# SCORE Small business mentoring & training



## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

I haven't been on here much lately because I am trying to put all my time into my business. I know many of you have heard of or have used SCORE. Many of you who are new to business have not. Even if you have not decided what kind of business you want to do they can mentor you on that also. They will assist you in person or online. Free mentoring and training.

I have set up my first appointment with them on January 26th. I will meet with 2 counselors and if I need any more appointments or any other kind of help they will do it. In fact, _they want to do i_t. Did I mention it is *FREE?* 

Their website is http://www.score.org/index.html

On their website they have articles and links to all kinds of small business assistance. In fact, I got my business plan template free from their site. Right now there is a lot of help for starting your own small business due to the job situation. I feel that I am finally on the right track. Hope this information will help someone on here who may be struggling themselves. 

katlupe


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

I wrote a short article about S.C.O.R.E. on my blog last year, to try to help get the word out. I've had some feedback on the article, mostly from those that say they can't find free help from S.C.O.R.E. in their area. I'm sure this may true for less populated areas, but it _is_ another resource that should be explored if you find yourself needing help in any area of starting or running a small business. Thanks for sharing katlupe!


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

SCORE is in Baton Rouge, and very active. They helped a friend w her business plan, until the bank would lend her money. Go in with your eyes open tho, b/c some of their advice might not match today's economic conditions. As a tiny example, many friends want to moonlight these days (with taxes of course!), but they don't want a bank loan they might not be able to pay back...Best regards, ldc


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I met with a Score rep in 2 different cities and both were a waste of my time. here may be some good people with Score, but I found them to have only very basic knowledge.

For example, say you are doing $100k a year and you are looking for ways to increase business. Its unlikely they worked with a business that small so they most likely will not have much valuable information. 

If you are just looking for basic information they can probably help.

It was many years ago that I met with them, so maybe they have gotten their act together since then.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

I originally visited the nice folks at SCORE in Portland Maine when I was just dabbling in this new business some 14 years ago.

They, although they didn't understand computers and networks, were wonderful to deal with. 

As it turned out, some 5 years after getting started with their assistance, I had a tech sup call at the very office I went to originally. Some of the original people that helped me on the way were still there. They were very curious how it worked out, and was, I would say, proud that they could have helped.

As a repayment for all their help, I actually did the support call 'gratis' 

L


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

Well I am happy to report that our meeting with SCORE was a success! The two men who are our counselors are very much into computers and networking. One of our counselors I Googled and found out that he is a sought after international speaker as well as a retired engineer from a big company nearby and has several businesses now. My husband is very critical because he always ends up knowing more than anyone who offers us info. He wanted someone who could really help, if you understand what I mean. They were very impressed with his web work and our sites, as well as the business plan I have been working on for months. 

They have given us some areas to work on to develop and grow our business. Plus, we are getting in another line of guitar strings for our store on Tuesday. We agreed that we need more brands and we already had this order in with SIT strings. Little by little, as we can afford it, we will be adding more brands. We were both very comfortable talking to them. It was a very good meeting. Especially because they think we are going to have much success as we build our business. I have always thought so! But nice to hear from someone like these two local businessmen. :clap:

One thing I did was to make our appointment with the Binghamton SCORE instead of the Norwich office. Norwich is closer, but a smaller city with mostly a small town atmosphere. Binghamton is where both of us had our roots and know people in the business world, as well as personal, and thought they would be more current with technology and such. Just had a better feeling about it. My friend contacted Norwich SCORE about her idea for starting a business that has to do with making and selling mixes and bulk foods from her home, and they just referred her to the local Cooperative Extension. Discouraged her completely! So that could be some factors to take in consideration if you do contact SCORE. They are FREE and they want to help you with your business.......that is what I really like. :dance:

katlupe


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