If you have ever run your own company or been involved in business management, you have a lot of valuable experience from which others could benefit. How? Become a business mentor.
If you enjoy helping others and would like to share your experience, becoming a SCORE certified mentor could be a great fit for you.
The need for mentors in our area has never been greater than it is now. Our chapter averages over 70 requests for mentoring each month. The requests come from both people just starting a business as well as many who are looking to expand.
Some of our mentors are retired, some semi-retired, and some are still active in business. The time commitment is very manageable, perhaps four to five hours per week, totally on your preferred schedule. Mentors can easily “pause” their work while on vacation, so there is full flexibility in that regard.
SCORE in Central Oregon is part of a national volunteer organization. Nationwide, there are about 150 chapters providing mentoring and education to both new entrepreneurs and existing businesses in need of guidance to address their business challenges.
Including the full state of Oregon, in the recent fiscal year, SCORE supported the start of 769 businesses — a very significant impact on the economy. Our mentoring requests include interest in help with developing business plans, carving out the right marketing plans, assessing and organizing finance info, operational and staffing issues, and just about any other aspect of starting or building a business.
As a point that reflects the breadth of SCORE and the support the mentor team provides, over half of the clients that request mentoring support from SCORE are women business leaders and entrepreneurs. In addition, many of our newer mentors are women and the chapter is working to encourage further increase in the number of women mentors.
Here are some recent comments from clients who have received mentoring support from our local chapter team:
“My mentor and I have a great understanding. She has made herself available to me for all of my business needs. She has been a great sounding board and given the best advice.”
“My mentor did listen and understand my needs from an entrepreneurial perspective – very helpful in being able to convey that he was listening and offering feedback that was understandable to me and corresponded with the nature of my concerns.”
“Our mentor is providing great insight and helping us stay aligned with our mission.”
A very straightforward training program is part of the process of becoming a SCORE mentor. The combination of this training, along with the foundation background of experience in business, equips someone new to mentoring to be able to succeed. In addition to this beginning training, there is a lot of peer interaction between mentors that allows for sharing of experiences and collaborating to provide the best service possible — plus there are great opportunities to get to know like-minded people in the community.
From the mentor perspective, here is some feedback from their experiences:
“It is a pleasure to be able to share the business knowledge that I have built from decades of work experience.”
“I get to experience the creativity of working with all types of new and experienced business clients. Mentoring for SCORE is a great way to give back to my community.”
As noted, SCORE is expanding. While we have added 12 mentors to our team in the last year and now have a team of 46, more help is needed to handle the volume of mentoring requests that are received every month. The application process is very simple and accessible via the website: score/centraloregon.org. On the site, there is also further information about the scope of the mentor role. You can also call 541-316-0662.
