• Mishra Virendra Kumar
• Prof (Dr) RK Jain

Armed forces personnel retire young while they still have a lot of residual productive professional life. They are accorded many opportunities and avenues by the organisation to transition to a second career to take up employment, self-employment or to be an entrepreneur depending upon their requirements. There are many Ex-Servicemen (referred to as ESM, Indian Military veterans or veterans) who venture into the world of entrepreneurship or self-employment. However, the transition from a military environment to a civil business environment is not at all smooth sailing. Veteran entrepreneurs, like their civil counterparts, also come across a number several in their journey. Work done in this field with regard to Indian veterans is very scanty. A strong need was felt by the veteran community to understand impediments that scuttles the entrepreneurial ambitions of the veterans who otherwise are prepared with the resources required. Veterans are dedicated, focused, multi-skilled, and possess the necessary experience in varied roles in various domains. A veteran is experienced and capable of managing volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous situations. Well-versed in the management of diverse resources, including human capital and disaster management, many veterans wish to apply their leadership, technical and managerial skills to achieve their ambition & goals of entrepreneurship. However, before he transitions into a new environment, he should prepare himself well regarding the likely obstacles and challenges if known to him. A study was undertaken to understand the same. Indian military veterans, not many, though, were approached to share their experiences about the likely problems a new entrant veteran might come across. Interaction with the veteran entrepreneurs and their online response to the questionnaire has brought out a very educative lesson for the prospective veteran entrepreneur to prepare themselves before they take a plunge into the unknown arena. This paper presents the obstacles and challenges faced by military veterans during their entrepreneurship journey.

Indian military veterans; veteran entrepreneur; obstacles & challenges; multi-skilled veteran

"Study of Challenges Encountered by Indian Military Veteran Entrepreneurs during their Entrepreneurial Journey", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 5, page no.a75-a83, May-2021, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2105009.pdf

"Study of Challenges Encountered by Indian Military Veteran Entrepreneurs during their Entrepreneurial Journey", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 5, page no. ppa75-a83, May-2021, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2105009.pdf