Editor's note (Summer 2007): Since this article first appeared in Bay Area Summit's Summer 2004 issue, Al Rose has retired and Norton Pearl has replaced him as chairman of the San Francisco SCORE chapter. The San Francisco chapter was closed to the public from July to December 2006 due to a construction project, but its office is now up and running again with improved library and computer resources.

Small Businesses Hit a Home Run with SCORE
Nine years ago, Marketing Designs, a Belmont-based real estate marketing firm, was stuck in neutral. "We'd been in business for a couple of years and we were doing OK. But I didn't know how to take the next steps to grow the business," says Jayne McCann, the company's owner and founder.

Then she heard about SCORE at a small business trade show and, as the saying goes, the rest is history. After consulting over a period of months with the retired advertising and financial specialists SCORE provided, McCann made business adjustments that helped Marketing Designs grow from four employees to 20 and sent its revenues soaring.

"SCORE has great people who have a wealth of experience and are able to suggest business strategies that you might not otherwise consider," says McCann. "In my case, they advised me to buy a instead of renting office space, which I never would have done. That turned out to be a really good move for the company."

Wait a second. Was that retired advertising and financial specialists?

Yes, indeed. All the counselors at SCORE - an acronym for Service Corps of Retired Executives - are, as the name implies, retired executives. Most of SCORE's volunteer counselors either started their own businesses or worked as corporate managers and/or executives.

A national non-profit association, SCORE was founded in 1964 by the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide advice and education that help small businesses grow. SCORE now has 389 chapter offices and more than 10,500 volunteers across the country who provide free in-person counseling, online assistance, and business workshops and seminars. They serve tens of thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners each year.

"If you're retired and you're looking for something to do that gives back to the community, then SCORE is a wonderful place to work," says Alfred D. Rose, an 80-year-old former advertising executive who chairs the SCORE chapter in San Francisco.

The 50 counselors in San Francisco bring expertise in such areas as accounting, consulting, financial planning, franchising, human resources, marketing, operations, publishing, retail, strategic planning and non-profit management. Most of the volunteers are in their 60s and 70s.

'Most of our counselors find that they really enjoy their work here," says Rose. "It's good for their egos to be able to use their knowledge to help people make their businesses successful. This work makes them feel useful again."

The San Francisco chapter serves San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties. The Bay Area is also served by SCORE chapters in the East Bay and Silicon Valley.

Applicants for the position of SCORE counselor are interviewed and screened by a chapter's membership committee. Once approved, new counselors are trained and assigned to help businesses seeking advice in areas that correspond to each counselor's professional background.

Counselors are required to work just one day per week, in which they generally meet with three scheduled clients. Each appointment is one hour long.

SCORE representatives work in chapter offices, as well as at local chambers of commerce, where they frequently encounter potential clients and guide them to SCORE counselors.

"SCORE does almost no advertising. Most of our clients come through word of mouth," says Rose, who estimates that about 70 percent of the San Francisco chapter's clients are involved with startup ventures. "These are people who want to talk through their business problems with experts who've been in their shoes. We help them with business planning, cash flow management, market analysis and other basics."

"SCORE is an unbelievable resource, and it's free!" says McCann. "But a lot of people don't know they exist."

For information, contact the San Francisco SCORE chapter at (415) 744-6827 or www.sfscore.com. Information about the East Bay SCORE chapter is available at www.eastbayscore.org, and information about the Silicon Valley SCORE chapter is available at www.svscore.org.

(This article originally appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of Bay Area Summit)

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