“It is exciting to work with an entrepreneur to learn of their ideas or dreams, then watch them work many days, nights and most weekends to bring the idea into a new small business,” said SCORE mentor David Esch, after volunteering with the Piedmont Chapter for many years. “And if the entrepreneur is successful and continues to work hard, their business grows and expands and thrives.”
Small business mentors are not consultants; they are there to encourage, coach and guide the entrepreneur to learn and grow. A small-business owner has to learn a lot – “after all, it is their business that has to survive,” Esch said.
Many people have business or nonprofit ideas. Most of them stay as an idea or a dream. A few take steps and make efforts to bring their idea to life and become a company, an organization or just a sole proprietorship.
Becoming an entrepreneur or starting a nonprofit is not easy, but there are lots of organizations in the Upstate that can help. Some of them are partners through the Small Business Administration (SBA) such as the Clemson Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), the South Carolina Women’s Business Center – Upstate, and Piedmont Chapter of SCORE. Each of the technical colleges offers small business courses and local Chambers of Commerce offer workshops and programs, as well as several private organizations.
During the past 10 years, the resource organizations that can help have expanded. The Piedmont Chapter of SCORE, based in Greenville – serving Anderson, Abbeville, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens and Spartanburg counties – has expanded their services and workshop offerings to assist those who are seeking small business assistance to get started or grow their business.
Years ago, one had to visit the SCORE office. Today, you can sign up for a workshop or free small business mentoring services online at piedmontscore.org. SCORE volunteer mentors encourage clients with a great idea but little business experience to take their two-hour Basic Small Business workshop or their all-day Comprehensive Small Business Start-up workshop before being assigned a mentor. SCORE nationally has over 300 offices and 11,000 volunteers, and offers an online mentoring service at score.org/mentors.
Social media is a major change in reaching small businesses and would-be entrepreneurs. Piedmont SCORE offers daily updates through Facebook (facebook.com/Piedmontscore232) and Twitter (twitter.com/PiedmontSCORE). Looking for resources? Check out the small business and nonprofit resources on 28 Pinterest boards (pinterest.com/piedmontscore/) with links to online resources. Piedmont SCORE has developed an extensive email marketing initiative using Constant Contact to keep clients and others informed about a wide variety of small business programs in the SC Upstate. Anyone can join the mailing list; just sign up on the website.
Ten years ago, SCORE had 20 volunteers. Today, it has more than 30, with plans to increase that support to meet the growing requests for services. Business people with 10 or more years’ experience are invited to join SCORE and become a mentor. The Piedmont chapter is seeking volunteers for Cherokee, Greenwood and Oconee counties for 2016 as well as our other communities. Sign up via the SCORE.org website at score.org/volunteer.
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Ronald Koprowski is a SCORE Mentor and past chairman of Piedmont SCORE.
