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Business Attorney
03-29-2011, 02:49 PM
SCORE has just launched a new website, e-Business Now (http://ebusinessnow.org/). According to SCORE's press release, the new website provides "small businesses with 'how to' knowledge to successfully use technology-enabled applications."

The website appears to be very extensive. It has free on-demand workshops and "how-to" guides. Currently there are workshops on five subjects:

Technology - Boosting Your Business Using Technology
Roadmap - Creating a Tech Plan for Your Small Business
Build a Site - Building the Perfect Website for Your Small Business
Sales - Using Technology to Jumpstart Your Sales
Cash Flow - Applying Technology to Improve Your Cash Flow


There are also sections on SCORE local events and how to find a SCORE mentor.

Resources include a template gallery and links to other resources.

Although I haven't tried any of the workshops, e-Business Now definitely looks like a good addition to the arsenal of resources available to a small business owner.

TotalPC
03-30-2011, 02:17 AM
hey thanks for the recommendation. I had a quick look and it certainly looks like a good resource.

Dan Furman
03-30-2011, 01:07 PM
Never been a big SCORE fan myself. I think they'd be better served giving general advice to managers / corporate businesspeople than entrepreneurs.

*shrug*

edit: nice website, though.

Business Attorney
03-30-2011, 03:55 PM
I think they'd be better served giving general advice to managers / corporate businesspeople than entrepreneurs.

I do think that the experience and training of many SCORE volunteers is in larger organizations, and that their value is often greater for small companies with a workforce than for a one man (or woman) business. At least that seems to be true in the Rust Belt. However, as more people who have worked in entrepreneurial companies, particularly technology companies, retire and are looking to contribute their skills, I think that will change.

Spider
03-30-2011, 11:25 PM
The only connection I have had with SCORE is knowing two mentors, neither of which were corporate types. One was a retired owner of an airconditioning company employing 10 or 12 tradesmen, the other was a retired accountant from a practice of (I think) no more than four partners, whose clients were mostly very small and micro businesses. I have no idea whether they were representative of the type of retiree you would find mentoring at SCORE.

greenoak
03-31-2011, 09:03 AM
Dan, i know a guy who now has a national lamp company who gives a mentor tons of credit..... he had the idea and the product and the dedication first but they really helped him get his young company on the right track to grow...
..i really thought about it when our business had to make a big change, but we ended up just doing it our normal way........around here they want you to take an introductory course first....we were past that and have a greaT BOOKKEEPPING DEPARTMENT, which wasnt my area at all, .... i was more about chartering our thing into the new territory.....
maybe it was concieted and short sighted to think a retired 1950s businessman wouldnt understand us....maybe i missed a good chance... but i just didnt see why i should take their course to learn all the stuff my dh already does so well....
anyway, i this ebusiness site looks good and im going to sign up for it.... ...thanks david...

Spider
03-31-2011, 12:03 PM
It troubles me a little bit that SCORE paint themselves as mentors, and to me, mentors are people who guide and develop rather than teach. Score counselors are definitely in the teaching area - and none the less valuable for that. This website make that very clear - all the courses and subjects referred to are "nuts and bolts" subjects, like How to leverage technology in your business and How to use web analytics, Developing a business plan, and so on. Maybe that was where Dan was coming from when he said, "I think they'd be better served giving general advice to managers / corporate businesspeople than entrepreneurs."

While knowing 'How' is very important, little progress can be expected for a successful growing business without a firm footing in the business mindset, as opposed to the employee mindset.

-- What is the difference between being self-employed and being a business owner?
-- How to grow from employed to self-employed and from self-employed to business owner.
-- How your attitude towards money must change to run a business successfully.
-- How to develop employees and build teams in the workplace.
-- The importance of the business environment.
-- The reasoning behind Awards and Recognition.
-- How to motivate others.

greenoak
03-31-2011, 01:56 PM
good points spider..those subjects are just major and universal for the owner to see his business right.....that would be quality conversations imho ...
.the hows are good too but for a whole different group.... like real newbies..or folks looking for a business loan......
..and i like the idea of one on one too as opposed to a class.... somehow thats what i thought score was about....

we did pay for a business advice day once....from tom peters...i loved his book and got so much from his core message...to me it was if you do what you say you will do you will be so far ahead of the pack....and that you can always do better..and to be open to new ideas for your business..and the power of a good idea, he had wonderful stories in his book...
.... ..so once when we were getting r eady for a big mistake!! a partnership, i wanted the new guys to hear this wonderful peters view of the possibilities of a business.. so we paid the money and all went....well, it was all about big management, and the others in the audience were a group from a local hospital , and corporate middle people.....some parts were even about dealing with the boss... ..i would guess owners in the crowd were under 10 %..... not very excellent...
it wasnt like his book at all....i was hoping for a much wider look at the world, not how to run your department......

jamesray50
03-31-2011, 11:35 PM
I made an appointment with Score and unfortunately the person I met with was of no help to me at all. I went in with a list of questions, most of his answers were "I don't know" or "I don't think so". In fact, I believe I told him some things about business that he didn't know. He didn't even know of some of the networking groups that meet regulary in this area. I think what they do for the most part is just help new businesses get set up with where to go to fill out paper work, decided whether to incorporate, how to get an EIN, write a business plan and mission statement, etc. I have actually help people with all that stuff before so I didn't need to know that.