SCORE San Diego is providing free counseling in the East County Chamber of Commerce every Friday (non-holiday) with hourly sessions from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and 1:00 and 2:00 PM. Our counselors can consult on practically every facet of the business sector. Experience gained as CEOs, CFOs, CPAs, etc., they have held managerial positions in Engineering, Marketing, Retail, Distribution, Manufacturing, Military, IT, Franchising, Medical/Biotech, Federal, State and Municipal Governments, Legal, HR, Banking, Finance, Import/Export and countless other fields. All of them bring life-experiences and have probably made every mistake a business owner can make, and yet we still survived. Our goal and mission is to prevent you from making the same mistakes we made. Since there is no limit to the number of counseling sessions a client can have, the first session is aimed at determining the most significant need our client has, and then matching the client with an expert in that field or discipline.

Every business requires a business plan, which, to be effective, must be kept current. SCORE has developed a two day workshop to assist our clients in easily (though difficult in the beginning) maintaining this plan along with up-to-date financials (Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and P&L). With an owner reviewing monthly pro forma financials, especially in a “down” economy, there is never that “uncomfortable shock” that you are going to run out of cash “this Friday”. Our successful clients follow this procedure to monitor their business and take advantage of our many financial workshops and also utilize our consultants from the financial market  when they detect a change in their financial picture. All information provided to SCORE consultants is considered confidential and is not revealed outside of SCORE without the owners’ specific provision. Each counselor signs an ethic commitment each year.

From a sales and marketing viewpoint you will find a great emphasis placed on internet marketing (5 of the current 9 marketing workshops are internet based) which in this technological time is essential for almost every business. Every sales person knows the value of networking. The men and women of SCORE are active in many associations and participate in networking opportunities as often as possible. Many take part in various Chambers around San Diego County attending breakfast and board meetings. Our women present a networking Breakfast every other month that has 150-170 women attending every meeting. We encourage all our clients to become active in Chambers and Associations linked to their business to take advantage of networking provided by these groups..

This service and guidance is available in the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce at 201 S. Magnolia Avenue in El Cajon, 92106. You can make appointments by calling the Chamber at 619-440-6161 or SCORE at 619-557-7272 to set up a convenient time From a simplistic viewpoint, using SCORE consultants is like having unpaid Board members guiding your company.

Future articles will address our workshops\and business library found on our web page, www.score-sandieg.org. Suggestions for other articles can be made to either phone number listed above.