Would-be entrepreneurs flock to groups that provide counsel

As jobless workers or workers who are worried about their futures decide by the hundreds to launch their own businesses, groups that provide counsel to startups scramble to keep up with demand.

At the same time, counselors work with an increasing number of troubled business owners who seek to turn their companies around or maybe even make a graceful exit.

Judith Hepburn, area manager for the Small Business Administration in Reno, says anywhere from a third to a half of the calls she fields these days come from people looking for guidance in launching a business.

"They need someone to help them with the business plan, and they need someone to see if the idea is feasible," says Hepburn, who refers entrepreneurs to SCORE and other counseling groups.

SCORE, a cadre of retired business executives who volunteer to counsel small businesses, draws a full house to each of the orientation workshops it offers to potential small business owners in the area.

Judy Haar, chair of SCORE's northern Nevada chapter, says the group offers the free two-hour workshops three or four times a month, and registrations fill quickly.

Subjects in the workshops range from personality assessments of successful business owners to a quick overview of business planning.

The workshops, Haar says, provide enough information to dissuade some would-be entrepreneurs from taking a step that might end in failure.

Others remain undaunted, but get a hard slap from the economy as they often learn that they can't tap bank loans, credit cards or home-equity lines for startup capital.

"The problem becomes money," Haar says. "Money isn't available."

The Nevada Microenterprise Initiative, which makes loans up to $35,000 to small businesses, saw its lending grow to $769,000 in 2009 from $688,000 a year earlier.

"The big driver has been existing businesses that can't access working capital in any other way," says Deborah Prout, the nonprofit's president and chief executive officer.

Still, she says 42 percent of the 47 loans the microenterprise initiative made last year went to start-up businesses.

The potential entrepreneurs seeking counseling services from Nevada Microenterprise Initiative also has risen dramatically in recent months, Prout says.

Like SCORE volunteers, counselors at the microenterprise group try to caution entrepreneurs about the challenges of opening a business particularly a restaurant or a retail establishment during a difficult recession.

"A dream deferred doesn't need to be a dream denied," Prout tells them.

Another measure of the upsurge in interest in business startups will be attendance at the annual Entrepreneur Expo scheduled in Reno on March 12.

The event sponsored by Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology drew about 800 participants last year, and NCET Chief Executive Officer Dave Archer expects the number to grow this year.

That expectation is shared by exhibitors who want to reach out to potential entrepreneurs. With about two months remaining before the Expo, which scheduled at the Atlantis, 65 exhibitors have signed up for booth space.

"We're easily going to sell out," Archer says.

Even as more people think about starting their own businesses, a growing number of seasoned business owners are seeking help sometimes desperately to get things turned around.

"They realize that they can't do business as they used to," says SCORE's Haar.

The group's 41 volunteer counselors work with about 2,000 companies a year, and the surge in demand for counseling has led Haar to voice an urgent call for more volunteers.

"We're looking for some good counselors, and we're looking for them now," she says.

At the same time, SCORE works to encourage owners of small business to seek counseling at the first signs of trouble. If they wait, Haar says, problems may sink the company.

That's a message that strongly seconded by counselors at the Nevada Small Business Development Center, housed at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Sam Males, director of the center, says counselors are busy working with a growing number of retailers and other business owners who need quick help a renegotiated lease, for instance to prevent closure of their companies.

Where to turn for help

* SCORE: Workshops and individual counseling for people considering a small business as well as owners of existing small businesses. 784.4436. www.score-reno.org.

* Nevada Small Business Development Center: Free counseling to owners and prospective owners of small businesses. Workshops on business topics. 784-1717. www.nsbdc.org.

* Nevada Microenterprise Initiative: Lending for small-business startups and classes that walk entrepreneurs through feasibility studies, financing proposals and business plans. 324-1812. www.4microbiz.org.