SCORE® counselors are all volunteers who are either retired from business careers or are still actively employed. You will usually meet with a team of two or three of our Counselors who will help you assess your business potential, issues you are or will be facing, and the market for your idea.

After a brief personal background introduction by each of the team members, the team leader will ask you to give a short summary of your business idea, plans, and issues [problems?] you are dealing with.

You should plan to take about five minutes to describe what you want to do, what your needs are, and what you hope to get from the counseling process.

back to top

Here’s one way to help you get your ideas together. Simply describe:
– What your product or service is. – What your market is and who your customers are. – Where will you get the money to start your business or fund a present business? – What the major issues or problems are that you will have to resolve.

Here’s a “trick” to help you smooth out your introduction. We call it a “Hip pocket Agenda” or an “Elevator Pitch”. Try it:

Make a list:
– What are the six most important things for you to get done this year . . . in order?
– What must happen this year if you are to succeed?
– What are the two worst things you cannot allow to have happen?
– Do you know how to head them off or to prevent them for happening?

Then, try these questions:
– What would SUCCESS look like to you at the end of this year?
– What would DISASTER look like?
– Do you know how you are going to steer your way to or through them?

The full version of the “Hip pocket Agenda” or an “Elevator Pitch” is here.

Remember, while your SCORE Counselors will help lead you through the process, the “Agenda” is yours.

Some other things to consider discussing:
Do you have a Business Plan or are you working on one now? Very briefly summarize its main points, major issues, and any potential obstacles. What you have already done to meet your Business Objectives.

Describe what you specifically you want or need help on in the Counseling process.

Remember, this is just your first [‘initial’] Counseling Session. From there on, your Counseling Team will lead you through the rest of this session and help you establish an agenda for the next follow-up sessions.

back to top

In our counseling, SCORE counselors use a five-step Business Counseling Process. The steps are designed to build a relationship with you for a continuing dialogue over time. At our first meeting, we will both lay the groundwork for follow-on sessions to:

– Assess your needs
– Identify your new business goal idea, or:
– Identify existing business challenges/opportunities
– Identify the appropriate planning tools
– Get your feedback on the process and the results so far
– Continue the process

While the counseling process is a five-step process, this doesn’t necessarily translate into just five counseling sessions. In some cases, we will both do what is required in as many sessions as required to work through your business start-up or existing business challenges/opportunities.

back to top

The process is designed to:
– Create a two-way dialogue with you
– Assign “homework” to you to help you through the whole process from start to finish
– Identify clear goals that we are working on together
– Determine whether you are satisfied with your SCORE experience
– And, whether we have achieved the business result you expected from the counseling sessions

back to top