From sailor to CEO p1 - Military Success Stories - Military Times EDGE

There was no path to U.S. citizenship for the 400 sailors recruited annually from the Philippines when Ed Totanes joined the Navy in 1987. Six years into his service, a new law finally gave Totanes and sailors like him that opportunity, but he had to extend his military obligation another six years. Once he’d been in for 12, the hospital corpsman and submariner realized he’d be foolish to walk away from a military retirement.

Totanes retired in 2007 after 20 years of service. By that time, the private pilot and entrepreneur-to-be had laid the groundwork for his first business, General Aviation Flying Co., which buys and sells previously owned private aircraft. Sensing that rising fuel costs could jeopardize his aviation business, Totanes took the profits from airplane sales and reinvested them — in two Virginia Barbeque restaurants and his most recent acquisition, a Safe Ship packaging-and-shipping franchise next door to the Blackstone, Va., Wal-Mart.

Only two years since his Navy retirement, Totanes runs four businesses, and he’s recently been elected to the Blackstone (Va.) Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.

Here’s what Totanes learned along the way:

Get out for the right reason.

Emotion, Totanes advised, is not the right reason. “It’s a common trend. A guy is [angry], and he turns in his papers at the 15-year mark.” Totanes was tempted to get out because he really wanted to open a business, but a financial adviser emphasized the benefit of having a military retirement check to fall back on.

Don’t let your service hold up your success.

“Though I was still in the military, it didn’t stop me from opening my own business,” Totanes said. He made a commission-only deal with an airplane broker two years before his retirement to start gaining experience in sales. “My last two years in the Navy, I was just banking my Navy pay.”

Buck the trends.

The idea behind another of Totanes’ companies, Mid-Atlantic Rural Endeavor Inc. — parent company to the Safe Ship store and one of the Virginia Barbeque restaurants — is to open small businesses in towns where big, national chains might not otherwise look. “In most cases, it’s more stable,” he said.

If you have the cash, buy now.

You can find bargains in businesses and commercial real estate during recessions, Totanes said. He hopes to find a location for another Safe Ship store soon. “Now’s the time to shop.”

Do what’s right for you.

“I’m an entrepreneur by heart,” Totanes said. His first love was flying. “And I like barbecue. I really do.”