SCORE offers tool kit to guide business reopening
Resource asks the ‘big questions’ businesses need to consider
WEST GOSHEN » As businesses across the region and the country look to reopen, SCORE of Chester and Delaware counties has a tool they can use as they make important decisions about reopening.
Business owners can access SCORE’s e-guide “Reopening Toolkit for Small Business.” The guide asks the “big questions” that business owners should consider when planning how to reopen after the pandemic, according to Maria Smith, executive vice chairman, SCORE Chester and Delaware counties.
Smith said the toolkit was created by a SCORE chapter in Cape Cod, and is now being shared across the country.
“These are hard questions. The guide is great at exposing what to think about, how to position yourself and determine what needs to change. These are really challenging to work through now,” she said. “It is a guidebook, it’s not advice, it’s not council or answers, but a tool to start thinking — to prepare and plan.”
Smith said the guide is relatively short — about 10 pages. The guide starts with two big questions: What is the current status of the business (closed, partially open or fully open) and how much physical interaction does the business need to have with customers (little, moderate, or fully engaged).
“It lays out four steps a business would take to get ready,” Smith added. Those steps include: assessing their current state, accounting for cash and costs, planning their reopening and communicating to employees, customers and suppliers.
She added that now is the time to begin thinking about what reopening might look like. While southeastern Pennsylvania remains in the “red” for Gov. Tom Wolf’s
plan to reopen Pennsylvania, Smith said to be ready for what comes next, businesses need to plan.
“For some businesses there may be an investment to restart — because of cleaning that might be needed, reorganizing inventory, or obtaining PPE for employees,” she said. “It’s about really starting to peel back the onion on what are my options.”
She added that the information is good for any business.
“These are tough questions but it’s better to make the plan than if the plan is
done to you.”
She added that SCORE mentors can work with clients to go through the questions.
“We can’t solve it for them, but we can work with them side by side,” she said.
Over the past two months, Smith said SCORE has focused on finance — connecting clients with funding resources, sharing information about financing options that businesses can access to help “keep them afloat.”
She said that from midMarch through the end of April, SCORE worked with the Small Business Administration to do daily webinars on the loan programs and processes. She said they were very well attended,
reaching a high of 200 attendees per day for the first couple of weeks, as business owners got the information they needed.
“Now we are focusing on resilience and recovery. There will still be financing information to share, because the pandemic isn’t over yet. But clearly the next six months will be on resilience and recovery,” she added.
Smith said that for the time being SCORE’s activities have switched to webinars rather than in person seminars. She stressed that the organization’s volunteer mentors have continued to work with clients throughout the stay at home orders — but have worked with them virtually through
video, email or phone calls.
“We have shifted to education programs, and have converted some of the most relevant seminars into live webinars. We have several topics on the May calendar and will repeat a few on the June calendar,” she said, adding that while SCORE doesn’t typically do education in the summer, “we may change our minds this summer.”
SCORE provides free business consulting services and mentoring for individuals who are considering starting a business, as well as owners and managers that are already in business.
For information about SCORE of Chester and Delaware counties visit https:// chesterdelco.score.org/.