SCORE Bucks County to Offer ‘Running a Business’ Workshops

The volunteer mentors of SCORE Bucks County have offered countless workshops to guide new start-up businesses and entrepreneurs on how to start a business. This spring, the local branch of the nonprofit business mentoring organization will offer its Running a Business workshops, to be held on April 7 at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown; on April 14 at Margaret R. Grundy Memorial Library in Bristol; and on April 25 at Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce in Quakertown.

Workshop organizer Joe Lutes said the free sessions, which will be limited to about 25 attendees, are geared for people who have been in business for one to three years.

“It might not hurt somebody past that, but I think they’re going to have their growing pains in the first year or two,” said Lutes, one of several SCORE mentors who will lead the discussion. “If the person made it through the first year something is working.”

Prior to joining SCORE, Lutes worked for an investment firm that he saw grow from 50 employees to 500. After leaving the firm, Lutes, who has a background in finances, handled the accounting and helped to run a high-end financing company. During the workshops, Lutes will share some of his entrepreneurial lessons learned.

“You get so wrapped up in trying to grow the business,” he said. “You say, ‘I’ll do it next week. I’ll do it next week.’”

Sometimes, next week’s tasks simply do not get completed.

Lutes will also discuss the importance of projecting revenues, as well as providing great customer service.

“Small businesses don’t necessarily focus on meeting their customers’ needs,” he said.

SCORE Bucks volunteer Donald Goeltz, a certified mentor, entrepreneur and a college professor of entrepreneurship and international business, will discuss marketing. Several other SCORE mentors will be on hand to offer one-on-one or small group discussion and interaction.

Other topics include:

• Recordkeeping – timeliness and accuracy
• Pricing – monitoring and adjusting
• Operations
• Systems
• Business planning – short-term versus long-term goals

If you go

SCORE Bucks County’s free Running a Business workshops will be held at three Bucks County locations. Attendees may choose the date and location that best suits their needs. Workshops will be held on April 7 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Delaware Valley University, 700 E. Butler Ave., Doylestown (Life Science building, room 200); on April 14 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Margaret R. Grundy Memorial Library, 680 Radcliffe St., in Bristol; and on April 25 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce, 21 N. Main St., in Quakertown. For more information or to register, visit https://form.jotform.com/80794471111959.