# SCORE

Free one-on-one mentoring from volunteers.

A nonprofit SBA resource partner running free one-on-one business mentoring through a network of more than 10,000 volunteer mentors across 171 chapters, by video, phone, or in person, plus free and low-cost workshops; mentoring explicitly covers buying or selling a business. Buying an existing business is now a hub of its own on the site rather than a line inside mentoring.

- Category: Communities & Networks
- Pricing model: Free
- Where it fits: Learn & Choose Your Path, Define & Test Your Thesis
- Website: https://www.score.org

## At a Glance

Take the free mentor and ask specifically for one who has owned a business; the price is right and the accountability is real, but keep your deal team professional.

## What It Costs

Mentoring is free with no cap on sessions, meetings run about an hour by phone, video, email or in person, and the reply usually comes inside two days. The national workshops are tagged free.

## Best For

A free sounding board with operating scars, especially valuable before the deal, when what you need is someone who has run a business asking you hard questions

## Pros and Cons

- Pro: Free, unlimited, and nationwide, with remote mentoring available regardless of location
- Pro: Mentors are volunteers with real operating backgrounds rather than salespeople
- Pro: Backed by the SBA partner network, so it connects naturally to lender and program resources
- Con: Mentor quality and acquisition fluency vary widely; many mentors have never bought or sold a company
- Con: Advice runs generalist, so deal-specific questions ([valuation](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/valuation), structure, SBA mechanics) usually need specialists anyway
- Con: Volunteer scheduling moves slower than a paid advisor

## What Searchers Say

A decades-old institution with broadly positive sentiment for early-stage guidance. The honest expectation set by users: excellent for free perspective and accountability, not a substitute for deal professionals; ask for a mentor who has owned or sold a business.

## Compared With

- Which free SBA resource partner should a searcher actually use? (https://searchspheresource.com/resources/compare/score-vs-sbdc.md)
- Veteran buyers get a third free adviser: which one first? (https://searchspheresource.com/resources/compare/score-vs-vboc.md)

## Sources

- https://www.score.org/about/
- https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/resource-partners/score-business-mentoring

Also on this site: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/category/community.md
Source: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/score-mentoring
Last checked: 2026-09-07

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt