Try it with a safety net
School of Grit is a DoW SkillBridge-approved program. In your last months of service you can learn to build a business and test an idea of your own, while your military pay and benefits keep your family covered.
Or write to info@schoolofgrit.co.
Your paycheck keeps coming
You are still on active duty during SkillBridge: same pay, same benefits, same health care for your family. It is the one stretch where you can learn a new line of work without giving up a paycheck to do it.
Try it before you bet on it
Find out whether you like building something, and whether anyone will pay for it, while finding out costs you time instead of your savings.
Leave with a plan
You finish knowing which path fits you, what your family needs each month, and how you will cover it while the business grows.
What you do with us
Pick your path
Start with the free assessment. It ranks six ways to make a living after the military, from a steady job to buying a business, and shows what each one takes.
Take the assessment →Build and test a real idea
Work out who it is for, what you would charge and whether people will pay, with School of Grit working through it with you.
Learn next to people doing it
Join the live calls every Wednesday and Sunday with Corey, guest speakers and service members building their own businesses.
Plan your bridge
Work out what your family needs each month after your last day, and how you will cover it while the business grows.
How SkillBridge works
- It happens in your last 180 days
- SkillBridge can start no earlier than 180 days before your separation date. Your service may allow less, depending on your rank.
- Your commander approves it in writing
- Approval comes before you start, from the first commander in your chain who is an O-4 or above with UCMJ authority. The mission comes first, so approval can be pulled.
- Terminal leave uses the same days
- Every day of terminal leave you take is a day you cannot spend in SkillBridge. Plan the two together.
- Start the paperwork early
- There is no DoD-wide deadline to apply, but your service and your command set their own. Many want TAP finished first.
- You are still on active duty
- Ethics rules and your service’s rules on outside business activity apply the whole time. Talk to your installation ethics counselor before you sell anything.
Source: DoDI 1322.29. Your service’s own SkillBridge rules apply on top. See the date your window opens →
A bridge, not a leap
Most people do not leave the military with months of savings, and you do not need them to start. The plan is to keep your family covered first and let the business grow into the gap.
- Step 1
Know your floor
What your family needs each month once military pay and BAH stop. The magic number calculator works it out.
Find your magic number → - Step 2
Cover it with a bridge
A job, Guard or Reserve pay, school benefits, VA disability pay if you are eligible, a spouse’s income: whatever keeps the floor covered while you build.
- Step 3
Cross on a number
Go all in when the business has covered your floor for a few months in a row, not when it feels ready.
It fits if
- You are on active duty and getting out in the next 18 months or so.
- You want to build something of your own, not just find the next job.
- You will put in the work, and your unit can spare you for it.
Not sure which way to go yet? That is what the assessment is for.
Questions
Do I need a business idea already?
No. Start with the assessment: it ranks six paths for you and shows what each one takes.
What if my command says no?
You can still start. The School of Grit community and its live calls are free, and Line of Departure, our 90-day program, is built to run alongside a full schedule.
How do I start?
Email us with your branch, rank, separation date and what you want to build. We will get back to you with next steps, including what your command will need from us.
Is School of Grit part of the government?
No. We are a private education company, not affiliated with or endorsed by the VA, the DoD or any government agency, beyond being an approved SkillBridge program.
Interested?
Email us your branch, rank, separation date and what you want to build. We will take it from there.
Email us about SkillBridgeinfo@schoolofgrit.co