Nancy Miller, owner of Lil' Bits in Dallas, Texas, discovered a fun, delicious way to achieve her entrepreneurial dreams - mini donuts! Despite tough work and hard times, Nancy has achieved her goals with the help of SCORE.
"Miller visited SCORE, and says 'it was the best thing ever,' advising that everyone should go do it. She acknowledges that at first she was fearful and thought she should protect her idea, but she quickly got over it and encourages everyone to 'just go do it.'"
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SCORE Pittsburgh mentor Stephen Cohen started his business, Keystone By Design, with the help of SCORE before deciding to become a mentor himself and fulfill his life goal "to feel helpful to people." Cohen advises small businesses to think of SCORE "as a free board of directors."
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
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Creative Space Specialist, LLC, locally known as Closet Specialist, is a family-owned small business operating in Savannah, Georgia since 1984. They specialize in designing, fabricating & installing custom closets and storage systems. In the late 1990s, owner Jeff Klein wanted to expand his business so he contacted SCORE to seek guidance in several areas including marketing, accounting and leasing vs. owning equipment. See the website below for more information about Creative Space Specialist, LLC.
www.ClosetSpecialist.com
My Location – 7601 Waters Avenue, Savannah, GA 31406
7601 Waters Avenue,
Savannah,
31406
United States
My Successes
Jeff Klein’s business was experiencing “growing pains” so he came to SCORE seeking guidance in specific areas. Jeff worked with a team of SCORE counselors and jointly developed a plan to expand his business into the rapidly growing market in Bluffton, South Carolina. Jeff subsequently leased a 12,000 sq. ft. plant in Bluffton and relocated his manufacturing facilities to Bluffton. In addition to his Savannah showroom, he later opened a retail showroom at this Bluffton location.
How SCORE Helped
SCORE counselors worked with Jeff on many aspects of his expansion into Bluffton including marketing and the leasing of state of the art manufacturing equipment. Even after the successful expansion into Bluffton, Jeff continued to meet with one of the SCORE counselors several times a year to “bounce off ideas” regarding ongoing business operations..
In July 1996, Closet Specialist was named the “Small Business of the Year’ by the Small Business Chamber of Savannah. In addition, for each of the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, Closet Specialist has been recognized by the Savannah Magazine’s Best of Homes issue as the “Best Closet Company”. This recognition is based on the votes on the magazine’s readers.
Jeff has also served as President of the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals (www.closets.org) for 2010 – 2012 and presently sits on their Board of Directors. Closet Specialist has been featured in many local and national magazines and newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and CLOSETS Magazine
Dubberly's Seafood (Dubberly’s), a Savannah, Georgia family-owned and operated commercial fishing business, operated a fleet of shrimp boats harvesting and selling "wild caught" Georgia shrimp. Dubberly’s needed to expand its product line and overall business since it was gradually losing market share and profits due to increased foreign competition selling "farm raised" shrimp at significantly lower costs. See website for more information.
http://www.sweetsavannahshrimp.com/
214 Vernonberg Ave.
Savannah
GA
31419
United States
My Successes
Dubberly's initially requested SCORE counselors to provide assistance with marketing their business and preparing a business plan to help secure expansion funding.
Dubberly's decided to expand their operations from just harvesting shrimp to the processing and packaging of shrimp for both wholesale and retail outlet
How SCORE Helped
SCORE counselors worked with Dubberly's staff on the development of an applicable business plan and the preparation of the USDA grant application.
On September 4, 2008, the USDA awarded a $300,000 matching grant to Dubberly's Seafood.
In addition, Dubberly's also applied for and received a $27,500 matching funds grant from the Southeastern Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SETAAC) administered at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. The SETAAC grants are funded by the US Commerce Department's Economic Development Administratin and are awarded to "assist import-impacted manufacturers with business plan development and projected funding to better compete in global trade".
To date, Dubberly’s has used the matching grant funds to block freeze their excess harvest and inventory this harvest until the market price increases during the off-season. This excess inventory capability has also enabled Dubberly to pick up additional retail customers and distributors who require year-round suppliers. Dubberly’s has also been able to increase it sales margin by about 10% since it no longer has to sell its excess harvest to processing plants that pay the lowest prices for a shrimper’s harvest.
Dubberly’s has also used grant funds to better brand and market their shrimp as being “locally” harvested. The National Marine Fisheries Service states that “only about 10% of the shrimp consumed in the United States are caught in U.S. fisheries. The rest are imported, and most are grown in aquaculture”.
Published Apr. 20, 2012
How to bring clients to you
Special tax law provisions may help taxpayers and businesses recover financially from the impact of a disaster, especially when the federal government declares their location to be a major disaster area. Depending on the circumstances, the IRS may grant additional time to file returns and pay taxes. Both individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area can get a faster refund by claiming losses related to the disaster on the tax return for the previous year, usually by filing an amended return.
The IRS also offers audio presentations on Planning for Disaster. These presentations discuss business continuity planning, insurance coverage, recording keeping and other tips to stay in business after a major disaster.
The IRS maintains a valuable collection of resources for small businesses called the Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center. Visit their site for forms, articles, videos, webinars and audio presentations for small businesses.
Business information, Business Statistics, Demographic information, Business Educational Resources.
Useful links for Gainesville and surrounding counties as well as State and National links for Business Information.
Links and Local Alliances 
Gainesville has relationships with many local agencies, businesses and organizations. The following alliances help strengthen our services to small business clients in the community
www.sbdc.unf.edu SMALL BUSINES DEVELOPMENT CENTER Our local SBA loan experts
Perhaps you watched Mr. Paul Giannone's story on the Today show discussing his departure from a successful information technology career to starting his own pizza shop in Brooklyn NY.
SCORE CEO Ken Yancey joined Paul and Jane Pauley on the Ask Jane radio show to discuss what people like Paul need to consider before making the transition to small business ownership.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY
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Published Mar. 12, 2012
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