Keeping SCORE : Retired executives give free counseling advice to budding entrepreneurs. Their motto is ‘wisdom and experience at work.’
If you are a retired executive, or if you have owned a business, or are planning to start one, you should learn the SCORE--the Service Corps of Retired Executives.
SCORE, a nonprofit organization sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration(SBA), has been providing free business counseling nationwide since 1964.
The group’s motto, “Wisdom and experience at work,” tells it all. Members are about 13,000 retired men and women from all areas of business who donate their time to assist budding entrepreneurs.
In Ventura County the 30 to 35 SCORE counselors of Chapter 255 present workshops and mini-clinics. And in cooperation with local chambers of commerce, volunteers also provide free one-on-one business advice in the start-up phase and for established small businesses.
But SCORE is more than a free resource for community residents. It also offers retired executives and small business owners an opportunity to remain productive and to share their expertise.
Prospective SCORE volunteers go through a screening process, attend general meetings and training sessions. “After 90 days you usually know if they’ll work out and they decide if SCORE is for them,” said Ted Luszcz, SBA business development officer in Ventura. Volunteers are issued membership cards one year at a time.
There are five female SCORE volunteers in the county. Yet Lu Chovan, who has been a SCORE case counselor in Ventura for almost three years, said that half of about 50 people counseled each month are women.
And Mike Stamel, SBA spokesman in Washington, D.C., said statistics show that over the past few years women have been starting new businesses at twice the rate of men. “Probably more than 99% of all businesses are small businesses. And women need positive business role models and mentors just as much as anyone else,” Stamel added. “They can help educate and break down the business barriers that may still exist for women entrepreneurs.”
Marvin Fors, chairman of the Ventura County Chapter of SCORE, agreed with Stamel’s observation.
“We do need more retired women executives and former owners of business who have the time to put back something into the community they left.”
SCORING IN BUSINESS
* For information about free business counseling, monthly clinics and workshops, call the Ventura County office of the U.S. Small Business Administration at (805) 642-1866, weekdays 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
* To arrange an appointment for free assistance from a SCORE counselor, call a service site located in the following Chambers of Commerce. Ojai (805) 646-8126, Camarillo (805) 484-4383, Conejo Valley (805) 499-1993, Simi Valley (805) 526-3900, Oxnard (805) 485-5255, Westlake Village (805) 496-5630, Agoura (818) 889-3150. The service site in Ventura is located at the Ventura County office of the U. S. Small Business Administration (805) 642-1866.
* A workshop, “How to Develop a Business Plan,” sponsored by SCORE, Active Corps of Executives (ACE) and the SBA, will be offered on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. at the Marriott Courtyard in Camarillo, located immediately north of the Ventura Freeway at the Santa Rosa/Pleasant Valley off-ramps. This popular learn-by-doing workshop is packed with “how-to” tips on developing a successful business plan. Guest speakers will focus on topics of goals and objectives, business structure, financial plan, marketing and control systems. The cost of $30 per person or $45 for two people from the same business includes a workbook and reference material. To register, send your phone number and a check or money order payable to SCORE to SCORE Treasurer, 45 Isabel Ave., Camarillo., CA 93012 by Feb. 4. There will be no registration at the door.
* SCORE’s next monthly mini-clinic at 11:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at Camarillo City Hall will address how to better manage accounts receivable, payable and inventories; $5 payable at the door.
* The SBA has created the Office of Women’s Business Ownership (WBO) to meet the needs of this growing area of small business ownership. For information, write: WBO, U.S. Small Business Administration, 6th Floor, 409 3rd St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20416.
