Vysochyn Iryna, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Professor of the Department of Economic and Business Finance, State University of Trade and Economics, Kyiv, Ukraine

ORCID: 0000-0002-1738-8553
e-mail: i.vysochyn@knute.edu.ua

Assessment of the Development Potential of Veteran Entrepreneurship

Abstract. Introduction. The full-scale war in Ukraine has significantly increased the importance of veterans’ socio-economic reintegration. Veteran entrepreneurship has become an important mechanism for supporting veterans’ transition to civilian life, ensuring economic independence, creating employment opportunities, and contributing to economic recovery. At the same time, the growing number of veterans requires the development of an effective support ecosystem and methodological approaches to assessing the development potential of veteran-owned enterprises.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to examine the current state and development prospects of veteran entrepreneurship in Ukraine, generalize international experience, identify key development factors and barriers, and develop a system of indicators and a methodological approach for comprehensive assessment of the development potential of veteran-owned enterprises.

Results. The study reveals the economic and social significance of veteran entrepreneurship as a mechanism for veterans’ reintegration and an important driver of small and medium-sized business development. A comparative analysis of support models in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, and Australia demonstrates that their effectiveness is based on comprehensive state policies combining financial support, entrepreneurial education, mentoring, institutional coordination, and preferential access to public procurement. The paper analyzes the evolution of veteran entrepreneurship in Ukraine, highlights the development of its institutional and regulatory framework, and characterizes the role of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, and other support institutions. The main barriers include limited access to finance, insufficient entrepreneurial competencies, uneven regional support infrastructure, psychological adaptation challenges, and wartime economic risks. A system of indicators for assessing the development potential of veteran-owned enterprises is proposed, covering financial, resource, innovation, market, institutional, social, and managerial-adaptive components. A methodological sequence for calculating the Integral Indicator of the Development Potential is developed, including indicator normalization, weighting, assessment of individual components, and aggregation into an integral measure. Based on international best practices, strategic directions for strengthening the national support ecosystem are proposed.

Conclusions. Veteran entrepreneurship should be considered an important component of Ukraine’s veteran policy and economic recovery. International experience confirms that the sustainable development of veteran-owned enterprises requires an integrated ecosystem combining financial, educational, mentoring, institutional, and market support. The proposed system of indicators and methodological approach provides a basis for comprehensive assessment of the development potential of veteran-owned enterprises and can be used to identify priority areas for their development and to support managerial decision-making. Further research should focus on testing the methodology on a representative sample of veteran-owned enterprises, refining the weighting coefficients, and assessing its practical applicability.

Keywords: veteran-owned enterprises, veteran entrepreneurship, development potential, Integral Indicator of the Development Potential, government support, socio-economic reintegration, small and medium-sized enterprises, support ecosystem, economic recovery.

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