Small Business

I was interested to read that a legislative committee has held hearings on whether it is difficult for Maine small businesses to get loans in the current environment. Here is the article in Tuesday’s Portland Press Herald.  

We are in the gray and dreary part of November; rainy wet weather is in the forecast for the next several days. On a gray overcast day it stays dark until nearly 7AM and is pretty dark by 4 PM making for short dreary days to be sure.

Over the years I have worked alongside a number of other guides and during the last couple of seasons I have hired a few to help with large groups or when Maine Outdoors has multiple trips going. Most of them are great folks to work with and understand that the primary goal is for clients to have a good time while being safe. Some of them do not understand that being a guide is actually work and that being successful takes more than a license from the state.

Sometimes I have a few odd minutes to fill and am always on the lookout for something fun and useful to do with the time. I was sent a link to a lecture on TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) that I found interesting. So I spent some time checking it out and discovered that the talks can be downloaded as Podcasts and loaded onto my iPod. I had to wait for the Yukon to be repaired yesterday and the casts were a perfect way to fill the hour or so that the repair took.

Spring in Maine is marked by a number of outdoors shows and exhibits. Over the weekend I attended two of them and as always it was great fun to visit with old friends from around the state and in different aspects of my business. Saturday I attended the LL Bean fishing expo at the new hunting and fishing store in Freeport. They had a good turnout with lots of interesting seminars. I spent a half an hour or so watching someone else teach flyfishing which I found extremely helpful. There is nothing like watching a different approach to teaching an activity.

I was invited to a business roundtable last week by Mainebiz. Mainebiz is a bi weekly paper that covers business in our state. They were interested in learning how they are doing in covering business in general and our area specifically. I appreciate any business that takes the time to ask customers questions.

One of the things I pride myself on and have a one of my business principles is staying current on and using the latest technology. I am one of the few guides in Maine writing a blog on his web site, have been publishing an electronic newsletter for some time and I produce my own brochures and ads on my desktop computer.

After many years in business and donating countless hours to a variety of projects I have decided to formalize my annual contributions. Beginning in 2008 Maine Outdoors will donate ten percent of profits to conservation education. After reviewing 2007 the donation in time and money is significantly over that goal. The donations consist of help in making conservation education possible, trips and money.

We are in what is usually the coldest part of our winter and it just what we expect. This morning the temperature was a little below zero Fahrenheit without a cloud in the sky. Luckily the strong wind that was forecast has not shown up. Yes we have a breeze but not the serious wind that can make a cold day miserable. The moon is full tomorrow night which gives the spectacular nights lit by the glow of the moon reflected on the snow. It is nearly as bright as day but the light has a different quality.

Part of offering packages with the Samoset Resort is an annual review of what is and is not working. When we looked at the past two years the canoe trip packages were not performing. As I continued to review my own sales information I saw the same pattern. A declining number of canoe trips while family fishing and other fishing trips were on a steep upward curve. So I got the same message twice in less than a month, canoe trips are not performing well.