Hopefully, you have subscribed to Score.org and already receive their monthly newsletter that’s packed with ideas, resources and tips. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of them, you are in the majority because 99% of the people I’ve mentioned SCORE to have never heard of them. The 1% that has heard of them had no idea what they offered and were shocked when they learned it was all FREE!

SCORE.org is a non-profit, government sponsored agency that provides free professional counsel to small business owners. You can get real help from other experienced business owners that have signed up to offer their expertise. It’s strictly volunteer, but the counselors have been checked out and have made a commitment to follow through. It’s completely free and you can gain advice 24/7 via an online sign up process, or you can locate an office close to you and speak face to face with a volunteer.

SCORE also offers a wealth of how-to articles, tips, forms and other reliable small business helps at the their website and in their monthly newsletter. This month’s newsletter included reference to their free business plan templates, exclusive tips for success from Guy Kawasaki, and an online workshop called,  “Quick Start Biz Plan”.

Anyone can use their service. Even if you don’t have a business yet, you can talk to someone about your ideas and what you need to do next. Last year a friend of ours was thinking about starting a solar equipment installation business and we referred him to SCORE for some expert advice. He received replies from three engineer-level consultants that offered a wealth of resources to find out everything he needed to know. It turned out there are agencies that can measure the (probable) amount of solar energy available in different parts of the country and we aren’t in a very good area for utilizing solar power. One of the consultants even suggested some alternate ideas (like maybe wind power supply products) that would work better for our area of the country.

SCORE is definitely one of the best resources available for anyone thinking of starting a small business, and the best part is their price!

Visit their website and find out more at SCORE.org

Find the free business plan templates here >>