On today’s WJR Business Beat, Jeff kicks off the week by sharing a recent conversation with Armando Ojeda, the southeast Michigan chapter chair of SCORE.
SCORE is an organization of expert business mentors that provides aspiring small business owners with the free tools they need to succeed.
During their conversation, Ojeda shares an overview of the various services SCORE provides, including its primary service of mentoring, and how SCORE helps people to prepare their applications for government relief funding.
Tune in to the WJR Business Beat to hear more from Jeff and Armando:
“There’s a lot of brick-and-mortar businesses that don’t have an online presence and they don’t have e-commerce capability. And so right now, we’re helping small business owners to pivot from where they were to really where they need to be in what is now truly a virtual world and to establish digital relationship with their customers.”
– Armando Ojeda, southeast Michigan chapter chair of SCORE
For more information on SCORE of southeast Michigan and to take advantage of these free resources, visit detroit.score.org.
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Good morning, Kevin.
Entrepreneurs are a tough and resilient bunch, but these are particularly challenging times. Anyone who feels they could use some guidance or some connection to critical resources, I highly recommend that you tap an organization called SCORE.
Started in 1964 in Washington, D.C., SCORE was based on the idea that you had a number of people who were retiring from corporate life and they wanted to give back to the community, and they felt their best way of doing that was to help small business owners succeed.
I had an opportunity to speak with Armando Ojeda, who is the Southeast Michigan chapter chair of SCORE, and Armando provided an overview of the various services SCORE provides, including its primary service of mentoring.
Here’s Armando:
“Mentoring is a very misunderstood, but very valuable commodity. Mentoring is actually having a relationship with someone who really cares about your business. There are times when business owners are truly alone. They don’t have anybody to go to, they’re afraid to ask a question, and this is what the mentor is for. So, you can call up somebody and you have a mentor who can actually help you go through that question, really identify what your real issue is and give you some valuable advice and maybe connect you to some resources.”
And SCORE provides additional services, as well, of high value, including for example, helping people to prepare their applications for government relief funding.
Armando explains:
“We actually help the business owners put their paperwork together so that they can apply for the CARES Act money. We make sure that they have a bookkeeper and accountant that all of their financials are in order so that they can be successful in getting a CARES loan.”
Armando in addition, I know you’re also helping businesses go online, which is where all the action is today.
“There’s a lot of brick-and-mortar businesses that don’t have an online presence and they don’t have e-commerce capability. And so right now we’re helping small business owners to pivot from where they were to really where they need to be in what is now truly a virtual world and to establish digital relationship with their customers.”
So, if you’re an entrepreneur need of the kind of help SCORE can provide, check them out now. Go to detroit.score.org. There’s no cost for the service, and it’s really of high value.
I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of StartupNation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
