There are many hidden gems to help business owners succeed but sometimes they’re hard to find. One of the best ones out there is SCORE (formerly known as Service Corps of Retired Executives) formed over 50 years ago to provide business mentoring and education to entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The organization is staffed by more than 10,000 volunteers in 300 chapters nationally and is managed in part by the US Small Business Administration and the national SCORE association providing assistance to more than 10 million entrepreneurs.

One of the key components of SCORE is mentorship. You can request a personal mentor via their website or you can search for mentors using keywords and zip codes and view their profiles online.

SCORE also offers live in-person workshops and recorded seminars and webinars. Some are free and others charge a small fee. Topics are broad covering just about any and every area of business from management and finance to leadership and human resources.

We don’t care if you’re just starting your business or you’ve been in business for 100 years – this is a free resource with a lot of value to offer any company out there and it’s free.

So why would anyone want to volunteer to be a SCORE mentor? Outside of just being a nice person who enjoys helping entrepreneurs succeed, SCORE volunteers gain access to a pool of new small business owners and some pretty amazing people with big dreams. They can be there when a company is first starting out at the ground level and they can watch them grow. If they provide products or services they will undoubtedly be first in line when the entrepreneur needs them for their business. And they gain access to a network of very smart and motivated individuals to keep them inspired and connected within their communities.

photo courtesy of Jonathan Simcoe via unsplash.com

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