SCORE Mentors: Serving Entrepreneurs in Bucks, Montgomery Counties
SCORE Bucks County is a local chapter of a national nonprofit organization focused on providing low- or no-cost mentoring services to business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the life of their business. The chapter’s 60 volunteer mentors provide invaluable guidance to Bucks County entrepreneurs, as well as those in the eastern portion of Montgomery County, from Willow Grove to Blue Bell.
One-on-one mentoring sessions are available in-person, on the phone, or virtually – whatever is most convenient for clients.
In January, SCORE Bucks was one of 30 local chapters in the Mid-Atlantic region – which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington DC – to launch a pilot of “One SCORE,” an initiative that culls business-oriented webinars and presents them to a wider audience. As part of the effort, local SCORE clients can participate in more than a dozen monthly webinars on a wide range of topics, including staples like how to start a business, writing a business plan, financial projections, and marketing.
To ensure SCORE volunteers are constantly learning and evolving as they guide current and future business leaders, the organization provides mentors with ongoing training on everything related to business. Mentors typically have an area of expertise based on their career and educational background, but the organization teaches all mentors the basics of business startup. It is not uncommon for SCORE volunteers to brainstorm with or invite mentors whose experience is best suited to client questions into the mentoring process.
Mentors dedicate two to four hours per week for meeting with clients, on average. SCORE volunteer opportunities also include serving as a subject matter expert or workshop presenter.
When the organization began in 1964, it was focused primarily on recruiting retired executives and former business owners as mentors for the next generation of entrepreneurs. That mindset has changed dramatically in recent years with some mentors still holding down jobs or running their own business.
For more information on SCORE Bucks County, please visit SCORE.org/BucksCounty, call 215-943-8850 or email buckscounty@scorevolunteer.org.
