SCORE Atlanta Counselors to Small Business

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Client Success Stories

Smooth Mooove Senior Relocation Services, Inc.

Getting laid off from a cushy, six-figure corporate executive job is one of the best things that ever happened to Adrienne Simpson, president of Smooth Mooove Senior Relocation Services, Inc.

Adrienne was shocked that after 30 years of working as director of operations for two of the nation's largest health care organizations she was downsized not only once but twice! The second downsizing made her hit the wall and hard. She went from the executive life, perks, and income to suddenly being an unemployed single mom. She was depressed and believed she had no self worth. In her eyes she was nothing because she believed that in our society you are judged by who and what you do. She felt like she was finished and worthless.
Then a simple family event changed her world. Her mother had moved to Atlanta to help with her daughter as she rebuilt her life as a divorced, single mother. When her daughter got older, her mother returned to Michigan. She needed help with the move, and since Adrienne was just sitting around depressed and doing nothing, she was the obvious choice to help.

She thought she'd be able to just look up a moving service that specialized in moving seniors, and be done. A service to do the packing, transport, unpacking, sort, clean, estate sale, everything. She could find no such service, and she had to do it all. She realized that moving seniors involves many steps and is very fragmented. Her years of customer service experience immediately kicked in. Here was an overlooked customer service need that no one was filling. Movers only move things. They don't move people. Suddenly Adrienne's depression was gone. She had a mission and a purpose: to serve seniors citizens. She decided to create a senior relocation service. Adrienne met with several SCORE counselors who asked her a lot of questions she could not answer. After finding the answers, she went back to SCORE who then helped her refine her company appearance, marketing, and brand. Even down to the name of the company.

"The SCORE counselors were incredible!"
Smooth Mooove Senior Relocation Services was born. They provide clearing, cleaning, sorting, organizing, packing, home transport, complete home reassembly, estate sales, antique appraisal, and home renovation. They are a turnkey relocation service dedicated to serving the needs of active adults, senior citizens, and the disabled throughout the southeast.

The company has been featured in Essence, Family Circle, MORE, Springwise, and PINK magazines. Adrienne has been interviewed on Martha Stewart Living radio and was honored by the Atlanta Business League with their 2006 Non-Traditional Business Enterprise award. Visit them on the Web at www.WeMoveSeniors.com.

Gitché Yah Yah

After twenty-one years of management with Publix in the Atlanta metro area, Alana Kelly was ready to follow her dream. Alana has always loved flowers, and wanted to open a flower shop. Not just any flower shop, but a unique one with unusual gift items and special presentations.

Alana first learned of SCORE from a close family friend, Jackie Rowand, who was chair of SCORE Chapter 537 in Fairmont, West Virginia at that time.

Jackie gave Alana a copy of “How to Start a Floral Business” from the chapter library, and encouraged her to contact the SCORE Atlanta chapter and to take advantage of the classes SCORE offers to help people start a business. Alana took her advice and met with Bill Atkins for her first counseling session. She and Bill discussed the requirements for opening a new business and agreed on “lots of homework” assignments; Bill “made her think.”

Her next step was to attend a workshop titled, How to Start a Successful Small Business, presented by Mike Rose, Jeff Cohen, Floyd Green, and Sherese Duncan. “It was “very informative,” Alana says.

After reviewing her business plan with Jackie Rowand, Alana met with Chuck Raper for a different point of view. She impressed Chuck as an “impressive lady” who’s “got it together.” Alana says, “Jackie and Chuck gave her the courage to take the leap, and they were very encouraging.” Alana felt like she had double support working with both the West Virginia and the Atlanta Chapters. She received counseling on accounting, business plans, financing, marketing, start-up and legal issues. Alana commented, “Due to all of the support I have received from both chapters, and my background in retail operations, I was able to secure a substantial SBA-guaranteed loan to purchase my retail space.”

“They [SCORE counselors] gave me the courage to take the leap.”

With a whirlwind, 11-day effort from family and friends, Alana transformed a bare retail space into an attractive retail location, ready for the grand opening on November 24th. To show off her Christmas ornaments, she hung an upside down Christmas tree in the shop window, a display which was noted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Sales since the opening have been good, generating income in excess of expectations. Sales are increasing weekly by word of mouth. Alana has received many compliments from residents thanking her for bringing her unique floral/gift services to them. She loves to receive phone calls from potential customers asking for directions to Gitché Yah Yah. She feels her interesting and unique gifts attract customers.
Gitché Yah Yah is located in Kirkwood Village at 1963 Hosea Williams Drive - R 106, Atlanta, GA 30317. Her Website is www.gitcheyahyah.com, and the telephone number is 404-373-3099.

Sugarplum Visions Bakery and Dessert Cafe

Jamie Fine, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant, while recovering from hand surgery, decided to take a cake decorating class which inspired “visions of Sugarplums dancing in her head.” Her initial vision was the design of her wedding cake. She wanted a unique cake for her reception at a Polynesian restaurant to complement its exotic tropical scene. She created the “Exploding Volcano Cake” as a “WOW!” centerpiece.

Soon friends and family were requesting more “WOWS!” than she could bake in her own kitchen. Jamie expanded the bakery by borrowing the kitchen facilities of a friend’s restaurant (after the restaurant had closed for the night). Jamie started to bake and decorate replicas of ladies handbags, footballs, bottles of wine, and sugarpaste flowers, displaying no limit to her creativity.

The business soon outgrew the borrowed kitchen facilities. Jamie arranged for several face-to-face counseling meetings with SCORE counselor, Pat Travisano and attended his Mini-Business Planning Seminar at the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.

“SCORE counseling gave me the confidence to open my own bakery.”

Jamie and Pat prepared a simplified business plan which provided Jamie with a better understanding of the financial aspects of her business. In December 2005, she discovered a lovely tearoom that was available to lease and opened her “Sugarplum Visions Bakery and Dessert Café.” It's located on Church Street, a short distance from the downtown Square in Marietta, Georgia.

Jamie’s Website www.sugarplum-visions.com and her unique bakery are a delight to explore. Jamie and Pat are discussing options for growing the business to the next level. She is considering arranging for a full-time baker to permit her to spend more time on the marketing of her business.