Retired executives lend a hand to business

Brain Farrell knew all about graphic design when he decided to start his own company.

He had worked as a designer for eight years in New York City before getting laid off, taking a road trip and ending up in Bozeman two years ago.

By NICK GEVOCK Chronicle Staff Writer

But when Farrell decided to open his own company, his knowledge of graphic design wasn’t matched with the know-how to run a business.

"Until you take that step, you really don’t know what it’s going to be like," Farrell said.

Farrell asked for help at the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce, where he was referred to the Senior Core of Retired Executives, or SCORE, which offers business owners free advice.

SCORE volunteer Bob McDonald helped Farrell draft a business plan for his I Spy Design.

Nearly two years later, after a steady stream of 60-hour work weeks, Farrell’s company is thriving. And his early worries about finding enough work to make a living have been replaced by a new, far more desirable, problem.

"When I first got started, it was, ‘Where is (the work) going to come from?’" he said. "Now it’s, ‘How is it all going to get done?’

"It may not be long before I have to have an intern or somebody else come in and help with the day-to-day tasks," he said.

Farrell is just one of dozens of people the Bozeman SCORE chapter has helped in its 32 years of existence.

The Bozeman chapter of SCORE has more than 50 members, including retired lawyers, executives from large corporations and entrepreneurs who built their own companies from the ground up.

Nationwide, there are 389 SCORE chapters. They all get some funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The local chapter works closely with the chamber, which provides space for meetings and shares its support services.

BUSINESS HOW-TO

Every Tuesday morning, SCORE volunteers dedicate an hour apiece to three people who need advice on issues ranging from starting a new business, growing an existing business or getting out of financial trouble.

"We try and steer them in the right path," SCORE member Bill Curtis said. "We’ll outline what they need in a plan and give them information, and then meet with them again to see how they’re doing."

SCORE volunteers wind up seeing scores of young, ambitious people with good ideas for a business, Curtis said. That enthusiasm is key because new business owners usually have to put in 80-hour work weeks to get their legs under them.

But often, as in Farrell’s case, those people don’t know enough about business to make their idea pencil out.

Without a solid business plan, aspiring entrepreneurs have little chance of securing a loan or making it past that startup stage.

A business plan "should lay out how are you going to do what you want to do," Curtis said. "A business plan is basically a road map for where they want to go."

SCORE gives people a packet that guides entrepreneurs through the tedious process of planning a company. Then they meet to discuss the packet and a person’s individual plans.

But SCORE members won’t write a plan for someone, Curtis said.

"We find if you do it for them, they’ll never learn how to do it," Curtis said.

IT’S IN THEIR BLOOD

Aspiring entrepreneurs obviously have something to gain from their interaction with the SCORE volunteers.

But there’s also a lot of satisfaction for the people who donate their expertise, SCORE member Al Wagner said.

Many members who spent their careers in business just can’t get the entrepreneurial spirit out of their blood. And many of the SCORE members see a bit of themselves in young, ambitious people.

"We all want to give something back, to the industry that’s been good to us, or to business in general," Wagner said.

For Curtis, a former power company executive in the Twin Cities, retirement just wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

When he retired more than a decade ago and moved to Bozeman, it wasn’t long before he was looking for a way to stay active and keep his ties to the business world, he said.

"When you retire, you’re kind of put out to pasture," the 71-year-old said. "And you can only fish so much."

NOT ALWAYS GOOD NEWS

But SCORE volunteers have to be careful not to provide advice that is too specific, Curtis said. And they can’t sell anything or recommend a particular consultant, or SCORE could lose its federal funding.

What they will do, however, is review an entrepreneur’s business plan, check the numbers and assumptions used, and make suggestions.

In some cases, the prospective business owner might wind up receiving some bad news.

"Our job, as I see it, is to make people think about all of the what-ifs and realities they’re going to encounter," Wagner said. "We’d much rather disappoint someone than see them go through financial disaster."

That doesn’t mean they try to discourage people. But if someone wants to jump headfirst into a business niche that is already overcrowded, SCORE counselors will point that out.

"We don’t try to dampen their enthusiasm for it, but we say ‘Look, the cost-benefit analysis on this doesn’t look good,’" Curtis said.

That kind of advice can save a prospective entrepreneur lots of grief. In some cases, bankers who have seen someone with a good business idea but poor planning will refer that person to SCORE, Wagner said.

Not everyone who uses SCORE’s services is looking for help with a start-up company.

Sometimes a business that is doing OK, but not thriving, wants help expanding its market or product line.

"They don’t quite know how to break through to that next level," Wagner said.

Others are thinking about buying an existing business, or selling one they own.

Farrell said although he didn’t need financing to start I Spy Design, the business plan he drafted was worthwhile. He’d recommend SCORE to anyone thinking of setting up a business.

"Those guys were very helpful just pointing me in the right direction," he said.