Mordue Greenlight

Just random stuff I'm into

What the heck is SCORE? Are you kidding me…

As you know, if you follow me, I recently became a SCORE Counselor. While I am involved in several business ventures, I still had spare time and I was looking for an outlet to give back. Funny how the thought of “Volunteering” seems to pop into your head more the older you get, at least for me. 10 years ago I thought I was way too busy… I wasn’t; I just did not see the payoff. “You expect me to do what?… For nothing? Well I finally got the bug. It’s kinda like going to the gym, you are working hard for no money, but if you dedicate yourself, there is a payoff.

So yesterday I attended the Temple Terrace Business Expo at the Sun Dome on behalf of SCORE. This was much better attended than I expected. We had a small table and many of the other exhibitors were small business operations that would be perfect candidates for our free counseling. After standing in front of the table for a while watching people walk by with their heads down making a beeline to the free food, I decided to walk around and introduce myself to the other exhibitors. If you have ever had to work a booth at a trade show you know that the most irritating part is smiling at someone that you think might be a prospect, only to realize they are trying to sell you something. Well, my elevator pitch started the same with everyone, “Are you familiar with SCORE?”; and the response was the same from everyone also, “no”. After the first few, I figured they just had their heads in the clouds; I mean to be a small entrepreneur and to have never heard of SCORE…are you kidding me!! But as this experience repeated over and over I came to the realization that SCORE has not done a very good job of getting the word out.

I find this astonishing, I mean think about it. Our local SCORE chapter has over 40 Counselors, all retired or semi-retired or even active business executives. Past CEOs and senior executives of huge companies, attorneys, accountants, entrepreneurs and “catch-all” guys like me, who are prepared eager to give one-on-one counseling to small business owners in exchange for nothing more than the satisfaction of seeing them succeed. I thought to myself, “What moron would not take advantage of this?”; but I guess people that don’t know about SCORE cannot be considered morons.

So I am on a mission. I want to make every entrepreneur aware of this free resource that could be the difference between success or failure of their venture. I am asking you guys to help out by letting your entrepreneur friends and clients know about SCORE and our simple mission. Just send them to www.tampascore.org; we’ll take it from there.

Thanks!

Steve

No Comments by Steve Mordue on March 10, 2010
filed in SCORE

Oops, I did not expect this!

As you may know if you have read my posts or kept up with me on LinkedIn, I recently started a couple of new ventures.

Prep 4 Rent is a one-stop service for Realtors to go to for everything, and I mean everything, that a home needs to get ready for the rental market, Prep 4 Sell is a similar service for sale listings. Yeah, I know, proper grammar would be Prep 4 Sale, but somebody got that domain name already so cut me some slack.

Anyway, the concept follows the typical Home Depot model of taking a market that is currently served haphazardly, in this case pick-up trunk handymen, and taking it to a one-stop,  professional level. I thought it was a great idea, but then again, I think all of my ideas are great, in spite of many utter and complete failures.

I am pleased to report that… apparently… Realtors are agreeing. This one is actually taking off. In fact, I am already seeking to expand the concept to other markets and I am on the lookout for people with a similar construction/real estate background that would like to partner with me in their local market. So what would they need me for you say? Plenty.

In addition to our websites, with full online inspection and tracking capabilities, we have established relationships with major suppliers and manufacturers for wholesale acquisition of things like carpet, paint, appliances, etc. We also continue to grow our network of  Service Contractors for things like roofing, plumbing and electrical. We have also developed marketing plans and training programs for success. Sounds like a franchise opportunity to me…maybe later.

In the meantime, you can help me out by referring Realtors to our websites and quality service contractors and potential partners to me.

Thanks!

Steve

No Comments by Steve Mordue on February 23, 2010
filed in Random

I had to re-title my blog

I had the best of intentions… really I did. I was gonna write this really cool Blog about web user interfaces, something that I am interested in. But a few of my friends told me that I may well be the only one interested in that, and I already diverged with my first post.. so I guess I have a short attention span.

But I do want to keep in touch with both of my fans… Hi Mom.

For anybody reading this that knows me, you know I have a lot of ideas. Occasionally one even makes sense. I have some high hopes for my latest brain-fart… Prep 4 Rent. I have recently been in the market to rent a house, I am also a Real Estate Broker who works with others seeking to buy or rent. I became quite disgusted with the condition of properties that were being touted as “Show Ready”. What a load of crap. I mean, I understand the urgency of a landlord to get an available property on the market, but to put it out there before you have lifted a finger is just stupid. Garbage lying around, stains on the carpet, holes in the walls, overgrown yards, give me a break, who would want to live in any of these dumps. This goes for all levels of homes; I have walked through homes asking $5k/mo that look like they just hosted an Animal House frat party the night before.

So, of course, a light bulb goes off in my head… again. I founded Prep 4 Rent and Prep 4 Sell as one-stop sources for everything and anything that a house needs to get into actual “Show Condition”. I am working on my contractor network for those items that we will not self-perform, and hiring tradespeople for everything else. I do not expect the total cost of getting a house into shape through us to be any lower than it would ordinarily be, but the ability to get everything necessary from a single source seems to have plenty of appeal to the realtor community.

So send me some realtors…. never thought I would say that.

Steve

No Comments by Steve Mordue on February 15, 2010
filed in Random

SCORE Tampa Bay Chapter

I know I said this was going to be a blog about Website User Experiences, but it’s my frickin blog, and if I want to spin off in other directions now and then, who really cares.

I recently signed up to become a SCORE counselor. If you don’t know, SCORE is a division of the Small Business Administration and offers free counseling to business owners, mostly start-up small businesses. It is a volunteer role and I had to commit to 16 hours a month, so I decided to cut back on my extensive exercise regimen… not sure yet where I will get the remaining 15 hrs.

I attended my first monthly meeting today with my fellow counselors and it looks like a pretty good group that sincerely wants to help small businesses. There are about 35 seemingly smart retired or semi-retired people here and it felt like there was a lot of expertise in this room. Of course there were a few blowhards, but I am pleased to report that today, I was not one of them. In fact, I didn’t say a word… I swear.

I was a little surprised at how few people seem take advantage of this service, after all it is free. But I was pleased to hear that they will be doing a lot more community outreach, so more people will understand their mission and benefits.

My first encounter with SCORE was about 30 years ago. A lot of what SCORE has historically done is advise businesses that are seeking SBA loans. As a 20 year-old entrepreneur, I too has looking for money (don’t remember why now) and I got some good advice… forget it. While they seem to have evolved beyond just explaining to business newbies why no-one in their right mind would lend them a nickel, that is still a common request.

There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on getting themselves up-to-speed on the latest business trends and technologies, after all they are mostly retired guys and times have changed a lot since some of them were last at the helm. As one of the youngest, and probably the most tech savvy of the bunch, I have a feeling they are going to keep me quite busy. Should be fun.

I will probably post occasionally about my SCORE activities, while honoring the confidentiality of the clients. As long as I maintain confidentiality, I can freely relate some of the goofiness I anticipate.

No Comments by Steve Mordue on January 28, 2010
filed in SCORE
tagged

Me and My Blog

I started a blog about a year ago. Okay, I created a blog about a year ago, but never posted anything, so I have already exceeded my past effort. Truth be told, I could not think of anything to say. This time however, I have a theme: Website User Experience. I can hear the echoes of those clicking away from my new blog already. Whatever… at least I know my mom will read it… for a while anyway.

I have a new passion. Well, not new, but new to you. I am an Internet User Experience Evangelist. In this blog, I will attempt, until I get bored, to chronicle User Experience Kudos, and Faux Pas on a rigidly formal, yet completely random, schedule. Just so you know, I am not big on facts. Wherever you see statistics used in my writing, you can assume I made them up to support my proposition.

My “Comment Moderation Policy”. I am a firm believer that when you put something out there, you need to be prepared to take the heat for it.

I believe this applies to everyone else, and I will absolutely delete any comments that I do not personally care for. This includes anyone who disagrees with anything I say, anyone who is just here to try and steal my potential clients, and anyone who has a first name of more than four syllables.

My “Offensive Language Policy”. I may occasionally use offensive language in my blog, as I occasionally use offensive language when I speak normally. I will never use it for effect, however I may use to make a point and put myself over.

My “Post Editing Policy”. I understand that it is considered poor form, to go back and edit a post after it has received comments, however, I reserve the right to go back and make changes to things I previously said, particularly when it will put me over, and make a commenter appear to be a boob.

I would like to say that this will be an interesting blog that you will definitely add to your updated reading list, but I’m not going to make any ridiculous promise like that.

No Comments by Steve Mordue on January 26, 2010
filed in Website User Experience