The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative study will be to explore the motivations of veterans that became small business owners. There is currently a gap in research literature on veteran small business owners, even though they make up the largest minority of the entire U.S. small business population at 14 percent. And only about a third of small businesses survive more than ten years. A better understanding of what motivates so many veterans to become small business owners could benefit other current and future small business owners and possibly increase their chances of success, as well as contributing to the existing body of research on small business.