50+ Entrepreneurs

Urban Solace

Urban Solace restaurant, located in North Park, is the first independent venture for partners Matt Gordon and Scott Watkins, who have 40 years of combined restaurant experience. Their restaurant serves delicious comfort food at neighborhood-restaurant prices, and it has exceeded revenue goals by 58 percent since opening in 2007. Urban Solace is also a critic's favorite, having received 13 food and restaurant awards in 2008 for such dishes as New York Cheddar Mac n' Cheese with caramelized bacon and charred tomatoes, and char-grilled prime Omaha hanger steak with homemade steak sauce and sweet potato mash. 

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Owner/Founder
Gordon and Watkins
My Location
San Diego CA
United States
My Successes


When preparing to open Urban Solace, partners Gordon and Watkins used SCORE San Diego's free business consulting for financial advice and business plan guidance.  
 
"SCORE San Diego helped us with numerous aspects of opening our restaurant by pairing us with a diversity of counselors," said Gordon. "We had a team of consultants who could advise us on a wide range of topics because of their specialized business backgrounds, and there are no restrictions on the number of counseling sessions."  
 
Starting a small business is always tough, and the small business loan application process is especially difficult in the current economy. So, when Gordon and Watkins decided to open a second restaurant, they returned to SCORE San Diego for assistance. 

What's Great About My Mentor?

"Due to the current economic crisis, banks have increased their credit requirements and, at the same time, have decreased the number of loans they're approving," said Paul Hollenbach, SCORE San Diego business consultant. "Our business consultants know what information banks require when reviewing a loan application and are able to help small business owners put together a strong business plan and resume that will increase their likelihood of approval."  
 

How SCORE Helped

"We returned to SCORE San Diego for help because restaurants are notoriously risky investments and the help SCORE gave us the first time around was invaluable," said Gordon. "Their connections and knowledge of bank loans helped identify lenders willing to finance a start-up business during a recession."  
 
For more information about Urban Solace, visit www.urbansolace.net or call 619-295-6464. 

Backyard X-Scapes

While setting up national distribution of faux waterscape products more than 6 years ago, Jamie Kocher and Steve Raketich became convinced they could streamline the process by purchasing direct from the factories. As a result, they started Backyard X-Scapes, a landscape retailer/ wholesaler specializing in fountains, pottery, bamboo fencing, bamboo products, thatch palapas, thatch products, artificial turf, artificial rocks and rock waterfalls. 

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My Location
San Diego CA
United States
Employees
5
Year Company Formed
2003
My Successes

In need of financial planning and marketing guidance, Kocher and Raketich contacted SCORE San Diego and attended several workshops, including Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing and Business Plan 101: How to Develop Your Competitive Advantage. The Internet Marketing workshops proved especially beneficial as the Backyard X-Scapes and their Bamboo and Tikis web sites currently account for more than 25 percent of total sales. To further expand their horizons, Backyard X-Scapes has hired an online marketing team to increase sales and awareness of the Backyard X-Scapes name. 

What's Great About My Mentor?

Kocher and Raketich received financial planning guidance from SCORE San Diego counselor Paul Hollenbach. "Paul explained how important it is to have open lines of credit for future expansion. We supply bamboo fencing, carved tikis, and faux rocks to more than 120 Home Depot stores nationwide, and when The Home Depot wants us to supply more stores, we now have the ability to finance this expansion immediately," said Kocher. "Having great cash flow and this solid line of credit has also allowed us to purchase our products in container load quantities directly from the manufacturer and sell at wholesale prices, which gives us an advantage over any and all competitors. We guarantee the lowest pricing of everything we sell, plain and simple."  
 

How SCORE Helped

Kocher and Raketich continue to use SCORE San Diego's services to stay in touch with the latest developments in the business world. Kocher states "Six months ago, Steve and I handled most aspects of the day-to-day business, but with Paul's guidance, we hired Ray Valdez as controller and general manager to solidify operations for the future. SCORE San Diego has been a great source for information and guidance. I cannot say enough good things about them and how much they have helped us."  
 
Even in the current economy, Backyard X-Scapes continues to prosper, with sales up 27 percent this year. Due to this success, Torrey Pines Bank has nominated Backyard X-Scapes for the Small Business Administration 2009 Small Business of the Year award.  

 

O'Brien Financial Planning

We are a small financial planning firm focused on individuals, families and small businesses. We have a focus on comprehensive financial planning and institutional investment management for individuals as well as qualified plans for small businesses – 401(k)s and profit sharing plans. I started this business after eighteen years as a senior leader at GE, in a number of businesses
and industries.

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Owner/Founder
David J. O’Brien
My Location
3761 Westerre Parkway, Suite C
Richmond VA 23233
United States
My Successes

We have a focus on comprehensive financial planning and institutional investment management for individuals as well as qualified plans for small businesses – 401(k)s and profit sharing plans. I started this business after eighteen years as a senior leader at GE, in a number of businesses
and industries.

What's Great About My Mentor?

Right off the bat, I learned how my corporate experience was only partially applicable to my new business. My counselors provided me with critical assistance in filling my knowledge gaps.
I was very fortunate to have been given two counselors at SCORE, Shelly Shapiro, who had significant corporate experience and was a past SCORE chapter president, and Fred Esposito, who had experience in my industry. Both were very experienced counselors and combined to give me support and guidance I couldn’t find anywhere else. One thing that really set SCORE apart from the myriad of “business coaches” out there was the personal nature of the coaching I received. These gentlemen really wanted to learn about my business and deliver the advice that was appropriate for me. I saw a lot of businesses ready to sell me a packaged solution, but never got the impression they were aligned with my best interest the way SCORE is.
Perhaps the most important guidance I received from Shelly was that a new business like mine needed a plan that focused on the first one to three years. I showed up with a business plan that had a five year outlook, and a ten year outlook, like we always did at GE. That advice is one of the things I point to when I identify early milestones in this business.

How SCORE Helped

When I was first starting out, as many entrepreneurs know, it was pretty lonely. I didn’t have much business, so I had time to plan the business, but also time to worry about the prospects for success. Shelly and Fred were excellent cheerleaders for me. They helped put things in perspective, and keep me focused on the progress I had made – measuring that progress was extremely important to keeping forward momentum. I needed unbiased feedback and support, and they certainly gave me both.
They also delivered tough messages I needed to hear, helped me get out of my own way when it came to conquering fears of developing my business. While I don’t view sales as my core competency, they made it clear that I had to get out there and sell myself and my business in order to grow. Without their well-placed advice, I would have had a much tougher time growing my business in the early days. I still rely on that advice every week.
Even after the first year of the business came to a close, I felt like the coaching I received from my SCORE counselors was important. While they had helped me identify critical success factors early on, my challenges were changing, and their insight and candid feedback was still important.

Apps of All Nations

One year after launching an Internet-based venture in Lynchburg, Isabelle Duston went to New York two weeks ago and collected two Stevie Awards, which the business world sometimes compares to the Oscars.

Owner/Founder
Isabelle Duston
My Location
Lynchburg VA
United States
Employees
10
My Successes

“I have managed very fast to do what I did, so I had a good story” for the contest’s judges in the new-business category, said Duston, a native of France. “I have hired 10 people, so I knew I had a good chance” to win, she said.

Her first product was cookbooks – for the iPhone, in languages including French, Dutch, Norwegian, Japanese and others. Duston has seen more than 200,000 cookbooks downloaded, at 99 cents each. She shares the revenue with Apple, which owns the online app store where the cookbooks are sold.

She’s ready to start making the cookbooks available soon for phones that use the Android system, reaching for a larger share of the mobile market.

Duston also has two other projects under way: one that offers children’s interactive storybooks for the iPad computer, and a nonprofit venture to help children in developing nations learn to read by using a smart phone.

Duston won her awards over five other finalists in both the new-company and technology-innovation competitions for women executives and entrepreneurs.

The Stevies for Women featured winners in more than 75 categories, and had entries from Canada, Asia and countries throughout the world.

She’s reinvesting her success from the cookbooks into about 10 children’s stories, with animated heroes and sound effects, that can be read on the iPad tablet computer in several languages.

Duston said she’s hoping a lot of children have asked for iPads for Christmas, because parents have been reluctant to give their iPads to children for play. The iPad storybooks are aimed at first-graders.

“It’s going to take time” for the storybooks to succeed, Duston said. “It depends on how many iPads Apple sells” and on whether people start buying more interactive books.

“That’s being an entrepreneur. It’s all about taking risks,” Duston said.

If the storybooks eventually take off the way the cookbooks did, Duston says, she plans to reinvest the earnings into her nonprofit venture, called iLearn4Free.

Next week, Duston will travel to Africa for a business conference with people from the World Bank and Nokia, which is a leading phone provider in the world market.

Her goal is to expand the storybook concept into developing nations where it could be used on Nokia’s smart phones to help youngsters learn to read.

“That is actually much more important in my eyes than the Stevie award, and much closer to my real values,” Duston said.

Memphis Best BBQ-National SCORE Success Story

As a young man I started researching how to write a successful business plan and what you need to get going. Several years before I retired from the Marine Corps, I relocated to Peoria Arizona. I had heard from several friends in Okinawa, Japan, that Phoenix was the new place to be and that it was growing faster than any other state.

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My Location
Buckeye AZ 85326
United States
My Successes

So I decided to take a trip to the area from Japan and check out the real estate. It caught my eyes and so my decision was to sell my condo in California and purchase in Peoria. I moved my family to Peoria and remained in California to f inish out my term. Doing this time I was zeroing in on my dream. I continued working on my business plan and attending numerous business classes and seminars offer in San Diego, California. Every time people would ask what type of business I was opening and I mentioned BBQ, their eyes would light up.

What's Great About My Mentor?

This was my personal reward for all my hard efforts and it has paid off. My restaurant is doing great and we are approaching the one year mark. Thanks to Jim Batz and all of you at SCORE and Marva Booker at Wells Fargo Bank. It's God that knows I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for these great people. 

How SCORE Helped

Goodyear had a SCORE Counselor. I called and made an appointment and met Mr. Jim Batz. I remember that day very well because of his face and his look as I introduced myself. I think he immediately felt sincere about my business plan and immediately went to work counseling me on my vision and what I needed to do before going to a bank. This was a well-executed effort for over two years working with Jim. My last meeting with Jim was simple, “Okay, what else do you need from me”, were his words. “I think you are well on your way. Keep
me informed.” I also attended the Self Employment Loan Fund course at Glendale Community College.

Unkle Timz Salsa

For more than 15 years, Tim Blake had been making homemade salsa for himself, family and friends. Over the years, people became more outspoken about how great his salsas were. Tim realized he might have something special. He did not share his recipes or processes. With much encouragement and support, Tim decided to go after his dream of running his own business.

My Successes

Tim consulted with Newark SCORE who helped him develop a business plan and made sure he had all the necessary licenses, insurance and inspections. Tim found a commercial kitchen and began his quest. He made his first commercial batch August 13, 2007. The salsa, produced under the name “Unkle Timz” Gourmet Salsa, is made in small batches weekly so it will always be fresh and just like homemade.

How SCORE Helped

A slow start was followed by steady growth. Continued growth and promising sales have recently allowed Tim to take another step; securing his own commercial cannery.

His goal, for the time being, is to offer quality, fresh, all natural, gourmet salsa in the central Ohio area. Unkle Timz salsa is available in 16 varieties and can be found in local farmer’s markets and restaurants,  as well as a number of stores. It can also be purchased on line at www.unkletimz.com .

Tim says: I am thankful to SCORE for encouragement and helping me get started properly. By helping me avoid some of the typical startup pitfalls, I was able to keep moving in a positive direction. I know that, if further growth allows me to pursue my dream to higher levels, SCORE will be there to help and guide me.

Robert Hummons

This is a video about what SCORE is all about - the making of entrepreneurs and the development of small business in today’s competitive environment. Don’t take it from us alone, but let SCORE clients describe how SCORE helped them succeed in developing their business ideas.

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Owner/Founder
Robert Hummons
My Successes

— On this video, you will meet Robert Hummons, whose story earned him one of our chapter's client-of-the-year awards. Listen as he speaks from the heart about the hands-on guidance he received from SCORE.

How SCORE Helped

—Hear Jodi Heekin and other SCORE clients explain the "value" of SCORE’s no cost counseling to their businesses.
SCORE counselors describe the services provided to startup and existing businesses. And, everyone can have the benefits of team counseling. After all, there are times when two (or more) heads are better than one.

Fast Bags Corporation

“There has to be a better way.” That’s what Jack Licata used to think during his days as a U.S. Air Force missile officer.

Owner/Founder
Jack Licata
My Location
Basking Ridge NJ
United States
My Successes

On his mandatory monthly day of office duty, the chore he least looked forward to was emptying the trash. “It was both messy and inefficient having to dump the bins and replace liners,” Jack says

Following his discharge in 1988, Jack pursued several successful careers, first in truck sales, then as head of an environmental company that recycled auto oil filters, antifreeze and motor oil. But the idea of handling trash more efficiently stayed in the back of his mind. He frequently watched the problems encountered by fast-food workers when they emptied the large bins found in most restaurants. As the father of two young children, he also understood the hassles and potential messes that came with getting the trash ready for pick-up in the home.

By 2006, Jack was ready to devote more attention to the product, which he called Bag Ups. The biggest challenge—raising awareness of Bag Ups among his target commercial and retail markets—would require a more sophisticated marketing and distribution strategy. That’s when he decided to contact New York City SCORE.

What's Great About My Mentor?

One of the first things SCORE Counselor Elliott Merberg encouraged Jack to do was to focus on his business plan for Bag Ups. “It not only crystallized my thinking but made it easier to explain my idea to the outside world,” Jack says. “Over the next several months, I’d refine the plan and share it with Elliott, who would always give me new things to think about.”

Elliott also kept urging Jack to think of ways to get the product to market as quickly as possible.  “His mantra was ‘Get it out there,’” Jack says.  “I gained so much confidence from that because I know he sees a lot of ideas—some good, others not so good. For him to give that kind of support and say I have a good product was a tremendous boost.”

Jack’s strategy included visiting a Chicago housewares trade show, where he gave a presentation on Bag Ups before a panel of purchasing agents.  That led to a spot on the QVC cable shopping network and instant exposure for Bag Ups to complement his Web site.

Jack is working on taking Bag Ups to the next level, including getting the product into a broader range of stores and establishing links with Web sites that promote green products.  Elliott is helping Jack craft a proposal for a regional supermarket.  SCORE Counselor Howard Geltzer, whose experience includes promoting the Sony Walkman, is advising him on a marketing campaign that may include producing a 60-second TV commercial.

“I wasn’t a neophyte when it came to starting a business, but everybody needs to think outside the box,” Jack says. “And the only way to do that is to have someone from outside take a look at what you do. That’s what the people at SCORE do best. The level and breadth of their expertise is great.  Even if you’ve done all this before, they’ll give you insights and ideas that you might never have thought of.”

How SCORE Helped

I wasn’t a neophyte when it came to starting a business, but everybody needs to think outside the box. And the only way to do that is to have someone from outside take a look at what you do. That’s what the people at SCORE do best. Even if you’ve done all this before, they’ll give you insights and ideas that you might never have thought of.

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