It's survival of the fittest for Southland's small gyms and fitness studios

With profits down, firms just aren't changing hands

Scroll the more than 7,000 small businesses for sale on a statewide website and Frenchy's Bistro & Wine Bar pops up alongside the flower...

Short and easy-to-remember Web domain names are best

Dear Karen: I researched several available domain names for my website. How do I choose one?

Finding clients: Even great work doesn't sell itself

Chad T. Takenaka sees himself as a craftsman, not a salesman. So when he bought the model-making shop where he worked, he never dreamed he'd...

Writing plan will help get start-up firm in order

Dear Karen: I'm shooting educational foreign language videos. Where can I get information on pricing, Internet sales and grants?

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...

How online retailers can minimize returns and chargebacks

Dear Karen: How can I minimize returns to my retail website after the holidays?

Owners taking painful steps to stay afloat in 2010

Step through the glass doors of Eso Won Bookstore, the landmark but struggling Leimert Park shop specializing in African American titles,...

How to make trade shows pay off

Dear Karen: Can you offer any advice for our first trade show?

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...

Obama urges community bankers to step up lending

President Obama met with community bankers at the White House on Tuesday and absolved them of blame for the financial crisis. But they didn'...