It's perfumery. It's cocktail bar. And a business mentor has guided it toward success

DETROIT - For Kevin Peterson, the smell of success comes from the perfumery he opened six years ago.

Sfumato Fragrances uses all-natural ingredients. 

"Siren song is my wife's favorite for the winter. That's based around rose, clove and black pepper," said Peterson

The engineer for 10 years left his job and went out on his own to start making dollars and cents off of  -- well, scents. But the store on 2nd Avenue in Midtown is more than just a perfumery -- it's also a cocktail bar. 

"We open at noon and we open as a fragrance retail shop and we are open till six in retail mode and at 6 o'clock tables flip out of the walls, display cases turn around, we pull chairs out of the back and we turn it into a cocktail bar and we serve drinks that pair to the scents from 6 p.m. to midnight," Peterson said.

The business has been around for a while but the brick and mortar building opened two years ago. Part of the success is because of business mentor David Broner, who successfully ran his own safety products company for decades before retiring and becoming a volunteer for SCORE, which matches mentors with up-and-coming entrepreneurs. 

Broner says he mentors around 30 businesses.

"I enjoy it because it's very eclectic. From this perfumery or fragrance business, I'm going to visit someone later today who is in the drone business and I like being the variety," Broner said. "The basics are the same but the people are different and they all have dreams and it's fun for me to try to help them."

SCORE has been around for 50 years with more than 10,000 volunteers. In Metro Detroit, there are just over 100, and they're looking for more.  

"I would say go to the website, score.org, and investigate. We have templates and webinars but really if you have time,10 hours a month, you will get a lot of joy in helping other people," Broner said.

"When you open a business, you have to learn HR, finance, marketing, all these things. And you don't know what you don't know, so being able to talk to someone who has been in business for years, decades and have them point you in the right direction with different resources was really the key for me," Peterson said.

So far in Detroit, 1,600 business owners have scored mentors through the program. While the budding business owners benefit, the mentors make out with more than they ever imagined.  

"I think it benefits both parties and I think being able to meet people and build those relationships is really key, both to business and to just having a solid community," said Peterson.

You can learn more here: https://sfumatofragrances.com/

If you'd like to learn more about the mentor program, head to the website detroit.score.org