Little Engine That Does

One of my favorite books I read over and over again when I was a tot was “The Little Engine that Could.” Small and good at the tasks it was designed to do, one day a larger train with a huge shiny powerful locomotive was unable to do its job. The little engine was asked to help; he doubted he could do it. The job was huge. He was so small!

But others urged him to at least try. Although worried, he did try. It was hard work but he worked as hard as he could. He used the mantra – “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” – and the rest is history, well at least fictional history!

The little train nearly failed at the top of the last hill but he kept on trying and eventually, with one last gasp of effort, he was over the top and accomplished the impossible.

We have another little engine that can and does buried deep in our nation’s culture. What is that little engine, you ask? Well, glory be, it is the small businesses that abound throughout our land!

This little engine creates its own job. Then another, and another until the little business is a little larger and putting several people to work. Multiply that factoid by 100,000 or more new businesses in a year, and you have nearly a million new jobs for the year.

There are those who donate their time and energy to helping people start small businesses. Those same people help create about 50,000 jobs alone last year, and the year before that, and the year before that a whole long way back! The organization that has done this for 54 years, now, is SCORE – Service Corps of Retired Executives – and they number 12,000 volunteers who mentor small businesses into being. Those same mentors help existing small businesses strengthen their operations, and in many cases, save them from failing. How many jobs were saved, you ask? No one knows, but a whole lot; maybe another 50,000 jobs annually? If so, that would mean SCORE helps create and save 100,000 jobs annually by providing expert, free and accessible help to small businesses.

To get help just visit www.SCORE.org. The whole picture for SCORE is available there. More and new mentors are always needed to do the work; if you are interested in helping, get on the website and click on ‘volunteer’. If you need help as a small business person, connect with the SCORE website and ask for help. If you are interested in starting a new business for yourself, go to the SCORE website and ask for that help.

Yes; it is as easy as that. It’s fun and rewarding to volunteer with SCORE. And clients of SCORE have fun with those same mentors. It is a win-win situation. Who could possibly think this would be free? But it is.

Volunteer mentors don’t have to be retired, but it would be easier for them if they were.

I’ve been a mentor for 3.5 years and enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve become quite involved and hold a leadership position or two in the organization. That only helps me know and understand more so I can help others even more.

It’s the story of more, don’t you see! And you can be a part of this, too. Think about it. You can easily help a lot of little businesses become the ‘little engine that could’ and does.

WWW.SCORE.org. Go there now to give or get help.

August 9, 2017