Sucessful Small Business Ideas – Get Help to Make it Happen (Part 1 of 2)
By Morris Mann
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, and assist small business. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States.
A wonderful volunteer organization that works as a resource partner with the SBA is SCORE. SCORE considers itself the “counselors to America’s small business,” offering confidential advice to help owners make a potential successful small business idea into a reality.
What is SCORE?
It was founded in 1964 and since then has helped more than 7.5 million small businesses. They offer face to face small business counseling at 389 chapter offices nationwide. They ensure that their volunteers (who are usually successful business owners who have retired) have a broad range of skills to help solve all types of business problems. They offer small business online solutions their their website.
How can SCORE Help You?
The following are a couple of examples of businesses that SCORE considers “small business success” stories.
Little Scoops — Listed in Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “Hot New Franchises for 2005,” Little Scoops started only a few years ago. One of the founders, Michelle, claims that without the help of the volunteer counselors at SCORE, her success never would have happened.
Prior to opening her first store, the counselors insisted she and her partner think long term, and helped them develop a plan to set up finances and how to evaluate potential locations. Just recently, the SCORE counselors have helped them begin the process of franchising their 9 locations into a national concept.
Ahi Sushi — Jimmy Hu dreamed of opening his own Japanese restaurant and sushi bar for a long time. Prior to signing an agreement to purchase an existing restaurant business, he contacted SCORE. His volunteer advisers recommended he not purchase the restaurant business, especially since he intended on changing the whole concept anyway.
Not buying another business limited his startup costs and allowed him to patiently and thoroughly evaluate the best location. They taught him to visit potential sites during different times of the day and night to observe customer traffic in the area. They also explained to Jimmy the value in visiting potential nearby competitors to evaluate their menus, ambiance, pricing and marketing strategy. Finally, they recommended techniques and technology for effectively managing cash flow and inventory, tracking labor costs, and planning for expenses like advertising. Three years later, Jimmy was doing double the business he expected when he first thought of buying an existing restaurant.
Next: Part 2 »
Morris Mann is a family business consultant and publishes the Successful Small Business Ideas site.
