This article was written by Dennis Wright, SCORE Orange County Management Counselor
"It's hard to believe all of this costs me nothing"... that's what he said after I recapped a plan to help him meet the challenges and opportunities his business was facing.
It all started with an e-mail in which this business owner asked for help with increasing sales. When I received it I contacted him and made arrangements to meet him at his office, to get acquainted and to determine exactly what we could do to help him and who within our Chapter would be the best person or persons to provide that help.
Of course as I was driving down the interstate to that meeting I was already mulling over several ideas, but when I arrived; when we finally sat down together I listened to him outline his situation in more detail and it became apparent there was much more we could do for him. Much more!
I not only learned how far his sales volume had declined, but that marketing was almost non-existent, that inventory had grown, that several suppliers were becoming "anxious", and on top of that his business was housed in a facility about twice the size needed.
So what was the end result of that meeting: a quick fix? No, but I assembled a team of SCORE counselors - each with different experience and skills - who subsequently visited that business one at a time to address matters within their respective field of expertise and made recommendations for needed change. In addition, one of them assumed the ongoing role of mentor.
And what did we get out of it? A chance to put our experience and skills to good use, and a heartfelt thanks from a business owner who needed help... and it all started with that very short e mail.
We certainly can't make personal visits to every Orange County business in need of help, but you may be surprised who we will visit / who we do visit. Take a quick look at our Advisory Board application using this link: http://www.score114.org/advisory.aspx We recognize that it's hard for many business owners to get away, to come in for advice. Advisory Board represents one of our several solutions.
