Store, our life has changed by just having more time to spend together as a family. We've been very fortunate with the stores that we have and we have a great staff that looks out for our best interest and we look out for theirs.

Lonnie Williams

Franchisee, Oklahoma

What makes The UPS Store so successful is it gives each individual an opportunity to grow with the network and just meet the challenges that are brought to them on a daily basis. Every day gives us a new opportunity to help another person, to help another small business, to answer a question and to solve a problem.

Jeff Graham

Franchisee, Alabama

I love my customers. I love my employees. I love every person, every face that comes into my store. I enjoy every day going into work and I can't see doing anything else for the rest of my life.

Stacie Stigar

Franchisee, Alaska

I think that this franchise is so successful because of all of the resources that are available to us as center owners—we have marketing materials, we have so many different opportunities for help from the home office, and it just really makes for a great franchise.

Don Pollard

Franchisee, New Jersey

I think the thing that makes this franchise successful is a number of things. First of all we have an outstanding system, we have a great product, a great brand, and we're able to attract dynamic people to run these centers and run the business. So I think when you put all that together it really provides for a winning combination.

Mary Ellen Nichols

Franchisee, Tennessee

The thing I love about the franchise is that you have the UPS name backing you but yet you also have the autonomy to make your own decisions to promote.

Laura Griffin

Franchisee, Florida

In the eight short months I've owned my The UPS Store it has really changed my life. I've gone from being an employee of someone else to being an employer of my associates. It's a big responsibility but it's exciting every day.

Sandy Scandrett

Franchisee, Wisconsin

Being a The UPS Store franchisee has improved every aspect of my life. It's very rewarding financially, professionally, and emotionally. I have a large number of regular customers who are really, really appreciative of everything we do.

Kristie Robison

Franchisee, Alabama

I would say owning a The UPS Store location has changed my life to where I have more time and flexibility. In owning your own business you get your store up and running and you get employees that you can trust that are going to help keep your store running. This allows me to attend my two boys' ball games and also travel and do things with them so it has really changed my life for the better.