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).
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.