SCORE is offering two business workshops for local entrepreneurs
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
The start of a new year often symbolizes new beginnings. It’s a clean slate, a fresh chance to accomplish all of the bigger and better things we didn’t get around to last year. For many, this means taking that business idea they jotted down on a napkin so long ago, and finally turning it into a reality. The only issue? Most people don’t know where to begin on the journey to entrepreneurship.
Thankfully, SCORE Bucks County, the local chapter of the nationwide small business mentoring organization, is stepping in to help with two upcoming workshops — Starting a Business: The SCORE Business Launchpad on Jan. 18 in Warrington, and Scale Up Your Business on Feb. 20 in Richboro.
Ahead of the Jan. 18 seminar, The Times caught up with certified SCORE mentors, Dr. Don Goeltz and Tony Moore, who will lead the event and share their expertise.
Goeltz celebrates a lengthy career in the corporate world with companies such as AT&T and United Technologies, and as an entrepreneur, working with corporate-funded and “kitchen table” startups. Additionally, he earned a PhD at the age of 60 and has been teaching business strategy and entrepreneurship at Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia for a decade. Moore, who holds an MBA in marketing, has a background chock-full of food marketing and food sales, with his resume boasting industry giants like Kellogg and Kraft Foods.
Both Goeltz and Moore joined SCORE in 2015 and 2014, respectively, as a way to give back. Since becoming mentors, they’ve encountered aspiring entrepreneurs from virtually all walks of life.
“I have experienced a very broad range of businesses, both pre-startup and post-startup, up-and-running and everything from decorative things to a software system to a lady that had a resale shop for very high-end, pre-owned used children’s clothing,” said Goeltz. “You quite literally never know what you’re going to get with the next one.”
At the Starting a Business workshop on Friday, any and all ideas are welcome. Though the event is best for those who are in the process of launching a business, Goeltz said the concepts can apply to current owners looking to expand or add a product.
The key topic Goeltz plans to discuss is the “business model canvas,” which he teaches in his entrepreneurship classes and has successfully utilized for several ideas of his own.
“It’s a way of, on one sheet of paper, summarizing all the elements of a business and getting an overview of it and making some quick decisions. And also, it’s a way of trying things. One of the things we all know, business plans never turn out how you think they’re going to,” he said. “This is a way of doing lower risk trials, developing a prototype, going out and seeing what people think.”
During Starting a Business, Goeltz will break down the startup process into easy-to-grasp pieces. First is determining whether the initial business idea is a valuable product. Oftentimes, according to Goeltz, mentees will be under the false impression their idea is good because of positive feedback from loved ones. Rarely will they be brutally honest.
“It’s kind of a wakeup call for all of us that having your friends and a couple people tell you it’s a good idea is just not enough. So that part tends to be a surprise,” he said. “You have to go through an initial process of scoping the business out and designing the ideal customer, and then going out and talking to that customer.”
In his years of educating college students and SCORE mentees, Goeltz has found that speaking to potential clients is a foreign, usually forgotten step. But finding out who these people are and how to reach them is critical.
“Once you understand that customer, then you can figure out what kind of value you can offer the customer and how you’re going to connect with them, either through traditional marketing or digital marketing,” he said. “There is a good amount of thought process there, and the other key element is to get out the door. Go talk to people. And you’ll find when you get out the door and show people this prototype of a product or service, they go, ‘well that’s interesting but have you thought of this?’”
Moore added that a number of additional aspects should be taken into consideration, such as legal issues, finances and how personal life can be affected by the significant change of quitting a job and entering the unknown territory that comes with being an entrepreneur.
Once all of this is thought out and looks good, Goeltz explained how that initial idea is now an opportunity, something that could very well become a viable business.
The workshop will be both informative and interactive, featuring a mixture of presentation and group exercises. For attendees interested in continuing to work with Goeltz, Moore or another SCORE mentor to develop their business idea, they’re encouraged to do so.
“It is very much a multistep process. It’s not linear. You don’t go from point A to point B to point C. You go from point A to point B, then you circle back. You go to point C and go, oh yeah that affects point A. So it’s an ongoing, iterative circular process,” Goeltz said. ••
If you go…
Starting a Business: The SCORE Business Launchpad will take place Jan. 18, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at Homewood Suites, 2650 Kelly Road, Warrington. Cost is $20. To register, visit form.jotform.com/83525245767970. Scale Up Your Business will take place Feb. 20, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Council Rock Senior Center, 165 Township Road, Richboro. Cost is $20, which includes breakfast. To register, visit form.jotform.com/83618539504968. Visit buckscounty.score.org to learn more about SCORE Bucks County.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
