Advice isn’t always good for you
I'm a big fan of finding a mentor or a counselor to help you launch or grow a business, but that doesn't mean everything they tell you is right.
Lately, a couple of entrepreneurs told me horror stories about advice they got early on in their careers.
One woman who runs a successful fashion Web site told me this week that a small business counselor actually discouraged her from leaving Corporate America and starting her own firm.
Thank goodness she didn't listen.
I tell you this because I'm going to encourage many of you out there to take advantage of a free counseling opportunity, but if you attend I want you to promise to take everything you hear with a grain of salt.
SCORE, a small business counseling program made up of retired executives who volunteer their services and a resource partner with the Small Business Administration, is now holding "speed coaching" sessions around the country.
Why everything has to be speedy these days, I don't know. But I digress.
"It's a chance to talk to our counselors one on one," says Martin Lehman of SCORE New York. "In these times people need help."
The sessions aren't that speedy, about a half hour each, and the events will also include workshops on business planning, financing and marketing.
Alicia Ingram, owner of Atlanta-based marketing solutions company ANI Communications, attended one of the speedy sessions last week.
She's looking to start a new division in her company and needed some advice on how to prioritize what she needed to do.
"For me, what I got most out of the half-hour session was I had someone to help me think through where to start. I solidified my elevator pitch," she explained.
But, like I said, not everything you take away from a counselor is helpful.
Leanne Chase, president of Career Life Connection, was excited about attending a SCORE meeting in Boston, but didn't end up with much help. Despite that, she plans on attending again next week.
"My business is Web based and the person I met with initially had just tried PayPal for the first time during a misunderstanding with an Ebay purchase," she explained. "To be fair, he was not an 'e-commerce' guy. I'm meeting with one of those next week, but he gave me no confidence that he or SCORE could help me take my business to the next level."
She's staying open-minded, but feels SCORE is more helpful in "nuts & bolts -- how to put a business plan together, how to evaluate a business idea, but not how to take a newly-launched business and get it to the next step."
Ingram, who got more out of the event, suggested interested entrepreneurs do their homework on the advisors they'll be meeting with to find out if it's a good fit.
For cities and dates for the SCORE event, done in partnership with American Express OPEN, check out this link.
Have you ever received bad business advice? Did you take it? What happened?
Looking forward to your comments.
