Derek got out of the Army in 2019 after two tours and a back injury the VA rated at 40 percent. He started a small landscaping business in Killeen, Texas, built it to $110K in revenue, and hired two part-time workers. In 2023, he heard about the SDVOSB program from another veteran at a VFW post. He looked it up, read that it was for service-disabled veterans who owned and operated small businesses, and decided he did not qualify. He never applied. He never called the VA. He never checked. He just decided.
That decision cost him roughly $340,000 over the next two years. He lost three federal maintenance contracts to competitors who had the certification he assumed he could not get. He paid market rates for equipment financing that the SBA Patriot Express program would have covered at a lower rate. And he worked without a safety net that a verified veteran-owned status would have provided on bonding and insurance.
Derek was wrong about his eligibility. He was not wrong about the system being confusing. He was part of the 44 percent.
The Statistic the VA Does Not Advertise Enough
According to the VA Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization, roughly 44 percent of veterans who inquire about business programs — loans, grants, certification, contracting set-asides — abandon the process before completing an application. They do not get denied. They do not get rejected. They simply stop. They self-disqualify.
The reasons cluster into three categories. The first is assumption about disability ratings. Many veterans believe they need a 100 percent service-connected rating to qualify for SDVOSB or other veteran business programs. They do not. The VA’s Center for Verification and Evaluation requires only that the veteran have a service-connected disability — any percentage — and that the disability be documented by the VA. A 10 percent rating qualifies. A 20 percent rating qualifies. Derek’s 40 percent rating more than qualified.
The second category is assumption about business size and age. Veterans often believe they need a minimum revenue threshold, a specific number of employees, or years in business to apply for SBA loans or SDVOSB certification. None of these are true for most programs. The SBA Microloan program has no minimum time in business. The Patriot Express program, while discontinued in 2012, was replaced by SBA Express and other veteran-preferred lending structures that still apply to newer businesses. SDVOSB certification has no revenue minimum and no requirement that the business be profitable.
The third category is assumption about the complexity of the process. Veterans look at the SAM.gov registration, the VA verification process, or the SBA loan application and conclude it is too much paperwork for a business their size. This assumption is often reinforced by predatory consultants who tell veterans the process is “impossible without help” — and then charge $3,000 to $5,000 to file forms the veteran could have completed with a few hours of focused work and a free SCORE mentor.
What the VA Actually Says vs. What Veterans Hear
The VA publishes eligibility criteria in plain language. The gap is not in the information. It is in the delivery.
The VA OSBDU website states clearly that SDVOSB eligibility requires three things: the business must be small under SBA size standards, it must be at least 51 percent owned by one or more service-disabled veterans, and the disabled veteran must control the management and daily business operations. That is the entire requirement. There is no revenue floor. There is no time-in-business minimum. There is no restriction on industry type.
But what veterans often hear is different. They hear from a forum post that “you need 100 percent disability.” They hear from a fellow veteran that “the VA only certifies businesses that have been around for five years.” They hear from a predatory consultant that “the paperwork is 200 pages and takes six months.” None of these are true. But they spread faster than the actual criteria because they confirm what veterans already suspect — that the system is built for someone else.
The Programs Veterans Miss Because They Assume They Are Out
The cost of self-disqualification is not abstract. It is measured in lost contracts, higher financing costs, and missed set-aside opportunities.
The SDVOSB program alone represents billions in federal contracting dollars set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. In fiscal year 2023, the federal government awarded approximately $26 billion in contracts to SDVOSB-certified firms. A veteran who assumes they cannot qualify — and therefore never applies — is walking away from a market that is explicitly reserved for them.
SBA lending preferences for veterans include fee reductions on 7(a) loans, priority processing for Express loans, and access to microlenders who target underserved communities. The SBA’s 2024 lending data shows that veteran borrowers accessed roughly $1.2 billion in SBA-backed financing. Many of those borrowers were first-time business owners with no prior commercial credit history. They did not self-disqualify. They checked the criteria and applied.
State-level programs compound the loss. Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Illinois all offer veteran-specific business grants, tax incentives, and procurement preferences. These programs often have separate eligibility criteria from federal programs, meaning a veteran who does not qualify for one may still qualify for another. But veterans who self-disqualify at the federal level rarely explore state-level alternatives.
How to Check Eligibility Without Committing to a Full Application
The simplest way to break the 44 percent pattern is to separate “checking” from “applying.” These are different actions, and conflating them is what keeps veterans stuck.
First, confirm your disability status. Log into VA.gov and check your disability rating. If you have a service-connected rating — any percentage — you meet the disability requirement for SDVOSB. If you are not sure whether your condition is service-connected, call the VA at 1-800-827-1000 and ask. This is a five-minute phone call that resolves the single biggest assumption.
Second, review your business structure. Do you own 51 percent or more of your business? Are you listed as the managing member on your LLC operating agreement? Do you control daily operations — meaning you make the hiring, firing, financial, and strategic decisions? If the answer to these questions is yes, you meet the ownership and control requirements.
Third, use the free pre-screening resources before you hire anyone. The SBA’s Veterans Business Outreach Centers offer eligibility assessments at no cost. SCORE mentors can walk you through the SBA loan prequalification process without requiring a full application. And the VA OSBDU website has a self-assessment checklist for SDVOSB certification that takes less than 30 minutes to complete.
Fourth, call a Procurement Technical Assistance Center. These are federally funded offices that provide free consulting on federal contracting readiness. They will tell you whether your business is positioned to compete, whether your NAICS codes are correct, and whether your SAM.gov registration is complete. They will also tell you the truth if you are not ready — which is more valuable than a consultant who tells you what you want to hear.
What Breaking the Pattern Looks Like
The veterans who escape the 44 percent share one trait: they check before they decide.
They do not assume. They verify. They make a phone call. They read the criteria. They talk to a free mentor. And they discover, more often than not, that the barrier they imagined does not exist.
The SBA’s data on veteran lending shows that first-time applicants who used a free resource partner — a VBOC, SCORE, or SBDC — had higher approval rates and faster processing times than those who applied alone. The reason is not that the resource partner does magic. It is that the resource partner confirms eligibility, organizes documentation, and prevents the applicant from abandoning the process at the first confusing form.
Derek eventually called a Veterans Business Outreach Center in 2024. They told him what he should have heard in 2023: he was eligible. He applied for SDVOSB certification, was approved in eight weeks, and won his first federal contract — a $65K grounds maintenance job at Fort Hood — three months later. The only thing that changed between 2023 and 2024 was that he stopped assuming and started checking.
Related Reading
- [What Does a Veteran Consultant Actually Do? The Difference Between a Real Advisor and a Broker](https://theveteransconsultant.com/veteran-consultant-real-advisor-vs-broker/)
- [VA Consultant for Veteran-Owned Businesses: What’s Real, What’s a Scam](https://theveteransconsultant.com/va-consultant-real-vs-scam/)
- [SDVOSB Certification: The Complete Walkthrough for Veteran Contractors](https://theveteransconsultant.com/sdvosb-certification-walkthrough/)
External Resources
About the Author
Randy Johnson covers veteran business growth for The Veterans Consultant, drawing on direct collaboration with Sidney G., who brings 43 years of experience across the Air Force, Fortune 500, and veteran business consulting.
Sidney G. is the guy you call when your business needs to grow and you have run out of ideas for how to get there. He has spent 43 years doing one thing across the Air Force, Civil Air Patrol, and corporate America — taking organizations to the next level. He has led IT and security operations at Fortune 500 companies, earned the INC 500 award twice, and contributed to HCA’s move from the Fortune 500 to the Fortune 100. Now he works with veteran business owners who are ready to stop being the bottleneck in their own company.