Success Stories

Client Success Stories

Experience Maine – Cumberland, Maine

Rachel Sagiroglu is passionate about all that Maine has to offer. That is why she decided to start Experience Maine, a new full-service travel concierge and event planning company. Rachel knew that tourism is Maine’s largest industry, but noticed that the corporate meetings and events segment of the industry has only grown by 50,000 business-related travelers in the last three years. With over 20 years of experience in event planning, she wanted to help expand Maine’s corporate meeting and events market.

For guidance on the steps to starting this exciting new business, Rachel contacted Business Advisor Susan Desgrosseillers from the Maine Small Business Development Centers. Together they worked to price Rachel’s services, create financial projections and develop a business plan that would help understand her business and obtain a loan from Coastal Enterprises.Read More

Purple Shed Woodworks LLC – Portland, Maine

After losing their father to cancer in 2016, Renée Ledoux began to question her career choice as an emergency room nurse. Jason Ledoux began to question his career path after spending time working a desk job, quickly realizing pushing papers was not for him. Neither felt passionate about their career paths and wanted more. One night over dinner with their mother, they were discussing how their father had worked for himself for many years and they got an idea. Why couldn’t they start their own business? The business could combine Jason’s talent and knowledge of woodworking with Renée’s outgoing personality and attention to detail, it would be the perfect partnership. They decided to give it a shot!Read More

Swanson Consulting & Associates – Trenton, ME

Swanson Consulting & Associates LogoTerri Swanson has successfully held several professional roles over her career. In March 2018, she decided it was time to fulfill her dream and utilize her experience in a new way. With a passion for helping people, she started her own Human Resources consulting business, Swanson Consulting & Associates.

Terri was in the beginning stages when she met Certified Business Advisor Shannon Byers.  In Shannon, Terri found someone who could give feedback, ask questions that would generate ideas and be supportive of her new business.  Together, the pair worked through the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition. This work together provided a visual guide to better understand the business and helped identify critical areas of focus in order to be successful.Read More

Transcapsule – Gorham, ME

Tobey Tozier recognized a need in the transgender community. Through personal experience, he has found that this market of 1.4 million transgender adults in the U.S. lacks easy ways to document their transitions and track the effects of Hormone Replace Therapy (HRT) over time. Changes are usually tracked through photos, video, audio clips, body measurements and journaling on various apps and devices.

As a graphic designer and social entrepreneur, he wanted to create an all-in-one app that allowed users to easily document transitions in a single place.  Once the app is launched, users will be able to upload photos and videos, record audio and record body measurements, track mood changes and write journal entries. Transcapsule provides a private and secure platform to document all aspects of the transition. Tobey sees Transcapsule as a way to help people in the trans community find peace and happiness in who they are, and a way to collect anonymous data that can be shared with medical providers to further research on trans health.Read More

Ammo Self Storage (E&S Properties) – Hampden, Maine

Eddie and Susan Rideout are experienced business owners. They own Hampden Redemption Center as well as a Rideout Enterprises, a commercial cleaning service in the Hampden area. They had the opportunity to purchase another business – a storage unit business in Ammo Industrial Park, a former military location in Hampden from the 1960’s. They already rented several spaces at this location for their current enterprises, and did some maintenance and snow plowing for the owners. They were present on the property and had skill-sets to make ideal owners.Read More

Wilcox Wellness & Fitness – Bangor & Brunswick, Maine

When Paige Wilcox and her husband Mike first opened Wilcox Wellness & Fitness six years ago, they worked extensively with Maine SBDC business advisor Tom Gallant. Tom helped the Wilcox’s to create a business plan in order to obtain the necessary financing which allowed them to open the doors of their 4,000 square foot facility in Bangor. Tom challenged them to think through the value proposition and the transition process.  With that, they were set up for success from the beginning. Paige remembers, “Tom was amazing for us – 1 part business advisor, 2 parts marriage counselor, and 100% amazing.”Read More

TGN Detailing

Have you ever gotten your vehicle detailed and felt the stress of dropping your vehicle off for service and not having access to your vehicle for a full day? Anyone who has gotten their vehicle detailed will tell you this is the biggest downside to the service. Although many people take pride in their vehicles and want clean rides, sometimes the hassle of not having a vehicle to use during the day stops people dead in their tracks. This inconvenience is what sparked Taylor Nadeau’s creative juices to open a mobile detailing business. Nadeau has been detailing vehicles on the side for years and has worked for local dealerships in the past, and in his experience, it was always a challenge getting clients to drop off and leave their vehicle for any extended amount of time. Nadeau saw the inconvenience this caused clients as an opportunity for himself.Read More