Haynes Consulting for the U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy
First published November 2015
The Great Recession has proven to be an important event for all small business owners, especially veteran households owning small businesses. The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009 and the economy began to recover; however, this study suggests that recovery has been very deliberate for veteran and non-veteran households with small businesses. This study updates an earlier study by assessing changes to income and net worth from the beginning of the Great Recession in 2007 through 2013. This rapid contraction from 2007 to 2009 and subsequent expansion from 2009 to 2013 has raised one very important question for veterans: How have veteran-owned small businesses fared during and after the Great Recession?
This study examines the financial success, measured by income and net worth, of households headed by military veterans. The study focuses on comparisons of income and net worth for three groups: (1) veterans and non-veteran households; (2) veterans households with and without small business, and (3) veteran and non-veteran small business households.