Helpful Information, Data, & Links

Helpful Information, Data, & Links

Local

  • San Juan Islands Information
  • County Libraries
  • County Chambers of Commerce
  • County Port Authorities
  • Other Boards
  • Regional EDCs

Government

  • Government Agencies
  • Tax & Internal Revenue Service Links
  • Procurement

Business Development

  • Business Licenses
  • Business Plans
  • Buying Or Selling A Business
  • Disabled Entrepreneurs
  • Human Resources & Personnel
  • Marketing
  • Leasing
  • Bookkeeping
  • Training and Education
  • Prepare for Disruptions

Government

  • IRS Employment Taxes – Answers to all your employment tax questions, including how to determine whether workers are independent contractors or employees.
  • Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center
  • IRS Small Business & Self Employed Tax Center – This section offers a broad range of resources across federal and state agencies, as well as industry/profession specific information for self-employed entrepreneurs, employers and businesses.
  • IRS Small Business Video and Audio Presentations – The IRS Video portal contains video and audio presentations on topics of interest to small businesses, individuals and tax professionals. You will find video clips of tax topics, archived versions of live panel discussions and webinars, as well as audio archives of tax practitioner phone forums. In addition, please visit the Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop page for instructional, interactive lessons designed to help new small business owners learn their tax rights and responsibilities.

Washington’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Program is designed to assist companies who are interested in doing business with the government.

  • They can assist you in finding opportunities to do business with Federal, State or Local Government Agencies.
  • They can assist you with necessary Government registrations and paperwork.
  • They hold seminars and workshops on Government Procurement subjects such as Internet Procurement Opportunities, Subcontracting, How to Respond to a Bid, and Local Procurement Opportunities.
  • They can provide information about how to obtain Government designations such as Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) certification, Women or Minority owned certification, or Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) certification. These certifications can increase a company’s chances to win certain Government bids.
  • They can assist clients with questions they may have during the bid process.
  • They can provide clients with access to bid opportunities through a network that provides screened and targeted bids delivered to them via email.

Business Development

  • Business License FAQs – Quick summaries of who needs one, how much they cost, how to get them, and similar questions; from the Washington State Business Licensing Service.
  • Starting a Business – Information from the Washington State Business Licensing Service on starting a business in Washington.
  • Friday Harbor Business Licenses – If you conduct business in the town of Friday Harbor, you will likely need a business license from the town (businesses may need a Friday Harbor business license even if they conduct business in town even if they are not located in town; call the town for information on exemptions).
  • Business Plan Template (PDF)
  • SBA – Business Planning – The SBA site with a good tutorial on writing a business plan, viewable or downloadable. It includes a detailed outline and definitions.
  • SBA – Business Plan Resources – A helpful site from the national SBDC with many links to business plan guides, planning tools, and specific business plan templates for a variety of industries.
  • Sample Business Plans Resource Center – This is an excellent site for anyone who needs to write a business plan. There are many sample plans, a starting cost calculator, and planning articles.
  • Sample Business Plan Components – The Business Owner’s Toolkit site with 5 general sample business plans, as well as related articles. The business plans are not complete but are instead a demonstration of the various components found in a business plans.
  • Will My Business Make Money – A step-by-step guide for conducting a break-even analysis.

Check out the SBA’s and Dept. of Labor’s resource & tips pages for more information:

  • Idea Site for Business – Good site for advice from the marketing experts. Try the Idea-of-the-Day Online Newsletter.
  • AGBeat Daily – This newsletter comes from the folks at AGBeat, a part of the American Genius Network. This email is a great source of the latest business and technology news, presented in a very usable way. You don’t need to be a tech genius to understand what they are delivering.
  • Customer Satisfaction Survey Form – The Business Owners Toolkit is an excellent site for all small business information. This link is to a customer satisfaction survey that you can use yourself to see what your customers are thinking.
  • Ultimate Trade Show Resource – Search for trade shows, suppliers or venues.
  • Marketing Plan for the Independent Inventor – This tutorial on writing a marketing plan covers topics such as understanding the purpose of a marketing plan, identify strategies for conducting market research, target markets, competition, pricing strategy, promotional strategy and advertising strategy.
  • American Marketing Association – Great site for marketing articles, links and templates.
  • Make the Most out of Trade Shows – This article defines some easy ways to make a good impression at trade shows. It is geared toward a company willing to spend time and plenty of money to make trade shows a worthwhile endeavor.
  • Follow-Up Marketing – A study done by the Association of Sales Executives revealed that 81% of all sales happens on or after the fifth contact. If you’re a small business owner and you’re only doing one or two follow-ups imagine all the business you’re losing. This article describes a follow-up system which details types of follow-ups and useful marketing tools.
  • QuickMBA Marketing ResourcesQuickMBA is an online knowledge resource for business administration. This page details a variety of useful links to marketing resources.
  • What´s Your Signage? (PDF) – Good signs make good business, but what makes a good sign? Too often, signage is an afterthought. Visit this site and learn about how to create the most effective signs to help your bottom line, as well as enhance your community. See the many factors to be considered when making a sign that works for you.
  • Negotiating Commercial Leases – Negotiating a good lease can save you money. Learn where landlords are willing to make concessions.
  • Understanding Commercial Leases – Before you rent space for your business, be sure you understand these basic facts about commercial leases.
  • Commercial Lease Checklist – The checklist includes many items that are often addressed in commercial leases.
  • Real Property Lease Checklist – The real property lease checklist addresses the most common issues that you need to consider when you negotiate a real property lease. This comprehensive checklist identifies the terms and clauses that need to be addressed in a real property lease. It also contains questions under each term or clause that flush out the most important issues pertaining to that term or clause. It´s a good tool to use when you have a real property lease in hand from the property owner and you want to know whether the lease covers all that it should cover so that you´re properly protected.
  • Landlord/Tenant Law – Contains a brief introduction to landlord tenant law from the Wasington State Attorney General’s Office.
  • Top Ten Tax Deductions for Landlords – Tax advantage of all the tax deductions for owning rental property!