Published: Monday, Oct. 05, 2009

Updated: Monday, Oct. 05, 2009

Small business owners turn to free counseling services for advice

MANATEE

Denis O’Donnell doesn’t need anyone to tell him how to manage a restaurant, not with 35 years of restaurant experience under his belt.

But when O’Donnell recently decided to open his own restaurant in Lakewood Ranch, he suddenly felt lost.

“I don’t completely understand commercial loans or how to approach a bank,” O’Donnell said. “So I felt it was real important to get professionals behind me and critique me on what I should be doing.”

In this economy, many entrepreneurs or business owners like O’Donnell are turning to small business counseling sessions for advice.

In Manatee and Sarasota counties, two small business organizations that offer free counseling are seeing increasing requests from aspiring entrepreneurs for guidance in starting up a business.

“One of the things we’re seeing in this economy seems to be more people looking at whether it makes sense to start their own business,” said Jeanette Watling-Mills, president of Manasota Service Corps of Retired Executives or SCORE.

SCORE, a program sponsored by the Small Business Administration, and the Small Business Development Center at State College of Florida, provide free counseling sessions and workshops for aspiring and existing business owners.

Both organizations operate with a staff of volunteer counselors who are former business professionals. “My counselor sent me to different seminars on creating a business plan to help me start up my restaurant,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said the seminar and Manasota SCORE’s counselors helped him write a business plan that eventually led him to secure a loan for his Lakewood Ranch restaurant Mama’s Pasta Bowl, which is expected to open in December.

“I’m afraid to even think whether I would have gotten the loan without that help,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell is one of 1,833 business clients to receive counseling so far this year from one of Manasota SCORE’s 55 counselors.

As of Tuesday, Manasota SCORE also had 512 clients request assistance, and had 302 clients attend workshops. Last year, SCORE had 658 clients request assistance, 2,178 attended mentoring sessions and 214 attended workshops.

“Mirroring a national trend, we saw a significant drop early in the year due to the economic conditions but we are now seeing increased activity which has put us to a level of 50 plus new requests per month,” said Watling-Mills.

The Small Business Development Center at State College of Florida has seen at least 350 clients and conducted at least 50 seminars through August.

Last year, the Small Business Development Center assisted 486 clients and conducted 86 seminars.

“I would expect that we will see 500 clients by year’s end and will definitely match last year’s seminar numbers,” said Carolyn Griffin, assistant director of the Small Business Development Center at State College of Florida.

Griffin said a majority of businesses challenged by the economy are seeking counseling on finances.

“For people who already have a business, they’re looking for loans and financial advice,” Griffin said. “We work with them on their business plan to present to the banks but that also helps them plan for the future.”

Rachel Vanatta Noyes and her husband Justin Noyes turned to SCORE two years ago when they were starting up The Hives Creation, an Anna Maria Island boutique that specializes in handmade goods such as handbags, jewelry and clothing.

Now, the business owners may be in need of SCORE’s help again, this time to see if relocating will be a good move for their store.

“Being just two years into this, we figure we still have someone we can go to and help us answer our questions,” said Rachel Noyes. “It’s so important to have this kind of help as a business owner. It’s priceless.”