Buy firm that fits you, your budget

Dear Karen: I’d like to buy a small business. Where can I find legitimate possibilities?

Answer: It’s easy to find businesses for sale. It’s more difficult to find the right one for your personality and budget. Think about your skills and the tasks and challenges you enjoy, as well as your financial resources, before you start shopping, said Gregory Caruso, a principal at mergers and acquisitions firm Harvest Associates.

“You must be willing to take a substantial financial risk in order to buy a successful business. In most cases, you will provide a substantial down payment -- from 15% to 50% of the price -- and you and your spouse will need to guarantee the remaining loan with all your assets,” Caruso said.

You can find legitimate business listings in the classifieds section of most major newspapers or online at websites such as www.bizbuysell.com and www.mergernetwork.com.

“Expect to call and investigate plenty of businesses to find one that makes sense for you,” Caruso said. “Talk to all the business brokers in your area and contact the brokers you feel good about every two months to see what new listings they have.”

Once you’ve narrowed the list of what kind of business you want, you can also call local business owners whose companies are not on the market but might meet your requirements, he said. Expect this process to take six months to two years.

Give Web visitors tidbits to chew on

Dear Karen: How can I increase my Web presence and stand out from my competition?

Answer: Simple: Provide free quality content, tailored specifically to your customer base, and make it easy for them to buy from you. Give them regularly updated, interesting information, instruction and entertainment, and they will return to your site again and again.

Experiment with blogs, newsletters, podcasts and online videos and use whatever works best, said Ilana Rabinowitz, vice president of marketing for Carlstadt, N.J.-based Lion Brand Yarn Co. Her company’s website has become a hub for the knitters, crocheters and crafters that make up Lion Brand Yarn’s target audience.

“Put yourself in the customer’s position and think about what they want. For us, that means free patterns, tips, lessons, a calendar of events, interviews with popular authors and bloggers -- all sorts of free stuff,” Rabinowitz said. “The basic rule is to give them value, and they’ll give you permission to market to them. If you’re generous with what you provide, that attitude will come back to you from your customers.”

Simple efforts can draw more to site

Dear Karen: How can I boost traffic to my website?

Answer: Write about your business, your industry and your passions every day through a blog linked to your site. This will raise your search engine rankings. If you can’t contribute daily, recruit employees to help and ask them to comment on other blogs that cover relevant topics, said Richard Rabins, co-chair of Alpha Software.

“Spend a little money on Google AdWords,” Rabins said. “It’s a quick, easy and cost-effective way to rapidly build awareness of your business and drive traffic.”

Send out news releases of events, specials and promotions, making sure to include links to your website and blog, and don’t forget to sell something, even if your site is not primarily e-commerce oriented.

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Got a question about running or starting a small enterprise? E-mail it to ke.klein@ latimes.com or mail it to In Box, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012