Becoming an entrepreneur is a leap of faith for anyone who decides to start a business. It begins with a dream that becomes a vision - which leads to developing a plan, taking action steps, and suddenly, you are officially off and running. 

In today’s world, you probably Googled most of your questions and conducted all your research online or by talking with friends and family who have walked the entrepreneurial path before. No doubt you learned a lot and made some pretty good decisions. 

Now maybe your business is growing. You’ve hired an employee or engaged a contractor, but you aren’t sure of your next step. If you’ve not heard of a SCORE mentor, now is the time to learn a little more about them and possibly reach out and find one for your business.

We learned about the SCORE program through our good friend and fellow entrepreneur, Meg Garavaglia of Woven Legal. Woven Legal is an expert in placing the best virtual legal professionals with firms nationwide, and they provide ongoing support to decrease turnover. Meg raved about her mentor with SCORE, so we looked into it. 

The SCORE program is nationwide and involves many volunteers who were, or still are, experts, leaders, or entrepreneurs dedicated to helping other small businesses succeed. SCORE provides entrepreneurs access to resources on their website to help guide them through the startup process. A business learning center also takes the entrepreneur beyond the startup phase and into finances, marketing, management, and even exiting your business.

SCORE mentors offer years of valuable business experience to help entrepreneurs in their business journey. They share real-world experience and personal knowledge of running a successful small business. Best of all, a SCORE mentor is free to any citizen or permanent resident who owns their own business or is looking to start a business.

Expect your mentoring session to be a collaborative one. It is an opportunity to share your plans, goals, successes, challenges, and ask questions. Your SCORE mentor will be a valuable resource as they offer advice and insights to help you gain clarity on your business and what your next steps are.

We Recruit Well is 3+ years into our small business journey. We have been intentional with every next step, ensuring we had the appropriate systems and processes and could be financially self-sufficient and profitable. But we felt we’d reach the point where we needed the help of an expert, or perhaps someone who knew more than we did about running a small business. 

The process was easy when we reached out to SCORE to be assigned a mentor. It took less than a week to be introduced and meet with our mentor. We met in person, but many mentors do virtual meetings. In our meeting, we discussed our goals, processes, and strategies for growth. Our mentor gave solid advice and suggestions that were easy to implement.

One of the essentials our mentor stressed was to ensure we were spending time chasing the high-value items and not spending too much time in the weeds. We found it ironic because that’s our business, helping small businesses get out of the weeds so they can be more successful. We Recruit Well helps small businesses hire the perfect remote team member, whether they are a virtual assistant, digital media expert, business operations manager, or a project manager. Yes, we have a virtual assistant and a digital media expert. After meeting with our mentor, we offloaded even more to her. 

So, if you need help in navigating the weeds, We Recruit Well can help. If you need help preparing for the next step in your business, don’t hesitate to contact SCORE for a mentor!