UCLA drills disabled vets on business

For the last 15 months, he has run Yeschin CHB Logistics with his father, despite having no formal business education. Although the customs brokerage firm pulled in $2 million in revenue last year, Yeschin said he often lets clients delay their payments, and he hopes to learn how to acquire more funds so he can afford more clients. He applied for the program after hearing about it from a friend.

Advertising to draw customers was also a problem -- until one of the professors at the program suggested Yeschin buy out some of his firm's rivals and gain their clients.

Similar real-world knowledge that James picked up will be far more useful than the theory being taught at his community college, he said.

"They spared no expense and freely offered information that an average student pays quite a lot to obtain," he said.

And there were side benefits: Thomas said that as the participants networked, two started talking about going into business together.

James, meanwhile, began building a working model of his company. Before he joined the military in 2002, he said, he spent a decade floundering in his native Indiana. Now, he's "beginning to take the first steps to following a dream."

"The biggest hurdle in business is when and where to put my foot down first, and they're steering us in the right direction," he said. "It's been a life-changing event for me."

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tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Military mission

What: Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans With Disabilities

Where: UCLA Anderson School of Management; Florida State University's College of Business; Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University; Mays Business School, Texas A&M University

Who: Veterans with service-connected disabilities who have served on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001

What's next: Organizers expect the program to expand to more schools.

Source: UCLA's Anderson School of Management