Military teens don't get to pick where they live. Their business should move with them.
A 13-week entrepreneurship program where military-connected teens, 14–18, build a real business, make real sales, and finish at a live public market.
Tampa Bay · Cohort 01 · January–April 2027 · A project of the Tampa Bay IVMF Ambassador team
Built by three veterans with more than fifty years of service between them.
Real products. Real customers. Real money.
Photography from Cohort 01 · April 2027
BRATS = Building Revenue Anywhere They Serve
- B
Building
They make something, not study something.
- R
Revenue
Real money from real customers.
- A
Anywhere
Built to survive the next PCS.
- T
They
The teen owns the business, not the program.
- S
Serve
Built around military family life.
01Why it exists
Nobody has ever told these kids that what they've already survived is a founder's skill set.
Military kids move every two or three years. New town, new school, new everything — and every single time, they watch their parents rebuild a life from scratch and figure it out.
We call that resilience. We're underselling it. That's market research. Adaptability under pressure. Building something from nothing with no safety net — over and over, before they're old enough to drive.
BRATS turns that into an advantage: find a real problem, build something useful, sell it, and take the business with you when you move.
02What it is
- Teens per cohort
- 10–15
- Program length
- 13 weeks
- Each teen leaves with
- 1 business
Every adult with unsupervised access to participants completes Level 2 FDLE background screening.
See how the program works →03The path
From idea to first dollar.
- 01Find a real problem
- 02Build the smallest sellable solution
- 03Price it and know the numbers
- 04Make the first sale
- 05Build the booth
- 06Sell at Market Day
Cohort 01 · January 18 – April 16, 2027 · Seven sessions, one build week, one Market Day
Explore the 13-week program →04Market Day
It ends when somebody pays them.
On Friday, April 16, 2027, Cohort 01 opens for business. A live public market. No parents running the booth, no pretend customers. Teens sell directly to the public, keep what they earn, and leave with something more useful than a certificate: proof that somebody paid for what they built.
Market Day · April 16, 2027 · Tampa Bay
05Four ways to help
You don't have to do everything. Pick one.
Mentor
A few hours with a cohort. No curriculum needed, just a story about building something.
Choose mentor →Connect
One intro to a school, FRG, or military family organization. Highest leverage most people can offer.
Choose connect →06Choose your next step
Have a military teen?
Cohort 01 applications open December 2026.