Affiliated with the SBA for 35 years, SCORE counselors help
start-up entrepreneurs realize their dreams. With 389 SCORE offices
throughout the country, there's probably one close to you. They
provide many of the same services offered by SBDCs, with one major
difference: The person you work with is retired and has worked in
your industry--and possibly run a similar or identical business.
And unlike the staff at SBDCs and entrepreneurial centers, SCORE
counselors, whose average age is 71, volunteer their time.
The beauty of forming a relationship with a SCORE counselor,
according to Ken Yancey, executive director of SCORE Counselors to
America's Small Business, in Washington, DC. , is you're
getting information from someone familiar with the ins and outs of
your industry. Because SCORE counselors are older and experienced,
it's easy to develop a mentor-mentee relationship.
"We've documented relationships that have lasted more than
20 years," says Yancey.
Like the people who work at SBDCs, SCORE counselors point the
way to vendors and suppliers, and help you open doors to those
hard-to-crack markets. And SCORE counselors often give you as much
time as you need. In the very beginning, start-up entrepreneurs
typically require more time--as much as a few hours a month. Once
the business is successfully launched, SCORE counselors schedule
monthly or quarterly check-up summary meetings. Every meeting has
an agenda, and the entrepreneur is required to accomplish certain
goals.
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SCORE offices are easy to find; to locate one near you, visit
http://www.score.org
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