Krishna Akella, a certified volunteer mentor with SCORE Bucks
County, served as lead mentor for the TruEdge Solutions team comprised of President
and CEO Sung Choi, and Managing Partners Elsaid Wahba (CFO) and Joon Choi (COO).
Typically, small business owners are assigned a local SCORE mentor and
co-mentor based on their needs. However, as part of One SCORE, an initiative
put forth by the national organization to provide the best service possible
regardless of chapter locations, Akella was joined by SCORE Bucks mentor Nina
De Rosa, as well as Ward Freeman of SCORE Santa Fe; Girish Sud from SCORE Lehigh
Valley; Jonathan Melvin from SCORE Los Angeles; and Albert Lobo from SCORE San
Francisco.
Together, the group possesses subject matter expertise regarding business
strategy, marketing, human resources, and IT infrastructure.
As a certified project management professional with more than 30 years’
experience in construction project management, Sung Choi is in her comfort zone
when dealing with project planning, estimating, scheduling, and project
controls. She knew that her expertise in project management didn’t prepare her
for being a new business owner, so she reached out to SCORE for some help.
She likened Akella to a primary care physician who refers patients
to specialists depending upon their condition and care required.
“Depending upon our topic of interest, Krishna connected us with a
mentor that was the best fit,” she said. “Although we worked with a few
mentors, I kept Krishna informed of our interactions with each, and he ensured that
we all functioned as one tightly knit team.”
While TruEdge Solutions currently employs 10 independent
contractors, Sung Choi wanted to ensure that the company was fully prepared in
advance of hiring and onboarding its first full-fledged W-2 employee. Akella
connected Choi and her team with De Rosa, who has several decades of human
resources experience.
“Our first hire was an important milestone for us, and we wanted
to make a great first impression,” Sung Choi said, adding that De Rosa helped
to pave the way for a smooth start by ensuring employee taxes and benefits were
set up properly. “As our business grows, we’ll continue to build our team and moving
forward, it’s going to be much easier.”
Since the TruEdge team began working with SCORE in 2021, they have
incorporated many of the mentors’ suggestions into their business practices and
are already seeing results. Her mentors have inspired the CEO to pay it
forward.
“I would love to become a SCORE mentor,” she said. “As an Asian
woman in the male-dominated construction industry, I naturally stand out. I
don’t mind standing out, but I want it to be for the right reason—my talent. Having support systems in place that help you break
down barriers so you can realize your goals, that’s huge.”
SCORE provides no-cost business mentoring services for every stage
of a business. To find a mentor, visit https://buckscounty.score.org/
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more
than 11 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE
provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000
new and growing small businesses.?With 50 members across the
county, SCORE Bucks?County?provides over 1,500 free
mentoring services annually to local small business owners
through one-on-one counseling and small business seminars. To stay up to
date on news and happenings, join SCORE Bucks County’s email list. Text
SCOREBUCKS to 22828.
