How SCORE helped.

Written By: Bethany Gentry-Dixon

Nancie always knew she was going to be a business owner and in 2018 it became a reality. Nancie is the founder and proprietor of Canine Coach, a small Clark County business specializing in helping dogs build confidence and flourish in their community.

Her business quickly took off. “I was starting to drink from a firehose and needed help.” Nancie shared. Fortunately for her, she had been previously introduced to a business mentoring organization, SCORE. While attending Portland State University (PSU), Portland, Oregon and working on her senior capstone, her school advisor encouraged her to reach out to SCORE. “A mentor came to the school and worked with me as if I was starting an actual business,” continued Nancie; “I learned so much from him. I knew no matter what, I would always be reaching out to SCORE.”

Years Later, Nancie did just that. This time she needed a mentor with experience in hiring employees and negotiating contracts. Larry McKinley quickly accepted the request and with a couple of weeks their meetings began. “Nancie needed advice on handling the challenges of growth,” Larry articulated, “and wanted guidance on what to address first.” Every couple of months, Larry and Nancie would meet. With Larry’s extensive experience in helping small businesses and startups grow the discussions quickly expanded, helping Nancie in a way she did not expect. “When the discussion around financial and customer management systems came up,” Larry continued, “I helped connect Nancie with another kennel owner to adopt their CRM system.” Larry recapped over a year and a half of the conversations he had with Nancie. From the process of changing from a sole proprietorship to a C Corp to sharpening up her QuickBooks configuration and connecting her with a new bookkeeper. They talked about contract negotiation and vendor management. “When the topic became employees, Larry shared, “I brought in a co-mentor who helped her plan to hire and train employees. When she started talking about expansion, I asked another co-mentor to join me as we discussed IP and brand security.”

For a year and a half, Nancie’s business grew with the help of Larry’s guidance. She now had a space where she could process her problems as well as brainstorm solutions. Every hurdle became easier to overcome and success became planned rather than just achieved.

“The most significant learning that stands out”, Nancie explained, “is one of the more recent conversations regarding how to negotiate contracts. Larry said to me, “If they say you’re THAT woman, you know you’re doing it right”. “He really empowered me”, she continued, “to push the limits and speak up for myself more”. Nancie realized that she needed to make a few people uncomfortable in order to negotiate the contracts for her benefit.

This success story is inspiring and one of many SCORE SW Washington is excited to share. But Nancie’s story doesn’t end here. She continues her bi-monthly meetings with Larry and SCORE as her business expands while now managing a team of employees and contractors. “What my business started out as is not what my business became”, she said, “I couldn’t have done this without the confidence SCORE gave me and the ability to have these conversations is a true asset”.

My Mentor:

Co Mentors: