I really appreciate this, Liese.
It is true that I have been putting way too much emphasis on the numbers. Which, in the over all scheme of things, are meaningless.
One good thing I did for myself was to turn off the email notifications letting me know when people unsubscribe. Now I just need to resist the urge to click the number and find out who bailed. It doesn't matter who leaves!
I'm going to retry SCORE with an open heart.
When I went to them and the SBA last, it was for a different business than I am in now, so my focus shift may get me a better result.
Also, I spoke with the director of the local office a couple of months ago and he told me that if I get a bad result again I should go directly to him and he'd find me a good fit. That reassurance felt so much better.
The original counselor was sort of a Rat Pack throw-back who had retired from the garment business in NYC. When I mentioned that I wanted to pursue government contracts for management consulting he snorted, 'Why the hell would you want to do THAT?'
Um. Because this is a company town and SCORE's biggest mandate is to get women/minority owned businesses into the government stream. That's why.
I could not get another counselor, and then just gave up.
This time, I have a much clearer, if less marketable goal. I'm hoping I can ask better questions and get a more supportive contact.
The one big difference this time is that I will not give up.