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From YouTube: Aiken Business Matters - June 20, 2016 : SCORE
Description
Representatives from Greater Aiken SCORE share the resources available to the local business community and the impact that their free services can have on the long-term viability of small businesses.
Guests include:
John Carman
Janet Covin
A
B
C
Scores
is
a
national
organization
and
we
like
to
think
that
one
way
to
describe
score
is
that,
were
they
all
volunteer
arm
of
a
small
business
administration,
so
nationwide,
there's
over
14,000
volunteers
and
volunteer
mentors
is
usually
how
we
describe
the
folks
who
are
in
the
score
chapters,
and
here
in
Aiken
we
have
about
40,
volunteer
mentors
serving
the
local
small
business
community
and
entrepreneurs
and
people
who
are
just
thinking
that
maybe
they
want
to
do
this
business
thing
and
get
get
something
started
and
we
work
with
nonprofits
as
well
as
for-profit
organizations.
I.
A
Think
that's
something
that
most
people
don't
real,
but
the
local
organization
here
I've
had
the
pleasure
of
meeting
and
also
speaking
in
front
of
your
group
and
I
was
amazed
at
the
number
of
mentors
that
you
have
in
your
organization,
and
you
said
there
were
40,
that's
pretty
big
for
community
our
size.
Is
it
not.
C
A
B
A
A
A
B
Close
so
I
escaped
a
long
time
ago
and
have
lived
all
over
the
United,
States
and
I've
just
been
so
lucky
in
my
professional
life
to
work
for
some
very
exciting
entrepreneurial,
small
companies
in
the
technology,
industries
and
marketing
services
and
part
of
the
fun
thing
about
being
part
of
a
small
companies.
You
get
to
have
so
many
wonderful
experiences,
so
I
was
able
to
have
hands-on
responsibilities
around
marketing
and
sales
and
business
analytics
and
business
needs
assessment.
B
Just
a
broad
range
of
experiences
which,
when
I
started
looking
for
a
way
to
engage
in
the
community,
I
thought
might
have
some
value
and
I
looked
around
and
found
score
and
have
been
working
with
them
as
both
a
mentor
and
some
other
capacities
as
well.
For
the
last
couple
years,
it's
been
great
John.
C
I
was
well,
but
the
focus
of
my
expertise
has
been
in
communication
activities,
so
developing
strategic
plans
working
through
the
difficult
challenges
of
how
to
convey
information
to
important
to
us
people
and
along
the
way
I
was
brought
into
an
organization
that
also
valued
mentoring
and
training
and
professional
development
in
people.
So
as
I
left
government
service.
Finally,
and
came
to
akin
score
for
me,
was
almost
a
natural
fit
based
on
what
I
thought
was
a
great
way
to
serve
and,
in
this
case,
continue
to
serve
this
community.
C
B
A
A
B
C
B
C
B
For
my
husband
and
myself
as
well,
we've
lived
all
over
the
country
and
we
settled
on
this
area.
After
doing
extensive
research,
when
we
decided
to
sort
of
pick
a
spot
and
we
haven't
regretted
it,
it's
beautiful,
the
people
are
wonderful
and
we
see
over
recent
years,
the
tremendous
growth
that's
been
going
on.
A
A
It
is,
and
you
know
people
saying
well:
why
are
you?
Why
is
he
asking
them
all
these
questions,
because
to
be
a
good
mentor,
you
have
to
have
a
good
grasp
of
what
the
dynamics
are
in
the
community
that
you're
living
and
true,
that's
very
true
Jana.
What
do
you
think
about
our
business
climate?
They
can
well.
B
B
There's
a
you
know
and
I
really
think
of
the
CSRA
area,
because
we're
all
connected
and
I've
seen
many
things
happening
in
technology
and
new
businesses
coming
in
the
akin
mall
being
redone,
that's
very
exciting
kinds:
effective
new
restaurants
and
the
people
that
we
talked
to
who
want
to
start
new
businesses
I
think
that's
all
very
exciting.
Yes,.
A
Because
when
you
have
growth,
you
have
opportunities
for
entrepreneurs
to
come
in
and
take
advantage
of
new
things
like,
and
the
Savannah
River
Site,
just
recently
with
the
Department
of
Energy,
made
an
announcement
that
the
National
Lab
is
going
to
have
a
new
facility
search
facility.
That's
going
to
be
built
on
the
University
campus,
and
certainly
somebody
with
your
background
in
technology.
That
has
to
be
an
exciting
thing,
because
they're
going
to
be
a
lot
of
ancillary
companies
that
will
need
to
be
in
place
that
aren't
there
now
to.
C
C
C
B
B
A
The
community
I
always
have
to
look
at
myself
when
I
was
that
age.
You
know
graduating
from
college.
Why
didn't
I
stay
here?
There
wasn't
anything
that
was
in
my
field.
That
was
here
to
keep
me.
That's
really
changed
and
the
things
that
are
going
on
at
the
site,
the
things
that
are
going
on
with
education
here
I
mean
a
lot
of
opportunity
for
young
people
either
to
be
directly
involved
or
start
their
own
businesses
and
there's
all
kind
of
service
industries.
It'll
need
to
be
in
place
to
support
and
I
know.
A
B
B
Exciting
about
what
the
education
part
of
the
community
is
doing,
to
help
its
students
and
to
connect
the
education
with
the
business
and
to
develop
programs
that
will
ensure
that
kids
coming
out
of
schools
today,
high
schools,
junior
high
and
fly
I'm
sorry
and
into
the
advanced
education,
whether
it's
a
two-year
school,
a
four-year
school,
have
skill
sets
that
are
in
demand
locally.
Keep
them
here.
They'll
have
their
families.
C
B
A
We
we
get
young
men
and
women
that
come
out
of
these
education
programs
with
a
contact,
Agosta
tech,
the
start
off,
making
as
much
money
as
four-year
college
graduates
they've.
They
just
have
more
specialized
training
in
in
a
more
concise
way,
and
it's
good
plus.
They
also
offer
opportunities
for
for
advancement
into
four-year
degrees,
because.
A
C
A
good
question-
and
the
answer
is
yes,
so
we
have
folks
come
that
are
quite
experienced
typically,
but
also
some
of
our
volunteers
are
still
working
people
right
and
are
not
the
same
place
in
life
that
Janet
and
I
are,
and
in
fact
about
a
fourth
of
our
40
people
are
still
employed
in
the
community
here,
but
once
they're
interested
in
score,
we
do
have
a
bit
of
an
orientation
process,
so
everybody
has
the
same
understanding
of
what
it
means
to
be
a
mentor.
What
what's
the
approached
successful
mentoring?
B
A
A
I
hadn't
thought
about
this
until
you
both
were
very
forthcoming
about
the
ethics
part
of
it
and
I
appreciate
that,
because,
if
I'm
a
an
individual
and
I
don't
have
to
be
young,
it's
just
any
age.
People
come
up
with
good
ideas,
good
business
ideas
and
I
think
I
have
a
very
unique
idea.
I
would
feel
very
comfortable
now
after
hearing
what
both
of
you
have
said
of
coming
in
with
a
idea
that
was
I'm,
worried
about
somebody
taking
my
idea
and
stealing
it
I
guess,
that's
the
only
other
way
to
say
it.
We.
C
And
it
may
be
unique,
or
it
may
be
kind
of
parallel
to
some
other
things
that
we're
aware
of
in
the
community,
so
we
can
serve
as
a
connector
and
we
don't
transfer
the
information,
but
we
get
people
together.
That
might
form
interesting
relationships,
positive
relationships
in
a
business
environment
and
sometimes
that
that
serves
everybody.
Well,
we
can
sometimes
be
viewed
as
a
bit
of
a
touchstone
mm-hmm
for
an
idea,
and
then
you
know
we're
not
going
to
be
in
business
with
the
client.
C
A
B
We
learn
about
what
their
needs
are
and
we
then
reach
out
to
others
in
our
own
chapter
and
also
we
have
access
to
nationwide
resources
within
the
score
network
itself,
to
deliver
the
resources
and
the
expertise
that
we
feel
our
clients
need
or
that
they
said
that
they
need,
and
so
it's
not
just
one
person
that
they
come
and
talk
to,
who
may
or
may
not
have
a
background
in
what
they
specifically
do,
but
they
have
access
to
a
plethora
of
resources
to
help
them
move
on.
So.
C
It
for
as
an
example
in
an
initial
session,
we
would
typically
have
two
volunteer
mentors
meeting
with
the
client
and
it's
mostly
a
listening
session.
So
we
want
the
individual
to
tell
us
what
what
their
idea
is
or
where
they
are
in
their
journey
towards
either
a
for-profit
or
not-for-profit
business,
and
at
the
end
of
that
session,
then
we've
given
them
also
some
feedback
on
the
idea
and
then
there's
usually
a
follow-on
meeting
or
resources
that
are
opened
up.
C
So
if
it's
not
local
training
that
we
or
the
Small
Business
Administration,
for
example,
might
do
then
there's
online
training
and
resources
that
are
available
and
in
some
cases,
as
Janet
mentioned,
we
have
mentors
across
the
country
who
are
willing
to
mentor
at
a
distance
based
on
specific
interests
or
needs
right
wasn't
long
ago
that
we
had
someone
who
wanted
to
start
a
production
company.
You
know
they're
big
into
local
theatres
and
events
of
that
sort,
but
they
wanted
to
grow
their
idea
to
the
next
level.
C
Well,
we
had
a
mentor
in
Knoxville
who
did
this
full-time
for
a
career
and
then
was
serving
as
a
Knoxville
Tennessee
serving
as
a
score
mentor,
and
so
that
that
became
part
of
the
the
connection
and
that
work
then
that
the
client
left
the
meeting
with
was
an
opportunity
to
talk
to
somebody
who's
really
really
an
expert
in
exactly
what
I
want
to
do
and
do
it
every
day.
Yes,.
C
B
B
C
C
Beyond
that
we
have
local
sponsors
that
help
us
out
with
some
financial
resources
and
several
of
those
are
banks,
because
there's
a
very
close
relations
between
a
lot
of
scores
activities
and
banks
with
clients
that
need
help
or
assistance
and
getting
ready
for
for
a
business
and
to
be
financially
sound
or
are
worthy
of
a
loan
so
forth.
And
then
the
triangle.
The
third
leg,
is
back
with
a
small
business
administration.
B
C
C
People
to
be
a
part
of
our
workshops
and
all
of
our
workshops,
the
topics
are
vetted
through
the
business
community.
Through
the
chamber,
we
ask
what
are
the
needs
of
the
business
community,
particularly
for
the
first
two
or
three
steps
on
the
latter.
Certainly,
and
so
our
partners
and
sponsors
are
very
valuable.
That
way,
as
well
as
the
larger
business
community
I.
A
Those
are
some
very
timely,
very
needed
topics
and
things
that
people
that
are
starting
a
business
are
already
in
a
business
need
to
to
have
these,
because
so
many
businesses-
and
you
mentioned
this
earlier-
that
is
not
just
startup
businesses,
but
that
you
also
work
with
existing
businesses
too.
We
do
we.
C
Provide
volunteers,
the
same
mentors
or
koreff
mentors
that
serve
as
advisory
board
members
on
typically
small
businesses
that
have
requested
that
service.
So
very
frequently
it's
an
outgrowth
or
a
distant
follow-up
to
an
earlier
relationship
that
the
business
and
with
score
and
then
they
realized
that
we're
successful
or
maybe
we're
having
some
challenges.
But
I
don't
know
where
to
go
for
further
ideas
and
some
time
and
they
don't
have
a
board
of
directors
right.
A
C
Businesses
do
not
have
they're
not
able
to
do
that,
so
this
is
the
first
cousin
to
that
having
an
advisory
board.
Now
we
bring
in
expertise
through
our
volunteers
and
meet
periodically
with
a
business
so
quarterly
it's
kind
of
a
regular
rhythm
for
these
types
of
meetings
and
depending
on
what
their
needs
are,
we
may
get
into
the
financials
of
the
business
we
may
get
into
the
marketing
we
may
get
into
well
customer
development.
C
A
A
B
C
I'll
give
you
one
example
of
that:
we've
had
several
meetings
with
a
small
business
and
it
has
about
nine
or
ten
employees,
and
we
mentioned
or
touched
on
financials
in
the
first
meeting.
Second
meeting
came
up
third
meeting
the
business
owner
volunteered
that
the
next
meeting
he
would
bring
the
financial
documents
the
current
financials
for
the
company
and
when
that
occurred,
then
we
go.
Aha,
we
now
understand
you're
in
better
shape
than
you
thought.
C
A
You
know
so
many
businesses
today
are
their
success
if
they're
a
service
industry
in
keeping
up
with
technology,
keeping
up
with
the
times
keeping
up
with
the
current
demand
of
buyers,
and
so,
if
I
own
a
store
and
I'm
selling
product
X
and
product
X
is
on
the
way
out.
Are
you
there
to
help
them
decide
what
the
next
product
should
be
or
the
next
inventory
change
should
be
to
make
them
market
worthy
again,
I
think.
B
B
C
Having
trouble
finding
a
single
or
priority
within
reasonable
ideas,
so
we
coach
them
into
what
what
what's
most
viable
are
the
five
things
that
you
want
to
do
right
away.
Sometimes
we
have
folks
who
have
signed
a
lease
for
a
location.
They
don't
have
supplies,
they
don't
brought.
They
don't
have
services
organized
there.
We
go
ooh,
let's,
let's
look
at
it
a
little
differently
and
make
sure
that
we
do
this
in
a
reasonable
sequence.
B
A
Both
of
you
have
had
a
number
of
experiences
in
the
real
world
and
then
in
the
mentoring,
world
and
I,
say
real
world
and
real
world
application
and
in
the
mentoring
world.
So
I'd
love
to
hear
from
both
of
you
unless
you
both
agree
with
each
other
but
Janet.
What
do
you
see
is
the
biggest
mistake
that
a
new
business
makes
for.
B
Someone
who's
looking
at
a
start-up
I
would
say
there
are
two
things.
First,
is
to
really
step
back
and
do
an
assessment
of
the
market
opportunity.
People
just
seemed
to
oftentimes
jump
in
with
both
feet.
Someone
says:
hey,
you
know
you
make
the
best
Bisset
on
earth
and
they
go.
Oh
that's
great
I'm
gonna
go
open
a
bakery
or
a
biscuit
job
or
a
restaurant,
and
what
is
so
essential
is
to
be
able
to
step
back
and
to
look
at
what
what
is
my
business
idea?
You
know
who's
already
out
there
doing
it.
B
You
know
to
really
assess
what
that
opportunity
is
and
how
many
potential
customers
there
might
be
and
what
what's
the
revenue
opportunity
you
know
to
consider
those
things
before
they
move
forward,
full-bore
and
then
fundamental
to
either
a
start-up
or
an
existing
business
is
a
business
plan.
You
know,
and
we
are
the
mantra
you
know.
Do
the
business
plan
do
the
business
plan,
but
it
is
so
essential
and.
B
C
Is
also
when
they've
come
to
score
many
times
it's
the
first
time,
they've
seriously
discussed
their
idea
outside
their
family,
dining
room,
table,
faith
group.
What
have
you
and
we
in
the
listening
and
coaching
mentoring
mode,
give
them
some
feedback
and
have
you
thought
about
this
or
it's
straight
up
encouragement?
B
C
A
The
start
of
a
new
business
carries
so
many
different
challenges
and
so
many
different
opportunities
that
I
guess
it's
very
difficult
to
harness
the
enthusiasm
with
the
practicality
of
starting
a
business,
and
that's
where
the
mentoring
comes
in.
How
do
you
tell
you
know?
It's
got
to
be
a
really
a
tough
thing
to
keep
from
curbing
the
enthusiasm,
but
bringing
the
reality
of
what
really
has
to
take.
A
C
A
I
can
see
both
of
you
are
very
passionate
about
what
you
do
and
are
very
nurturing
in
in
what
you
want
to
accomplish
with
people
and
that
that
that
really
takes
a
special
skill,
and
you
certainly
are
both
very
well-spoken,
very
communicative
and
but
I
will
say
John
if
I
was
going
to
get
bad
news.
I'd
rather
have
it
come
from
Janice.
B
A
Had
to
say
that
you
you
both
really
are
great
examples
of
what
the
school
program
is
all
about,
and
the
information
that
you
have
been
able
to
give
us
today,
I
think
really
kind
of
takes
away.
The
mystique
of
what
score
is
all
about
and
lets
people
know
that
you're
out
there
to
help,
but
it's
not
anything
other
than
good
people,
giving
their
valuable
time
to
enhance
our
business
community
and
the
young
entrepreneurs,
because
you
never
know
when
you're
gonna
run
into
the
next
great
business.
A
A
It
happening
on
occasion,
but
it's
very
tough
once
you
once
you
start
a
business
because
you're
establishing
yourself
and
your
reputation
and
one
one
last
thing:
I
want
you
to
do
to
share
with
our
our
viewers
this.
You
recently
won
several
awards
and
our
time
short,
but
I
wanted
you
two
to
give
our
viewers
an
idea
of
what
quality
this
this
score
group.
C
Thing
thank
you
for
mentioning
that
the
quality
of
this
community
and
the
volunteers
we've
we
have
has
allowed
us
to
be
recognized
on
a
state
and
region
and
a
national
level
within
score.
So
we've
been
accorded
a
recognition
of
the
finest
score
chapter
in
the
state
of
South
Carolina,
and
we
have
been
given
a
recognition
on
national
level
that
were
one
of
40
chapters
out
of
over
a
thousand
chapters
to
be
recognized
with
a
certain
level
of
recognition
and
effectiveness
in
their
community.
C
A
I'll
tell
you
that
if
it
just
is
a
really
really
a
star
in
vacant
to
have
an
organization
that
is
of
the
quality,
integrity
and
passion
that
you
bring
to
to
score,
and
we
are
proud
to
have
you
as
a
part
of
our
business
community,
to
help
in
fostering
good
business
practices
in
town
working
with
new
and
existing
businesses,
but
and
then
to
be
recognized
as
being
a
mentor
to
mentors.
So
that's
a
that's
a
that's
a
neat
process
to
think
about.