A Wealth of Wisdom

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently visited the Ann Arbor chapter of SCORE, a national group of retired executives who provide free, confidential business counseling. When I met with Karl Hauser this past Friday, he recommended that I meet with one of the other Ann Arbor counselors, Muriel Converse.

I think I owe him lunch.

I met Muriel this morning at 11am at the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce's offices on Main Street. Even if she were unable to assist me in any other way, just listening to her stories of running a consulting business would be well worth the time spent. She told me about the life of her company from the point that she left the University of Michigan, through the work she did for various auto companies, to the time she decided to sell her company. She told me about the choices she made (and even revealed which ones she would have changed under different circumstances). She even filled me in on some of the pitfalls for which I should keep on the lookout.

On top of this wealth of experience and advice, she came up with some people, both general and specific who she thought would be able to advise me further in how to grow my business. Just as in my first meeting with Karl, I walked away with specific action steps that will take me forward in my career as a business owner. Do you know what she asked for in return? That I come back to tell here what was happening with my business.

Heck, I would have done that anyway.

As I said in my previous post about the SCORE program, you owe it to yourself and your business to avail yourself of the wisdom that these folks have to offer. Give it a shot, unless you think you already know it all. ;-)

So, what neat and helpful people have you met recently? How did they help you?

55 days.