I’ve had a spate of bad mentors after a good one initially who then disappeared. They seem to be patrolling all the business descriptions to look for someone they can use.
The last person was weirdly obsessed with my disability and wanted me to create write-ups on this as busywork when I’m busy actually running my business. He was obsessed with social media brownie points for showing himself helping disabled people. He did not provide any meaningful help to me though.
For the most recent person, I’m getting the vibe that he’s trying to get in on my business. (I’ve had this happen before.) I have to be cautious about theft of my proprietary materials. This dude seems desperate for work rather than someone who wants to actually mentor as a retired executive (which is what SCORE is supposed to be).
Just spoke to my new SCORE mentor. While asking questions related to opening a new business he suggests I Google the answer. Uh yeah, thanks?
I’ve tried score a few times but didn’t really learn anything I don’t already know and my “mentors” never seem to know anything about my field of business. I’ve gone pretty far just figuring things out on my own and googling.
I wish I could say I’ve been matched with one. It’s been a couple months and they haven’t even found anyone to match with me. I’d heard good things and was hopeful to have a sounding board of sorts.
I tried it briefly but it didn’t seem terribly useful when I was first starting out. Now my sounding boards are my entrepreneurial brothers, my old employers, and a couple clients that I get along very well with.
My big issue with SCORE is that it usually feels like I’m talking to someone who no longer has skin in the game. My brothers and I understand each other while also staying in the trenches day to day.
What’s the score website ? I’m in Las Vegas and haven’t had any luck with SBA
I kind of think you get what you pay for. (Full disclosure: I mentor at a non-profit that does work similar to SCORE for minority-owned businesses.) There are some amazing people at SCORE, but I think you have to get lucky to find someone motivated, talented, and available. In my last business I just hired a consultant - that let me set expectations and manage the relationship better because I was paying.
I did not find my two most recent mentors helpful AT ALL other than pointing me in the direction of SCORE’s resources. Neither of them had business background (I wanted help with applying to grants and they paired me with someone who said she had experience with grants from her time working at a university) and the other I think has a non-profit (really wasn’t clear to me, my mentor recommended her to me for help with marketing as an SME but she was never available and stopped responding to my emails). When I would send them text for a grant application to proofread they were missing major typos and grammatical errors (I know this because I double checked their work) but told me it was good to go. Complete waste of time for where I’m at in my business now and both seemed too busy with their personal lives to be of assistance and didn’t really have the experience I needed them to have, but I think if you’re just starting out it could help.
I’ve spoken with a few. None of them have ever seemed to have experience in what I was working on OR anything they could contribute even laterally. No sales advice, no management advice, nothing at all. A good concept (score) but it doesn’t look like my experience is unique judging by the responses here.
I just recently found out about SCORE. I have a great mentor. What I did when I signed up was request a specific mentor. I went through the mentor bios and industries and found someone. He’s across the country but I didn’t care.
I didn’t realize how problematic the mentors can be I just figured I didn’t want to get stuck with someone outside my field who couldn’t help.
I just recently found out about SCORE. I have a great mentor. What I did when I signed up was request a specific mentor. I went through the mentor bios and industries and found someone. He’s across the country but I didn’t care.
I didn’t realize how problematic the mentors can be I just figured I didn’t want to get stuck with someone outside my field who couldn’t help.