Before import businesswoman Yi Ping Mohyi connected with SCORE: Counselors to America’s Small Business, her giftware and decorative accessories business specializing in silk butterflies, bees, dragonflies and flowers was marginally successful. But after attending one of SCORE’s regular workshops on Internet marketing and being taken under the wing of instructor/counselor Marty Weiss, it was as if the silk butterfly business, Heart to Heart Gifts, Inc., of Oceanside, (www.butterflycraze.com) suddenly underwent a stunning metamorphosis, sprouted wings and literally took off.

Mohyi first learned about SCORE’s small business resources by picking up some literature about the organization where she registered for her business license. As the owner of a successful Internet business, Weiss used his extensive contacts to put her in touch with top flight photographers and web site designers who helped make her products look highly professional. She refined her business plan, took additional business skills workshops in sales and marketing, and sent employees for Quick Books and bookkeeping training.

“Sales had been relatively flat,” she said, “but after working with the SCORE team of counselors, things seemed to change literally overnight. Sales steadily increased week after week, and within five months of working with SCORE, they had jumped an incredible 1,900%.”

Her uniquely designed products have since been featured on ABC-TV’s Extreme Home Makeovers program, Discovery Channel’s Party Show, and MTV’s Spring Break at Disney World, and are in demand by some of Hollywood’s hottest set and costume designers. “There’s no question that SCORE changed my life and direction,” Mohyi said. “Finding SCORE was the turning point for me and my business.”