Open a Business in Caribou, Maine

Thinking about starting a business in Caribou, Maine? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Caribou.

Will You Be a Successful Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneurial life is demanding, much harder than working as an employee. Are you sure you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:

• Speak with other entrepreneurs in Caribou. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
• You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
• Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.

Caribou, Maine Demographic Information

Caribou has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Caribou demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Caribou.

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	880
5-9 Employees	420
10-19 Employees	192
20-49 Employees	162
50-99 Employees	18
100-249 Employees	12
250-499 Employees	12
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Caribou Businesses	1696

As a new Caribou entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Caribou for each business category. By looking at this chart, you can get a general sense for how much competition there is in the business niche that you are pursuing.

Business Type	# of Businesses
Ambulance Services	1
Automotive Exhaust System Repair	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	2
Beauty Salons	2
Boat Dealers	1
Business Associations	1
Car Washes	1
Child and Youth Services	2
Child Day Care Services	3
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Convenience Stores	1
Cosmetology and Barber Schools	1
Credit Unions	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	1
Educational Support Services	1
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	3
Elementary and Secondary Schools	1
Engineering Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	1
Fine Arts Schools	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	3
Floor Covering Stores	3
Florists	2
Food Service Contractors	1
Framing Contractors	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Full-Service Restaurants	6
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	2
General Automotive Repair	4
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	2
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Heating Oil Dealers	2
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	2
Home Centers	2
Home Health Care Services	4
Home Health Equipment Rental	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	5
Investment Advice	1
Janitorial Services	1
Jewelry Stores	1
Landscaping Services	3
Limited-Service Restaurants	4
Locksmiths	1
Logging	1
Machine Shops	1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers	1
Motor Vehicle Towing	1
Motorcycle Dealers	2
New Car Dealers	2
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nonresidential Property Managers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers	2
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	2
Offices of Chiropractors	1
Offices of Dentists	2
Offices of Lawyers	5
Offices of Optometrists	2
Optical Goods Stores	1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Periodical Publishers	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Portfolio Management	1
Radio Stations	2
Remediation Services	1
Residential Property Managers	2
Residential Remodelers	1
Roofing Contractors	1
Sales Financing	1
Savings Institutions	1
Shoe Stores	1
Site Preparation Contractors	4
Skiing Facilities	1
Software Publishers	1
Solid Waste Collection	3
Sports and Recreation Instruction	2
Tax Preparation Services	1
Taxi Service	1
Testing Laboratories	3
Tire Dealers	2
Travel Agencies	1
Used Car Dealers	5
Veterinary Services	1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Caribou Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Maine. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Caribou.

If you are headed down the path of buying a business, you may want to read this article: How to Buy a Business.

Choosing a Company Name

Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.

Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are opening a business in Caribou, it's critical that you ensure that no other Maine company is using the business name you want to use.

Do You Need a Business Plan?

A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Maine.

Building Up Your Sales

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Caribou business, you need to focus on sales.

Clever sales techniques can transform any business from good to great. The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Hiring Telemarketing Firms to Generate Sales Leads is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

What's Next?

As an entrepreneur in Caribou, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Caribou and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Caribou, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Caribou, Maine

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Caribou.

• Resources for Caribou, Maine Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Caribou entrepreneurs.
• Maine Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Maine.
• Maine Small Business Development Center - Maine Small Business Development Centers and its technology-focused group, the Maine Small Business & Technology Development Centers, provide comprehensive business management assistance, training, resource and information services to Maine's entrepreneurs and small business owners.
• Caribou, Maine Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Caribou, Maine newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Caribou area.
• Caribou, Maine Radio Advertising Prices - To help you in your marketing efforts, we've gathered radio advertising rates for Caribou, Maine area radio stations.

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