Starting a Business in Madawaska, Maine

Are you starting a business in Madawaska, Maine? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Madawaska.

Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?

Most startup businesses don't make it, in part because the business owner did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before you start your business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:

• Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Madawaska. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
• Peruse Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
• Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

Which Business to Choose?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Opening a Money Brokers Business guide or our Opening a Basketball Equipment & Supplies Business guide.

Remember that you are starting a business in Madawaska. The business you want to start may already be well-represented in Madawaska. Make sure you fully understand Madawaska demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Madawaska, Maine Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	186
5-9 Employees	57
10-19 Employees	51
20-49 Employees	27
50-99 Employees	15
100-249 Employees	3
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	3
1000+ Employees	0
All Madawaska Businesses	342

As a new Madawaska entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Madawaska 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
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	2
Bowling Centers	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Caterers	1
Child Day Care Services	1
Civic and Social Organizations	1
Computer and Software Stores	1
Consumer Lending	1
Continuing Care Retirement Communities	1
Convenience Stores	2
Credit Unions	2
Digital Printing	1
Discount Department Stores	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	4
Drive-In Motion Picture Theaters	1
Electrical Contractors	2
Family Clothing Stores	1
Florists	2
Full-Service Restaurants	2
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	3
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	1
Heating Oil Dealers	2
Home Health Care Services	1
Homes for the Elderly	2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Janitorial Services	2
Jewelry Stores	1
Landscaping Services	1
Libraries and Archives	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	7
Logging	4
Newspaper Publishers	1
Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers	1
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Lawyers	2
Paper (except Newsprint) Mills	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing	1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing	1
Shoe Stores	1
Site Preparation Contractors	2
Solid Waste Landfill	1
Toilet Preparation Manufacturing	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Women's Clothing Stores	1
Wood Window and Door Manufacturing	1

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Obtaining startup financing for your Madawaska business is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as 504 Loans.

For Madawaska entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of Maine Angel Investors and our List of Maine Venture Capital Firms.

The Art of Selling

Mastering the art of selling is priority one if you want your new Madawaska business to do well.

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Closing Sales is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Learning More About Entrepreneurship

Good business owners recognize that they don't know everything.

Given that you are starting a business in Madawaska, Maine, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby Maine universities, colleges and community colleges. Another way to keep up on your learning is to investigate networking organizations for Madawaska entrepreneurs.

Moving Forward

Most new Madawaska businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help Madawaska businesses to be successful. We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Madawaska, Maine

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

• Resources for Madawaska, Maine Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Madawaska 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.
• Madawaska, Maine Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Madawaska, Maine newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Madawaska area.

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