Clients Succeed with SCORE® Mentoring

KERNEL’S KETTLE CORN

LEIGH & MICHAEL MURPHY

"My husband and I developed a “passion” for Kettle (pop) Corn; and, when we decided to try it as a business a friend felt it would be advantageous for us to attend the SCORE® seminars on how to start a new business. This resulted in an on-going series of meetings with SCORE® counselors, each time benefiting from the advisors’ invaluable experience and knowledge. Today Kernel’s Kettle Corn is a reality! We have a business location on the Santa Fe Plaza, and we could not be more grateful for the excellent direction and advice that we received from the SCORE® counselors along the way. From help in setting up our basic “business structure,” to doing the necessary research to “vet” our idea, thru the implementation of our business plan, the thing we found unique about SCORE® was their ability to stick with time-proven, good business sense, while continuing to incorporate practical suggestions for navigating through the ever changing economic times in which we live today. Having mentors who have been there “first hand,” and understand the needs of a small business is a real plus for anyone needing direction. As we learned from our time with SCORE®’s counselors, many small businesses have failed simply for not doing the basic planning and investigative work needed to be successful. Even with something as simple as popcorn we can honestly say that, had we not followed through on the approaches suggested by SCORE®’s advisors, we might not be in operation today. We are now completing our first year in business and are making preparations to expand. Even now that we have started our business, SCORE® counselors continue to give support. My husband and I have also attended additional seminars this past year, to learn about websites and the internet, as this will be a next step for our continued success. SCORE® has been a great experience for me and I recommend it for anyone who wants to start or cultivate their small business. Best of all, Its FREE!!!"

“We are a custom cabinet architectural millwork shop. I started working with SCORE® about 3 years ago on the suggestion of my banker – when we were trying to buy a building to house our business here in Santa Fe. We reviewed our financial's and the bank representative suggested I sit down with SCORE® to help me learn about and how to run our business better. Initially I worked with SCORE® on my financial's - understanding what they mean, what people who lend money are going to look for, how to make my financial's look better and what each of the parts of the statements mean as far as running a profitable business. Thru my work with SCORE® I was able to improve my balance sheet and profitability to a point where, about a year ago, we acquired our own building to work from. I still see SCORE® on a regular basis, to review our operations in an attempt to have a “third party” provide input on our direction and activities.”

When the Roybal brothers decided to launch a transmission repair shop in Santa Fe, they turned to SCORE®. “We had to present a business plan in competition with another business that wanted the location, so we contacted SCORE®, to see if they felt it might be a viable business.” Working with SCORE® counselors with retail experience, they were able to create a business plan and budget. In the process, the brothers saw that they could implement new ideas to improve efficiency, enhance sales and reduce their overhead. As the business began to grow, the brothers sought further guidance on marketing, sales, human resources, and cash management and finance. The results: Sales and profitability increased significantly year-to-year; The business was able to put into place an effective inventory and cash management strategy; and they implemented successful new marketing and sales tactics.

"Our company manufactures "lifestyle" clothing, which is distributed nationally through various retailers, our on-line store, and in our showroom in Santa Fe.

I've been working with SCORE© for over 4 years, originally coming to them when I was faced with some pretty significant business decisions revolving around a move into a bigger, better facility. I needed help with re-doing my business plan - in order to see whether or not it made financial sense to do the move. I was very fortunate to find a "mentoring" team that really helped me understand all the issues & obstacles (weighing the pros & cons) regarding the move; and, in doing so, that further helped me understand how to read my financial's, and use them as tools in making these sorts of decisions. The SCORE© team helped me evaluate ALL sides of the decision; forced me to do the necessary homework (evaluating the pros and cons of various sites, etc.); helped me identify the risks/rewards involved (as well as ways to mitigate those risks and capitalize on the advantages); and helped me with the lease negotiation. With SCORE©'s help I rewrote the business plan and we did make the move to the new facility. We are delighted with the results - which we feel we wouldn't have made without SCORE©'s help.

In subsequent meetings with the team, we've worked together to catch potential issues before they've become problems; and they've helped me with various inventory issues, HR issues and thorny Accounts Receivable issues (particularly with some of the larger companies we deal with). I really attribute a lot of my success to the help that the SCORE© team has provided me over the years that I've worked with them."

"We design and manufacture decorative lighting fixtures and architectural ironwork.

We have worked with SCORE© for over a decade. SCORE© was instrumental in helping us understand what banks expect in terms of financial statements and business plans when applying for loans, and also the advantages of owning your own building over leasing, etc. When we started we didn't’t have much experience in manufacturing and the experience of the SCORE© counselors really enabled us to grasp the fundamentals. They further helped us figure out how to calculate how we should be pricing our products, and what we could do to make the whole manufacturing process more efficient.

One of the key accomplishments that SCORE© helped us achieve was the purchase of our buildings and manufacturing area. We obtained this with relative ease – since all the guidelines and procedures that SCORE© had made it appear pretty “seamless.” Today, in the buildings that we purchased, we not only have our own manufacturing, but we have other artists and crafts people coming to our location.

When we started our business in 1996, we thought we had a lot of knowledge. SCORE©, however, has helped us in so many categories. I feel when you’re a young entrepreneur you think you might have the necessary skills – but the wealth of knowledge that SCORE© has and what they are able to offer to people is incredibly valuable."