“Senior Volunteers Help Start-up Firms”
Owners say SCORE's free advice pays dividends
by Rosalind Jennings
SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL
SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL
EUSTIS – As a college student, Jeffrey Smith started his first business, teaching violin.
Luckily, he had help. The Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) gave him free counseling for his business at 128 N. Orange Ave., Leesburg.
Three years later Smith's Business, Violin from the Heart, still teaches students of all ages. It also trains performance teams and has a retail division.
Smith, 28, said his business continues to grow and has never had a problem turning a profit. He attributes that in large part to SCORE.
It's based at Lake Technical Center in Eustis and serves Lake and Sumter counties.
All 22 local SCORE counselors are volunteers with extensive backgrounds in business to share. The group serves about 600 clients a year. “We have counselors with experience in 50 different areas. We have 1,000 years of experience to offer free,” SCORE counselor Gayle Teerman said.
“Their advice is so valuable, it's like gold,” Smith said. “If it wasn't for Gayle and SCORE, a lot of this wouldn't have happened. I was wet behind the ears.”
Teerman, 76, is retired, as are three-quarters of SCORE counselors. “I've been a president of a corporation,” Teerman said. I've been a marketing manager. I've worked in finance, engineering, manufacturing...”
Counselors advise on competition, demographics, finances, marketing, time management and corporate structure.
Most important, they give the small-business owner individual, free attention, often on site.
“If we were to charge, we would charge about $200 to $300 an hour,” Teerman said.
Teerman helped smith organize his company, showing him the means to become president of a corporation. He has also worked with him on time management, daily operations and expansion plans.
“A new business owner can be frustrated with the day-to-day operational things. As you get more comfortable with it [your business], you worry less about the daily operations and start to see the big picture,” Teerman said.
To expand, Teerman said, a business owner needs to give daily tasks over to others, so he can be free to manage.
Teerman said Smith is doing well.
“In just three years, he's gone from teaching to performing. That's quite an accomplishment,” Teerman said of Smith.
052905 – Orlando Sentinel –
Business & Real Estate
