Temporary employment agencies see an uptick

Small-business Q&A: The status of tax credits for hiring the unemployed

Dear Karen: Is the tax credit for hiring formerly unemployed people going to stay in effect for 2011?

Contests are a springboard for student entrepreneurs

College students who want to start a company while still in school are getting a jump on the process by competing in contests now held by...

More small businesses are offering health benefits to workers

Major insurers around the country are reporting that a growing number of small businesses are signing up to give their workers health...

Car dealer gets a front-seat view of 'uncertainty' in the economy

Firm needs to help voodoo-style dolls boost sales

Connie Pentek's company might be saved by a voodoo doll.

Small-business advice: Contract negotiation tips

Dear Karen: I'm not good at negotiating contracts. Do you have any advice?

Small firms may have to work harder for sales and cut costs

It turned out to be a year more daunting than many Los Angeles-area small-business owners had expected, and hopes are dimming for a...

Small-business advice: Evaluate workers and reward performance, even in lean years

Dear Karen: My business is struggling. Must I do performance appraisals this year?

Small-business advice: Get free publicity by sharing expertise

Dear Karen: I have a small family business that sells earthquake-preparedness devices. We want newspaper and television exposure....

Small businesses find value in charitable giving

Small businesses may be struggling these days, but many have not given up on supporting local charities.

'Uncertainty' isn't the real reason they're not hiring

Over the last few economically stagnant months, a new explanation has emerged for why businesses are reluctant to hire more workers and...

Advice: Online document-filing firms are a tool, not a solution

Dear Karen: My business was incorporated by an online service on the last day taxes were due for the year. Had it waited one more...

How I Made It: Scott Hauge

The job: Advocating in Sacramento for small companies. Hauge is president of Small Business California, a San Francisco...

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...

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...