ToolBerry Is Veteran-Founded. Here's What That Actually Means.

Why a Marine infantryman ended up building free software for the trades - and why we won't wear a badge we can't back.

By Toolberry TeamJuly 23, 20266 min read

Updated July 23, 2026

Why a Marine infantryman ended up building free software for the trades - and why we won't wear a badge we can't back.

ToolBerry is a veteran-founded company. One of our three founders served as a U.S. Marine Corps infantryman, with combat deployments to Fallujah, Iraq, and to Afghanistan. ToolBerry - a free, offline-first field service management app for small service-trade businesses - exists because of what came after that service, and it's built the way the Corps taught us to build things.

Here's the story, and here's why it matters if you run a service business - especially if you served too.

Why did a Marine end up building software for the trades?

Not because of a market analysis.

After the Corps, a lot of our friends went where a lot of veterans go: the trades. Electrical, HVAC, plumbing, pest control. Some started their own outfits. And the same complaint kept coming up, over and over - the software. Tools that cost real money every month, charged per technician, demanded a signal in places that don't have one, and buried a one-person business under features built for a 50-truck operation.

These weren't people afraid of hard work or hard tools. These were people who'd maintained weapons systems and run logistics under fire. If the software was losing them, the software was the problem.

So we built the tool we wished they'd had: free, simple, and working everywhere - including the places with no bars. That's ToolBerry.

Isn't "veteran-owned" just a marketing badge?

Usually, yes. A flag graphic on a website costs nothing, and plenty of companies wear it exactly that way. We'd rather be straight about that than pretend the label alone means something.

Here's the test we'd suggest for any company wearing the label: does the service actually change the product? If you couldn't tell from using the thing, the badge is decoration.

For ToolBerry, you can tell. The way we build maps directly onto habits the military drills into you:

Plan for lost comms. In the infantry, you assume the radio will fail at the worst moment, and you brief what everyone does when it does. That's ToolBerry's entire architecture: the app works with zero signal, because your data lives in a real database on your device - the network is the backup plan, not the foundation. We've written the full story in Why ToolBerry Is Offline-First.

Brilliance in the basics. The Corps doesn't reward flashy; it rewards fundamentals executed every time. ToolBerry gets the core features right - jobs, customers, schedules, invoices - and makes them work every single time, before chasing anything shiny. Most field service apps fail the basics test the moment your signal drops.

Maintain your own gear. You don't hand your rifle to a stranger and hope. Your customer list, job history, and schedule sit on your phone, not on our servers. Back it up to your own Dropbox if you want a copy off-device - that's your data, in your storage, not ours.

Say what you'll do, then do it. ToolBerry is free. No trial clock, no credit card, no feature that quietly locks after 30 days. We can afford that because of how the app is built, not because we're burning investor money - the full explanation is in Is ToolBerry Really Free Forever?

Why do veterans and the trades fit together?

Because the trades are where the military's habits still count.

Veterans make up roughly 6–7% of the U.S. skilled-trades and construction workforce (Bureau of Labor Statistics figures), and the industry is actively recruiting more - an estimated 2.1 million trade positions could go unfilled by 2030 as the current workforce ages out. Early starts, physical work, real consequences for sloppy work, small crews that depend on each other: if you served, you already know the shape of that day.

And plenty of veterans don't stop at working a trade - they run the business. Veterans own about 1.6 million U.S. businesses generating roughly $1 trillion in annual receipts (U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, 2023 data).

But there's a harder number behind that one.

The missing veteran businesses

Nearly half - 49.7% - of World War II veterans went on to own or operate a business. About 40% of Korean War veterans did the same. For post-9/11 veterans, the rate is under 5% (Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families).

That's not a drive problem - about a quarter of transitioning veterans say they want to start a business. The blockers researchers keep finding are capital, mentors, and network.

We can't fix all of that with an app. But we can refuse to be one more line item in the way. The typical field service platform starts around $169 a month and climbs from there per technician - we broke down the real numbers in What Field Service Software Actually Costs in 2026. For a veteran bootstrapping a one-truck business on savings and a VA loan that never quite covers it, "your software is free and your data is yours" is one blocker gone.

If you're a veteran starting a service business

A few concrete things worth knowing, software aside:

Get certified - it's free now. Since January 2023, Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) certification runs through the SBA's VetCert portal at no cost. You'll need your DD-214, proof of majority veteran ownership, and a SAM.gov registration.
Certification opens set-aside contracts. The federal government - and many states, cities, and prime contractors - reserve a slice of contract spending for certified veteran-owned businesses. Government and commercial property work is steady, unglamorous, and pays.
Use the free help. SBA Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs), SCORE mentors, and the IVMF's free entrepreneurship programs exist precisely because of that capital-mentors-network gap.
Keep overhead near zero until the work demands otherwise. Free tools where free tools are good enough. That's not just our pitch - it's how a business survives year one.

We're small

Small team, ten industry templates today (electrical, HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, pest control, housekeeping, mobile detailing, generator and power services - plus a build-your-own option), Dropbox as the one backup integration shipped so far. We'd rather tell you the real size of the thing than posture.

How to start

Open ToolBerry on your phone, tablet, or in a browser - no signup, no email, no credit card.
Pick your trade's template, or start from the blank one and shape it yourself.
Add your first customer and job. Everything works with zero signal from that point on.

Have a question?

If you served and you're building a business - or thinking about it - we'd genuinely like to hear what you're running into. Email us at contact@toolberry.net.