Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993 TAG: 9304080353
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ADVICE: HOW TO SUCCEED BY REALLY, REALLY THINKING
"TO TRY TO MAKE A LIVING out of a business that is not strictly a service business, you need annual gross sales of $100,000. That might get you $30,000," says business counselor Robert Carter.
Eighty-seven percent of small businesses fail within their first 10 years, but people are starting them at record rates.
Inquiries to SCORE, a group of retired business executives that counsels people who own businesses or hope to, have risen 50 percent in the past five months.
And fiscal 1992 was 21 percent ahead of the year before, said Robert Carter, one of the volunteer counselors.
The increase in clients has come about because of a combination of layoffs in the area and better promotion of SCORE's services, Carter said.
"I also think Roanoke is a small-business town and probably always will be. If someone wanted to start a factory and hire 10,000 employees, we don't have the labor force and we don't have the water," he said.
SCORE stands for the Service Corps of Retired Executives. It has four offices and 24 counselors in Western Virginia and gets money for supplies, travel, office rent and staff from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The counselors will advise people who think they'd like to go into business but don't even have an idea or those who are further along, including those already in business.
SCORE is one of two major sources of help for people who want to open or expand their businesses. The other is the Blue Ridge Small Business Development Center at the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The center's primary target is businesses with five to 100 employees, and its goal is to create jobs, said Director John Jennings.
The center can help with the development of a business plan, financial analysis, marketing and the hunt for capital.
Carter and Jennings offer some basic tips for people who want to be in business for themselves:
Principles for succeeding in business:
You must have training or experience in the type of business you want to start.
You must have a plan; if you lack one, sit down with a counselor and try to come up with one.
Focus on marketing and sales - people like to create a product, but don't like to market and sell it.
Get a handle on cash flow management - and have a good bookkeeping system.
\ Getting money:
Banks are not going to lend money "on a wish and a prayer" and they are not going to do 100 percent financing. A business owner can expect to invest 25 to 50 percent of the money needed to get started.
The Small Business Administration hasn't made start-up loans in several years, although people still believe those loans are available.
\ Time investment:
Seventy to 80 hours a week is nothing in the beginning of a business.
More detailed information is available from SCORE, 703-982-4334, Poff Federal Building, Room 716, and Blue Ridge Small Business Development Center, 310 First St. S.W. Roanoke.