Maine Business Startup Guides

Opening a Business in Windham, Maine

Contemplating starting a business in Windham, Maine? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Windham.

Windham, Maine Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
3540
5-9 Employees
1188
10-19 Employees
912
20-49 Employees
444
50-99 Employees
84
100-249 Employees
48
250-499 Employees
12
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All Windham Businesses
6228

As a new Windham entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Windham 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
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
1
Architectural Services
1
Automobile Driving Schools
2
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
3
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beauty Salons
10
Boat Dealers
2
Bottled Water Manufacturing
1
Business Associations
2
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
2
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
12
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
3
Commercial Lithographic Printing
1
Confectionery and Nut Stores
1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining
1
Convenience Stores
3
Convention and Trade Show Organizers
1
Credit Bureaus
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
3
Dental Laboratories
1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
1
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
3
Electrical Contractors
10
Elementary and Secondary Schools
1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
1
Family Clothing Stores
3
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finfish Fishing
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
4
Fish and Seafood Markets
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
3
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
1
Fluid Milk Manufacturing
1
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Freight Transportation Arrangement
1
Full-Service Restaurants
17
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
General Freight Trucking, Local
2
General Rental Centers
2
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
1
Hardware Stores
1
Heating Oil Dealers
3
Homes for the Elderly
2
Household Appliance Stores
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
7
Interior Design Services
1
Investigation Services
1
Janitorial Services
6
Jewelry Stores
1
Land Subdivision
1
Landscape Architectural Services
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
12
Locksmiths
2
Logging
2
Machine Shops
3
Masonry Contractors
1
Materials Recovery Facilities
1
Meat Markets
2
Motorcycle Dealers
1
New Car Dealers
2
New Housing Operative Builders
4
News Dealers and Newsstands
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
5
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Dentists
5
Offices of Lawyers
6
Offices of Optometrists
2
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
5
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
3
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
4
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
4
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
1
Real Estate Credit
1
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
2
Remediation Services
2
Residential Property Managers
2
Residential Remodelers
7
Roofing Contractors
1
Savings Institutions
3
Securities Brokerage
3
Security Guards and Patrol Services
2
Septic Tank and Related Services
3
Shoe Stores
2
Site Preparation Contractors
9
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
6
Sporting Goods Stores
2
Support Activities for Forestry
1
Tax Preparation Services
2
Telecommunications Resellers
1
Telemarketing Bureaus
2
Temporary Help Services
2
Testing Laboratories
2
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
1
Tobacco Stores
1
Tradebinding and Related Work
1
Travel Agencies
2
Used Car Dealers
4
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
2
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
3
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
3
Women's Clothing Stores
1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Windham 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 Windham.

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Buying a Business.

Make Sure You Have a Business Plan

Having a business plan is vital to the health of your new business. In effect, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.

Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Business Presentations. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Maine.

Raising Capital for Your Venture

Getting your Windham business the capital it needs to succeed requires strong organization skills and perseverance. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Borrowing Money from Friends and Family.

For Windham entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, check out our List of Maine Angel Investors and our List of Maine Venture Capital Firms.

Building Up Your Sales

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Windham or are selling to customers throughout Maine, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

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.

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

Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset

Good entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

As an entrepreneur who lives in Windham, Maine, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Maine universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also wise to see if there are any Windham networking organizations.

Moving Forward

You have a dream -- starting a business in Windham. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

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 Windham and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Windham, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Windham, Maine

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

  • Resources for Windham, Maine Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Windham 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.

More Business Startup Guides for Maine

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Starting a Business in Wiscasset

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Maine
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