When Nancie Edwards launched her Camas business, Canine Coach, she knew she’d be connecting with SCORE. She’d heard about the organization when she was studying business management at Portland State University.
Thousands of businesses have been helped in the past 30 years through Southwest Washington’s SCORE business mentorship program, which connects new entrepreneurs and small-business owners with experienced business operators.
Edwards reached out to SCORE and was paired with business veteran Larry McKinley.
“I just started telling him what my challenges were,” Edwards said.
She could see the writing on the wall, Edwards said. Her business was starting to grow. She and her daughter needed help.
“I’d never been an employer before,” she said.
She and McKinley talked about her market share, her customers and how she knew Canine Coach was growing.
The meetings helped Edwards abbreviate her timeline. She said they helped make her time more useful rather than just experimenting.
“I was getting stuff done,” said Edwards, whose business focuses on dog training.
SCORE, which is supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration, provides trainings on many topics. The chapter based in Vancouver provided nearly 80 free workshops for more than 800 attendees last year.
Sometimes, clients contact the organization to get help with a one-time need, such as how to set up a limited liability corporation or how to get a loan. Other times, the initial contact leads to a relationship with a mentor that can last for years.
“It’s much more fulfilling when you have multiple meetings with clients,” said Greg Veasy, a SCORE mentor and a veteran of HP. “You really feel like you have a relationship with them.”
SCORE has operated in the region for about 30 years. And there are client-mentor relationships here that have lasted more than a decade.
SCORE mentors — often retired businessmen and businesswomen — are trained to help clients. They go through co-mentoring sessions with seasoned mentors before they can meet with their own clients.
John Hanley had more than 30 clients during his 18-month tenure mentoring with SCORE. He still works with about 15.
Part of his job is helping clients determine if their business plan is realistic. If it’s not going to work, mentors can be honest.
“If it’s positive, go ahead and give them as much help as you can,” Hanley said.
Cassie Long was working for another chiropractor when she decided she wanted to start her own business. She wanted guidance from somebody who had already done it, so she contacted SCORE.
“While working full-time and raising two kids, I just didn’t know where to start and wanted somebody to kind of hold my hand through the process,” Long said. She didn’t want to have to learn every lesson the hard way.
Long has operated her own business for three years now and even opened a second location.
“I would say that I was pretty successful in that,” she said.
Long liked having a mentor and access to the network of SCORE mentors to help her work through problems.
The connections, the direction and having a team of people rooting for her success were all valuable pieces she got from SCORE.
Bill Ruttledge has been a mentor with SCORE for many years.
“We are one of the leading chapters in the organization,” he said. Other larger SCORE chapters have more money and members. But Ruttledge calls the Southwest Washington chapter one of the most collegial.
“We get along with everybody,” he said.
The SCORE mentors don’t do the work for businesses. That’s up to owners. But they provide guidance.
When Long was launching her business, she went through a checklist with her mentor to get things up and running.
“It really helped me know my business inside and out, so I could run a successful business once I opened,” she said.
Edwards said SCORE is like going to school but where the class is customized to your business.
She still meets quarterly with her mentor. Having a business is like having a child, she said.
“It always has new needs,” she said. As new needs arise, she sends McKinley a list of questions. He suggests resources, tools and experts.
“I love that he knows so much,” Edwards said. “But mostly, what he knows is how to answer my question. He doesn’t always have the answer or the best answer, but he knows where to get it.”
Edwards and Long know they could have done things on their own, but it would not have been so streamlined.
“It would have taken me years to do it,” Edwards said.
Sometimes, her calls are like counseling sessions where her mentor talks about how all business owners experience challenges.
“I know that I’m not alone,” Edwards said.
