Lesson #1 : Discovery Exercizes

You can follow along here, if you're curious. These are just my answers, but stay tuned for my thoughts on the subjects covered!

1.) The Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft is Peter Klein. He's been with Microsoft since 2002, but before that spent time in corporate finance in the Seattle area, working for a variety of companies and startups.

2.) Here are some relevant articles & chapters I pulled up on the Small Business Reference Center involving selling crafts:
Selling Handmade Crafts Online
Is Selling Online Right for your Business?
The Business and the Internet page also has a lot of valuable information.
And here is a great article about starting a business in Alaska:
Small Business Start-Up Guide : Alaska
Unfortunately, I ran into a bit of a brick wall when it came to finding out places to sell crafts locally, at least using the SBRC. However, a simple Google search for 'selling crafts in alaska' pulled up a few good resources.
Unfortunately, we don't get to work with a lot of small businesses, so I used general terms when searching. I think that the usefulness of the database depends on the information that the person is looking for. For general information, the database is quite helpful. For local information, it might be better to look elsewhere.

3.) The first thing I noticed when browsing 'Popular Sources' was the NOLO book Tax Savvy for Small Business. We get a fair amount of patrons who have their own businesses and have tax questions, or are just looking for specific forms (like sample rental agreements). This could be an excellent resource for those who aren't able to get a physical copy of our books, or are looking for a book that we do not carry. When browsing by catagory, the sample business plans look like they could be of interest to some of our patrons.

4.) Here is a quote from Sec. 34.03.100 of the Alaska Uniform Residential
Landlord & Tenant Act, found here, which states the landlord's responsibilities for a rental property:
a.The landlord shall
1.make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition;
2.keep all common areas of the premises in a clean and safe condition;
3.maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, kitchen, and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord;
4.provide and maintain appropriate receptacles and conveniences for the removal of ashes, garbage, rubbish, and other waste incidental to the occupancy of the dwelling unit and arrange for their removal;
5.supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water and heat at all times, insofar as energy conditions permit, except where the building that includes the dwelling unit is so constructed that heat or hot water is generated by an installation within the exclusive control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public utility connection;
6.if requested by the tenant, provide and maintain locks and furnish keys reasonably adequate to ensure safety to the tenant's person and property; and
7.provide smoke detection devices and carbon monoxide detection devices as required under AS 18.70.095.
For the sake of brevity, I have not included the rest! You can find it at the link above.
Here are some recent frauds and scams from the Alaska Dept of Law Consumer Protection Unit.
You can get a Consumer Complaint form, with info on how to file it here.

5.) According to Alaska Local and Regional Information, there are 1,601 female workers in the city of Wasilla, and the top employer is the Mat Su Borough Schools.

6.) The stages of a small business cycle are Think, Launch, Grow, Reinvent, and Exit. You can find a checklist for starting a small business here.

7.) Here are two publications on broadband internet in Alaska.
There have been studies
done on small scale modular nuclear power, although it does not appear to be as popular of an option as wind and solar generation.
This site seems to be geared more towards academic research, which is something that most of our patrons do not seek help with. However, if there are students who are looking for sources for a paper on economic and social projects in Alaska, I will gladly send them to the site. Its an excellent resource that I wasn't aware of before I started this course!

8.) As a worker at a small public library, not all of the business information is geared towards a 'typical' patron. A lot of the more academic and corporate info is something that our library would only rarely utilize. However, that info could be valuable to the right patron! We recieve all kinds of questions, including some that are fairly obscure. I do see a need in our community for providing resources for start-up businesses, especially small ones. We also get a lot of questions relating to Alaska consumer laws and tax regulations from business owners. Some of these resources could be of great value! The hard part, of course, is letting people know that these resources exist, and figuring out ways to advertise them to people who need them. I'll cover more of this in my next blog post, which will go over my personal thoughts on this week's lesson.