L.A. County jobless program works for employers too

Competition for state contracts rises in tight times

State government might seem like a ready, deep-pocketed customer for California small businesses, but these days there is far less money...

Poor cash flow? Take stock of your inventory

Dear Karen: I need better cash flow. Any tips?

Obama's still stumping for healthcare

President Obama took to the road Thursday, telling an audience in Maine that the passage of the healthcare overhaul showed his...

Personal touches are key to customer service

Dear Karen: Do you have tips on how my company can improve customer service?

Student-run store gets hard lesson in lost profit

Tiger's Den, the student-run snack bar at South Pasadena High School, has watched its profit plummet by more than half this year after a law...

Hiring a collection agency? Research it first

Dear Karen: How do I choose a collection service for my unpaid invoices?

A source of assistance for entrepreneurs needs some help

Linda Ikeda started her energy-bar business in Long Beach two years ago, hand-mixing, baking and packaging the oat, spice and fruit blends...

Airplane propeller repair shop hits credit turbulence

At a repair shop for airplane propellers near Van Nuys Airport, Keith Hironaka bends over a long metal blade, smoothing its mottled...

Coffee-roasting brood keeps L.A. ethnic communities brewing

The coffee beans roasted, ground, packaged and shipped out of the F. Gaviña & Sons Inc. factory in Vernon are as diverse as the...

Firm distributes wines robust in black pride

When Selena Cuffe sampled South African wines four years ago in Soweto, she didn't wax poetic about their rustic radiance, about plum and...

Flying Pigeon LA peddles bike culture north of downtown

On the third Sunday of each month, a dozen or so people pedal out of Highland Park atop steel-frame bikes straight out of the Chinese...

A friend to L.A.'s best old buildings

The gig: Founder and principal of Levin & Associates Architects, a Los Angeles firm that specializes in historic building...

Find new start-ups through entrepreneurship groups

Dear Karen: My firm helps start-ups with marketing strategies. How can we reach them early on, before our competitors do?

Inviting a Wal-Mart into Florence-Firestone

The little tortilleriatortilleria, hidden away in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood near Watts, could be mistaken for a...

Time bank takes root in Echo Park

ANE CRABTREE, a costume designer and stylist, was on location in Bulgaria when a professional chef e-mailed to say she'd be happy to give...

Think chocolate can't get any better? These Willy Wonkas beg to differ

Meet the new Willy Wonka: Timothy Childs is a former space shuttle technologist who's building a 29,000-square-foot chocolate factory on...

Tote-bag firm Gigi Hill is thinking bigger

It started with a $10 tote.

A formula for expanding successfully

Gabrielle DeSantis-Cummings and Monica Hillman are on the hunt for about $250,000 to quickly expand their small company, Gigi Hill, which...

SBA wish list seeks rules reform

For many small-business owners, it can seem as though federal bureaucrats do little more than churn out reams of mind-numbing regulations...