SCORE helps small businesses succeed

With the current economy, a well-developed business plan is extremely important to achieving success.

For individuals with a dream of starting their own business, or current small business owners looking to expand, consultants from the Service Corps of Retired Executives can help provide the resources necessary for achieving their goals.

photo From left, SCORE Chattanooga chapter consultant Wes Sorrow, of North Chattanooga, chairman Chet Tschetter, of East Brainerd, and consultant Bill Bell, of Hixson, help small businesses become successful.

"We as people who have been involved with business can help them to much better understand the demands placed on their time and how they will need to be organized in order to be successful," said Chet Tschetter, East Brainerd resident and chair of the Chattanooga chapter.

A nonprofit organization funded by the federal goverment's Small Business Administration, SCORE is composed of former business people, many of whom served as top executives at one point in their careers.

Tschetter said most who utilize the free, confidential service hear of it by word of mouth, and many are also referred through the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga State, UTC or local business seminars.

Clients meet with at least two consultants for an initial hour-long session to begin SCORE's five-step process, starting with establishing rapport, then conducting a needs assessment and identifying the client's business goals. The consultants look at how to help the client prepare and implement a business plan, and continue to follow up to maintain the contact as well as acquire feedback.

The 22 consultants currently working with SCORE's Chattanooga chapter include former CEOs, chief operating officers and chief financial officers of major corporate entities as well as lawyers, CPAs, educators, a doctor and a dentist.

"I think our interest is to help people develop and implement their ideas - assisting them in not hitting the rough patches we've experienced and helping to make their pathways a little smoother," said Tschetter. "There's also some degree of self-satisfaction in helping others."

Examples of Chattanooga consultants include Hixson resident Bill Bell, retired CPA and owner of an air freight company; North Chattanooga resident Wes Sorrow, former chief financial officer of BlueCross BlueShield and a health care consultant; and Signal Mountain resident Bob Hertel, former president of corporate buying and corporate director of operations of R.H. Macy's and president of Warner Brothers Studios Stores in Saudi Arabia.

Tschetter said Chattanooga's SCORE chapter is always on the lookout for new consultants in a wide range of interesting fields. Applicants should have business contacts, communication skills and the ability to sell themselves and their services, he said.

Consultants are volunteers and commit to working two to three mornings per month with clients as well as to attending monthly consultants' meetings, said Tschetter.

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