By Rod Hirsch
SBPA Executive Director
Switching on the lights, unlocking the front door and hanging out the OPEN sign is the easy part.

After that, it gets tougher, especially in a stagnant economy. Ask any small business owner.

Even on its best day, owning a small business poses challenges and obstacles, from attracting customers and balancing the books to controlling inventory and figuring out how to best stretch advertising dollars for maximum returns.

Sometimes it can be overwhelming. But help is available from a pool of experts who’ve experienced many of the same ups and downs in their careers – and their help is free.

The local chapter of SCORE, a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping small businesses succeed, can match small business owners in Somerset County with mentors who can meet on an individual basis for a free, one-hour consultation.

Based at Raritan Valley Community College, the Central Jersey chapter has more than two dozen mentors ready to lend a hand and offer valuable advice.

SCORE counseling sessions are now open for scheduling this month, June and July at the Hillsborough Municipal Building, 379 South Branch Road. Counselors will be available at that location on the second Tuesday of the month beginning at 7 p.m. and the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

There will also be sessions on the second Thursday of the month at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. and the fourth Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

To schedule an appointment with SCORE counselors, call Ruth Beatty at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) at 908-526-1200 x8235 or rbeatty@raritanval.edu.

In addition, online counseling by SCORE is also available.

SCORE has over 10,500 counselors nationwide; the local chapter has 25 counselors with expertise in a variety of areas, including business plans and strategies, advertising, sales and marketing, project management, accounting and bookkeeping, start-ups, restaurants and financing.
           
For more information, visit SCORE’s website at www.score.org. Counselors are also available at other locations, including RVCC, Clinton, Pluckemin, Gladstone, East Brunswick, North Brunswick, Somerset and Edison.

Those locations, as well as a list of the counselors and their areas of expertise and the location of the other 8 SCORE chapters in New Jersey are available on the website.

If you would like to join SCORE as a counselor, please call 800-634-0245 and ask for a volunteer application or go to www.score.org/findscore. 
          
Help is also available from Gene Strupinsky, Hillsborough business advocate by calling (908) 369-4313 extension 106 or by email at gstrupinsky@hillsborough-nj.org.