Group Helps Small Businesses Get Started

Retired men and women throughout Ventura County are putting their heads together to help individuals start small businesses.

SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, is a nonprofit organization sponsored by the federal Small Business Administration. It operates in conjunction with local chambers of commerce to help “up-and-coming businesses, and mom-and-pop types too,” said group spokesman Ted Rafalovich.

Offering free, one-on-one appointments--along with group seminars and workshops--SCORE representatives strive to answer the many questions entrepreneurs have as they toil over plans for a new company, Rafalovich said.

New businesses always have questions regarding patent protection and copyrights, issues of supply and demand, gathering capital and managing the books once the business is up and running, Rafalovich said. SCORE is there to answer all of these and more, he said.

“Of course, one of the biggest questions people have to answer for themselves is if they’re ready to put in 50- to 70-hour weeks to get things started,” he said.

There are about 23 million small businesses in the United States, and 800,000 new companies start up each year, Rafalovich said.

“Almost 30% of the population is investigating or has investigated starting one, and it’s an opportunity that’s available to anyone,” he said. “We’re here to help the people who want to join that force.”

Information on SCORE is available at chambers of commerce in Agoura Hills, Camarillo, the Conejo Valley, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Westlake Village and at the Ventura Counseling Center. Interested persons also can call Rafalovich at 496-6698.