Created 2011-01-31 00:18 savannahnow.com
Small business roundtables will begin Feb. 10
Summary:
For every small business startup, there's someone else who's been there and done that.
The Service Corps of Retired Executives is trying to leverage that business knowledge by encouraging small business owners to meet every other month for an hour-and-a-half to brainstorm and help solve each other's problems.
SCORE and the Small Business Development Center are looking for companies that have been open less than seven years and that have 10 employees or fewer to take part in roundtable discussions beginning Feb. 10. Among the business owners who already have signed up: a photographer, a chiropractor, a lawyer, a fund-raiser and someone who does recycling, said Marjorie Young, president of Carriage TradePR and a volunteer for SCORE.
People who are in competition with each other will not be placed in the same group, she said.
SCORE has led such peer-to-peer groups in other cities and found them to be successful, said Allen Torpie, president of the Savannah chapter.
"Peer-to-peer is one of the best ways that business owners can help each other," Young said. "The problem solving is wonderful, and it's free."
Young and Lynn Vos, area director of the Small Business Development Center, will help lead the meetings, Torpie said.
Between eight and 10 business owners will bring one business problem to each meeting, Torpie said. The participants will set priorities through a voting process and address problems in priority order. Problems not considered at the initial meeting will be addressed at a later session.
Ten slots already have been filled, but additional groups will be added as necessary, Torpie said.
Business owners are asked to commit to coming to the meetings for a least a year.
"It's important that participants commit to attend as many meetings as possible," Torpie said.
He's been a SCORE volunteer for 14 years, after holding various management positions in the electrical wiring and cable industry.
To take part, call the SCORE office between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, at 912-652-4335, or send an e-mail to info@scoresav.org [1].
If you would to go:
What: 2011 SCORE small business roundtable meeting schedule
When: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10
Where: Creative Coast conference room, 15 W. York St.
SCORE and SBDC will supply drinks.
Participants are asked to bring their own lunch.
Additional meetings will be held on:
-- April 14 -- June 9 -- Aug. 11 -- Oct. 13 -- Dec. 8
About Score Service Corps of Retired Executives, or SCORE, was formed in 1964 as a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small businesses.