Check out this Resource: SCORE

In case you're not already familiar with this organization, SCORE stands for the Service Corps of Retired Executives (http://www.score.org/). This is a free, not-for-profit group of volunteers, mostly former managers and executives, who can provide useful insight on different aspects of launching and/or growing your business.

SCORE has local chapters all around Michigan and the United States, but since much of their service can be conducted remotely via phone and internet, even if you don't have a chapter near to your location you can probably still get some support from them.

I encourage my customers to run the business plans and marketing strategies that I create with them by SCORE volunteers for several reasons:

• They are a great "test audience" for the business plan. Is it clear, concise and complete to them as they read it, or are there areas we may want to retune for maximum effect?



• They may be aware of additional local resources that I'm not



• They may be able to help with expanding your network of business contacts



• Depending on the background of the SCORE counselor, he or she may have additional ideas (or additional concerns about our ideas) that can enhance the final product

Lastly, I think that any business owner, regardless of their own experience level, can benefit tremendously from having a mentor/mentee relationship with another experienced professional, and SCORE volunteers can be terrific resources in that way.

There are numerous other resources, but I'll get to them in future entries.

Have you worked with SCORE? How did it go? Are you a SCORE volunteer? What are your observations about SCORE and its customers?