Julian Erickson-Watson’s love for pottery began during his senior year of college when he decided to enroll in a pottery class. Not knowing what would come of it, he chose to follow this passion to see where it would lead him. Eventually, Julian relocated to Maine, where he discovered the rich pottery community in Portland. Julian set out to put down roots by opening his very own pottery teaching studio. That’s when he turned to the SBDC!
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Sip House – Freeport
In the spring of 2023, Tammy Nonni took the bold step of becoming a business owner by acquiring a cafe in downtown Freeport. Over the next few months, she undertook numerous renovations and changes, culminating in the re-launch of the establishment as Sip House. Tammy envisioned the cafe and smoothie shop as a welcoming and safe space for the Freeport community and visitors to come together. Leveraging her background as an integrative health coach and herbalist, she curated a unique menu featuring local organic drinks and bites.Read More
How to Reach Your Customers
Part 4 of the “Things we wish we knew” Blog series
By: Tina Oddleifson, Business Advisor
“If you market to everyone, you’ll market to no one” – Famous Marketing Guru
As business advisors, we review a lot of business plans. One thing we see regularly are marketing plans with vague references to social media and a website but with very few details. Not having a detailed marketing plan is a costly mistake — because marketing is the engine that drives your sales. That’s why it’s in the top five of our “Things We Wished We Knew” blog series.Read More
Palette Crêperie – Monhegan
Originally hailing from Morocco and residing New York City, Redwane Gatarny, a trained chef, embarked on a journey back to his culinary roots. After seven years in public health, he decided to return to his passion for good food with a dream of sharing the authentic flavors he remembers from his childhood. He wanted to open a seasonal food trailer on Monhegan Island.Read More
Maine SBDC Releases 2023 Results: Supporting and empowering entrepreneurs throughout Maine
February 26, 2024
The Maine Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) is proud to announce the release of its 2023 Annual Report. The report, available here, highlights the Maine SBDC’s impact in supporting Maine’s entrepreneurs and small businesses. The report showcases the tangible outcomes in 2023 and spotlights individual success stories that underscore the powerful effect of the program’s business advising and training services.Read More
Ease Massage & Manual Therapy – Saco
Stefani Sellers has always been passionate about healing and helping others. This is why she launched her business, Ease Massage & Manual Therapy, in 2022. Ease is Maine’s only nationally board-certified medical massage therapy practice certified in manual lymphatic drainage. She provides her clients with effective healing solutions tailored to their individual needs including massage therapy, manual therapy, manual lymph drainage, and Reiki.Read More
Create realistic financial projections
Part 3 of the “Things we wish we knew” Blog series
By: Tina Oddleifson, Business Advisor
We get it, you’re an artist, a baker, or love working on cars. You’ve decided to start a business doing what you love, and you plan to let someone else worry about the financial details later.
But when we asked Maine SBDC Business Advisors about the biggest mistakes they’ve seen business owners make,“finance” came up — a lot.
There’s much to talk about when it comes to small business finance and the common mistakes we see business owners make. So, in this post we’ll start at the beginning with financial projections.Read More
How Much Capital Do You Need to Start a Business?
Part 2 of the “Things we wish we knew” Blog series
By: Tina Oddleifson, Business Advisor
Being a successful entrepreneur means understanding how much capital you need to start a business so that you have room to grow. Not having enough capital can be a major pitfall for a new business owner, making it the second most important post in our “Things we wish we knew” blog series.Read More
New Federal Reporting Requirements for LLCs and Corporations
If you have an LLC, corporation, or other entity registered through the Maine Secretary of State, you’ll want to know about your obligations under the federal Corporate Transparency Act.
On January 1, 2024 the Corporate Transparency Act went into effect requiring millions of small businesses to register with the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network (FinCen).Read More
Essential Steps Before You Start a Business
Part 1 of the “Things we wish we knew” Blog series
By: Tina Oddleifson, Business Advisor
When we asked Maine SBDC Business Advisors about the biggest mistakes they see new business owners make (including themselves) many of the responses boiled down to the same essential thing: Moving forward before you are ready.
We’ve all been there. You’re ready to leave your job and you have the perfect business idea. Enthusiasm and excitement are important ingredients for business success and over-analyzing or overthinking can present its own problems. But to set yourself up for success you need to lay a solid foundation. Here are essential questions to consider before taking the plunge:Read More