New SCORE program encouraging quicker startups

A number of chapters of SCORE – the Service Corps of Retired Executives – are testing a new series of workshops, which can help entrepreneurs take their small business ideas and work to create a corporation quicker than they normally would, the Bradenton Herald reports.

The new QuickStep classes are being tried out at 11 of the organization’s chapters – including the Manasota chapter in West Florida – to see whether they should be used nationwide, according to the paper. The classes give small business owners a basic knowledge of the tools of entrepreneurship, help them understand whether their business proposal is a good idea and assist them in calculating how much it will cost to get a company off the ground.

“It’s a program that’s going to allow people to get the help they need if they’re thinking about starting a business,” Jeannette Watling-Mills, chairwoman of Manasota SCORE, told the paper.

The first workshop is free, and each of the four follow-up courses cost $25 each.

SCORE has 364 offices nationwide, and says that its 12,400 nationwide volunteers help approximately 20,000 startup companies every year. In the past, it has played an important role in helping well-established companies such as Jelly Belly, Vermont Teddy Bear and Vera Bradley take their first steps.