SCORE
Counselors to America’s Small Business Montana SCORE Chapters Counseling On-Line SCORE Homepage

SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business, is a 12,400 member volunteer association sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Since 1964, the association has matched volunteer business management counselors with clients in need of expert advice. SCORE has experts in virtually every area of business management and maintains a national skills roster to help identify the best counselor for a particular client. Volunteer counselors share their management and technical expertise with both present and prospective small business owners.

SCORE volunteers are members of 364 locally organized chapters offering assistance in locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
Every effort is made to match a client's needs with a counselor who is experienced in a comparable line of business. All individual and team SCORE counseling is free; there may be a nominal fee for training workshops and seminars.

Through in-depth counseling and training, SCORE volunteers help prospective and established small business owners and managers identify problems, determine the causes and find solutions.

SCORE chapters offer low-cost pre-business workshops that address topics like assessing entrepreneurial potential, developing a startup checklist, selecting a legal entity, creating a business plan and securing funding. SCORE counselors also help successful firms review their distribution channels, survey expansion, modify products and meet other business challenges. Other workshops offer experienced business owners information on a myriad of subjects, including starting a homebased business, purchasing a franchise, defining a marketing and advertising strategy, implementing a waste reduction plan, setting merchandise prices and beginning an exporting venture.

Any small business can obtain help from SCORE. The approach is confidential and personal. You don't need to be applying for or have an SBA loan to participate in the program. In fact, an idea is all that is necessary for consultation and counseling.