SCORE Retired Executives Make Great Mentors
This reprinted blog was updated in April 2021.
SCORE is a nonprofit association of both active and retired executives dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. Small business owners can browse mentors’ profiles by skills or industry experience or choose to meet a local mentor face to face. When we started my former company, Consultants 2 Go in 2002, we had a SCORE executive review and give feedback on our business plan.
Here are three benefits to joining the SCORE community:
1. With over 13,000 volunteers in over 320 chapters across the U.S., new entrepreneurs and existing small business owners receive counseling from members in a variety of fields, who collectively hold a wealth of knowledge and insight in terms of planning, starting, and growing successful enterprises.
2. SCORE offers free online workshops, webinars, and other events. Online and local workshops are often led by industry top experts, and you’ll learn about a range of topics from social media, e-commerce, and customer relations to finance. Events are oftentimes held at local SCORE chapter locations and are hosted by a panel of SCORE mentors.
3. SCORE’s website also contains useful templates and tools to help with accounting, financial projections, and business planning. These tools can be the first step towards small business success.
Way back in 2002, I had the good fortune to be a SCORE consultant on a marketing project. This was right after 9/11. They gave me the responsibility and honor to market a non-profit organization that helped people who had to move away from neighborhoods close to Ground Zero. They mentored me through the assignment, all the time giving me encouraging words to share with the client to keep them open another day.
SCORE is a great source to use when considering a mentor. SCORE volunteers keep on giving, teaching, advocating, and sharing without expecting anything in return.
I am proud to have been a SCORE volunteer.