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SCORE NYC is the New York City chapter of national SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business, a national not-for-profit enterprise. Our chapter, officially SCORE Chapter 1000, and currently celebrating its 45th year of helping New York’s small businesses, is one of the most active in the entire count­ry, with 70-plus volunteer counselors. The National SCORE Association has approximately 400 chapters and 11,000 counselors – and both national and NYC are still growing.

SCORE NYC services include…­

  • Providing free one-on-one business counseling at our main office downtown at 26 Federal Plaza and at branch locations in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn (See Locations);
  • Offering a series of low-cost seminars and workshops on a wide range of business topics (See Seminars);
  • ­­Maintaining a library of basic business information and source materials on legal and financial issues, operations, marketing, the internet and other matters of critical importance to small-business entrepreneurs and managers.

In addition, SCORE NYC has recently entered into agreements with several New York City colleges and universities, including Baruch College of the City University, Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business and the Stern School of Business at NYU, to provide mentors to student and graduate teams entered into annual business plan competitions. At NYU’s Stern School, we also provide on-campus counseling services to both undergraduate and graduate students as well as to graduates already in business.

SCORE NYC’s experienced counselors offer business advice on everything from how to prepare a business plan through developing a business strategy and managing cash flow to developing a small business advisory board. In addition to a number of attorneys, accountants and professional educators, our ranks include individuals with extensive experience and expertise in manufacturing, distribution, banking & finance, retailing & wholesaling, marketing, advertising & publicity, as well as in such specific industries as apparel, footwear, electronics, restaurants, food services and others. (See Counselor Expertise)

Based on their extensive knowledge and experience, our counselors can provide insight on how to start and operate a business, market its products and services or buy and/or sell a business. To view our counselors by area of expertise, click here.

SCORE NYC’s Counseling Services are offered at absolutely no fee, as a community service. Our clients can schedule appointments with our counselors as frequently as they consider them useful. In addition, with a large number of counselors offering an unusually varied range of business and professional experience and expertise, we are almost always able to match our clients to particular counselors who offer the specific background and know-how that will be most helpful. SCORE NYC’s counselors are currently seeing more than 10,000 clients a year.

The key qualification SCORE counselors bring to clients is real-world experience. SCORE NYC business counselors hail from every facet of the business community. They may be active or retired owners, executives or professionals. They’ve made mistakes and enjoyed business success and are ready to give their time and business insights back to emerging and existing business owners. What better way to use the knowledge you’ve spent years developing than to mentor someone new or struggling in the business world? All SCORE counselors receive specialized training in counseling and mentoring.

SCORE NYC’s Seminars and Workshops, numbering 35 or more every year, cover a wide range of topics essential to small business success and are carefully designed to communicate the practical business savvy needed to start, operate and grow a successful business. In all cases, our seminars are led by experienced SCORE NYC counselors and other area specialists, and while a modest fee is charged to cover costs, our attendees have voted overwhelmingly that the sessions they attended have either met or exceeded their needs and expectations.

Among our most popular seminars in recent years have been those dealing with preparing a business plan; starting & operating a retail business; developing a marketing strategy; using the internet, websites & social networks to build a business; learning the basics of intellectual property protection; and understanding the basics of international business. (See Seminars.)

SCORE NYC Counselors’ Areas of Expertise, as indicated above, cover a very wide range of businesses and professions. In addition to including a number of attorneys, accountants and professional educators, our ranks include individuals with extensive experience and expertise in manufacturing and distribution; banking and finance; retailing and wholesaling; marketing, advertising and publicity; personnel training and management, and E-commerce and internet marketing; as well as in such specific industries as apparel, electronics, restaurants and food services, footwear and others. (See Counselor Expertise)

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