Recently I pitched a story to 207, the evening news program up here in Maine, on Web-based resources for entrepreneurs.
Due to the economic downturn, many people are thinking about (or forced into) striking it out on their own. This can be a scary thing, especially if you've been working in a cubicle most of your life, or even in a corner office.
However, there are a lot of online resources out there. I reached out to some fellow entrepreneurs and got a huge amount of online resources…more than would be useful for a five minute segment. To that end, I've created a list below of all the sites that had been submitted. In no particular order:
- Maine.gov: Starting a Business: Information and specifics about what you need to start a business in Maine.
- SCORE Maine: SCORE,
the Service Corps of Retired Executives, offers free counseling and
workshops to businesses. Chapters exist throughout the country,and this site lists all the chapters in Maine. - Score Maine (Portland chapter): If you're living in the Greater Portland area, this is the chapter for you. Bonus Points: I occasionally speak there. Double Bonus Points: flyte designed it.
- Maine Center for Enterprise Development: Business incubator providing low cost services to start ups. They are also running a "Top Gun" applied entrepreneurship program.
- Maine Technology Institute: Offers early stage capital and commercialization assistance for R&D of innovative, technology-based projects.
- Maine & Company: Help on growing or moving your business to Maine.
- Maine Angels: Providing investments to promising, early-stage companies.
- Maine Small Business Development Centers: Help on starting a business, and many online courses entrepreneurs can take.
- Realize! Maine: Focused on encouraging young entrepreneurs to stay in Maine and grow their business here.
- Maine Development Foundation: Dedicated to sustainable, long-term economic growth for Maine. Offers programs on leadership, building downtowns and more.
- TechMaine: Focused on technology companies in Maine, including startups. Have an Entrepreneur Handbook.
- MEBSR: Not a startup resource per se, but helping Maine entrepreneurs build (and grow) sustainable businesses.
- flyte new media: The place small businesses turn to for Web sites and Internet marketing such as search engine visibility, email marketing, blogging, and social media. Oops, may have gotten a little self-serving there.
In addition, there are a number of LinkedIn Groups that are Maine-centric. Some of my personal favorites:
- Maine Entrepreneurs: Discussions around entrepreneurship, small business and startups.
- Living and Working in the State of Maine: Slightly broader topics for anyone who works, lives or even plays here.
- MaineBiz: Maine Business topics sponsored by MaineBiz.
- Maine Marketing Association: Marketing-focused conversations.
- Maine Tweetup: Primarily announcements about Maine-based Tweetups.
- TechMaine: The group for TechMaine.
Do you have any other Web-based resources for Maine startups and entrepreneurs? Let us know!
