By Robert H. Nelson, Springfield Branch Manager
U.S. Small Business Administration

That’s why the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program and the SCORE Association are two of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s bedrock offerings. If you are considering starting your own business or encounter problems with an existing business, both programs can guide you through the critical steps to business success.

The SBDC program provides counseling and training to those who want to start a small business and to existing small business owners. SBDCs provide services that include business counseling and training, such as assistance with marketing, organization, engineering and technical problems and feasibility studies. Counselors help entrepreneurs with loan applications, business plans and common, everyday business management problems, such as establishing a bookkeeping system, hiring employees or planning for sales via the Internet.

The SBDC Program can help entrepreneurs live their dreams of business ownership, just as it did for Creations Holistic Spa in Chicopee. In 2003 Tara Carter, the owner, approached the Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund in Springfield for funding to open the spa. WMEF referred her to the Western Massachusetts Small Business Development Center office in Springfield for help with completing her financial and marketing plans before they would consider her loan application.

The free consultations and resource provided by Lyne Kendall [Western Mass SBDC management counselor] helped Tara fine-tune her loan application and led to a $20,000 SBA microloan from WMEF. With a solid business plan, Creations has been able to hire nine employees and just finished its second successful year in business. Tara claims "without SBDC assistance I wouldn’t be open today." For more information about the Creations Holistic Spa, which offers skin care services, body treatments, massage therapy as well as spiritual and energy workshops, visit their Web site at: www.soulintentions.com or call 413-535-5000.

In Massachusetts, SBDC service centers are located at seven colleges and universities throughout the Commonwealth. Go to: www.msbdc.org for more information.

SBA resource partner, SCORE "Counselors to America’s Small Business," is also one of the best sources of free and confidential small business advice to help build a business – from idea to start-up to success. SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneurial education and the formation, growth and success of small businesses for both existing and prospective small businesses.

SCORE volunteers are experienced entrepreneurs and corporate managers/executives. who provide free business counseling and advice as a public service to all types of businesses, in all stages of development.

SCORE matches volunteer business management counselors with clients in need of expert advice. Each chapter has volunteers in virtually every area of business management and maintains a skills roster to help identify the best counselor for a particular client.

The key qualification SCORE counselors bring to clients is real-world experience. SCORE business counselors have general management and specific industry experience that can benefit any business. SCORE volunteers can help clients identify problems, determine the causes and find solutions. They are well-versed in developing effective business plans and creating strategies for business growth.

Two satisfied SCORE clients are Juliet Bacchas and Linda Spelko, owners of Monson-based Juliet Rose Gallery & Studio. When Juliet moved to Western Massachusetts from Jamaica she felt "like a fish out of water." In order to ground herself, she decided to start her own business to showcase the pottery skills she mastered in her four years at the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica. She was directed to the Western Massachusetts SCORE Chapter in Springfield where counselor J.D. Ayers helped her develop the plan necessary to start a pottery studio and gallery. Juliet says that J.D. was "tremendously encouraging and helpful and even gave me a tour of Springfield and Indian Orchard. With her guidance I was back into the water. It really helps to know that there are organizations like SCORE out there."

Commenting on her initial meeting with Linda Spelko, her business partner, and a skilled potter, she said "Linda and I met and amazingly we had the same dreams of a studio and gallery, so we joined forces and started a partnership business in 2002." Presently they offer pottery classes two nights a week, offer regular workshops and feature at least three exhibitions a year featuring both local and Jamaican artists. Visit the Juliet Rose Gallery at www.julietrosegallery.com or call (413) 596-9741 for more information about this unique business.

The Western Massachusetts SCORE Chapter is located at the Scibelli Enterprise Center, One Federal Street in Springfield and has branch offices in Greenfield, Northampton and Pittsfield. Call (413) 785-0314 or visit their Web site at www.scorewesternmass.org to learn about upcoming workshops.

Contact Bob Nelson, SBA Springfield Branch Manager at (413) 785-0484 to learn about SBA’s programs and services. Visit the SBA Web site at www.sba.gov/ma for more information.