BIDDEFORD — It wasn’t that long ago that Mike Harris was an office worker. Then, he landed a job as a manager at a Tandy Leather store.

“While working for them, I fell in love with leather work,” said Harris.

Now, he and his wife Debbie run the Desert Moon Leather shop on Main Street in Biddeford.

The Harrises met out west and moved to Arundel in 2011; Debbie is originally from southern Maine.

At first, Mike had a basement workshop, and he sold most of his handmade leather goods via the Internet or at gun and craft shows.

Then last year, he heard about the city of Biddeford and Heart of Biddeford’s Main Street Challenge Encore and decided to enter the competition.

Harris was one of three entrepreneurs who won the contest, receiving a $10,000 forgivable loan and other incentives to assist those opening new businesses.

He had toyed with the idea of opening a retail store before, he said, and even had a shop for a short time in Saco.

“But the contest was pretty much the big driving force for me,” said Harris.

Without that, he said, it would have been years before he opened up a store.

The timing of the contest couldn’t have been better.

Harris said at the same time the contest started, he had begun taking an entrepreneurship course at Southern Maine Community College.

He said he was able to use reports and business plans that he had written for his course as material for the contest.

Harris said his wife, who is integral to the business, also took business courses. She manages the books and social media, handles the counter at the store, and even comes up with art projects that she or her husband create to decorate the store.

“I’m the CFO,” said Debbie Harris, “Chief Figure It Out.”

Since opening the store in April, Mike Harris said some aspects are going better than others.

“Overall, I’m happy with the results,” he said.

Harris said he thought there would be more interest in the leather classes that he teaches and hopes they’ll pick up in the fall.

However, he said, he’s keeping busy.

“There’s a lot of stuff I wanted to do I’m not having time to do,” he said.

Harris makes a whole host of leather items, such as belts, purses, wallets, bracelets and gun holsters.

While he makes many items for sale, he also takes custom orders. Customers can help design the piece that they’d like him to make.

“That’s what I really like,” said Harris, “just seeing the customer’s eyes when they see something they helped create.”

Desert Moon Leather is located at 156 Main St., Biddeford. Contact the business by calling 423-0235.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.