Small Business

In better economic times, Santa Clarita mortgage broker Fred Arnold relied on a home equity line of credit if his cash flow was uneven and he needed to cover payroll. But when home sales crumbled last fall, there was no such backstop for the business. His home was still worth more than the mortgage, but his bank was retrenching and had shut down the credit line. So Arnold sold his house, used some of the proceeds to keep his business afloat and bought a smaller home.

Workers laid off by California's smallest businesses have a shot at subsidized healthcare under a bill moving quickly through the Legislature. As part of February's stimulus package, some laid-off employees can get the government to temporarily cover 65% of the cost of continuing their health insurance under the federal COBRA law, which allows workers to keep their healthcare coverage but requires them to pay the premiums.

The women and men, gently prodded by a facilitator, opened up about their daily inspirational practices: "Every morning and every night I create a feeling of gratitude for everything in my life," one woman said. Said another: "Remembering that there are so many people with so much less." Group therapy? No. It's a workforce training session held last month for the employees of Primary Freight Services Inc. of Rancho Dominguez.

A glance through the front window at Planet Florist in West Los Angeles reveals a flower shop packed with furniture, fixtures and flower vases. The concrete floor has old paint spattered on it. Fluorescent lights beam down and a rusty, broken neon sign tops the bulky awning out front. It's a far cry from the upscale design that owner James Underwood specializes in for clients that include the luxury Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica.

For more than 50 years, Kimmel-Meehan has tended to the fine clothing needs of generations of men from its storefront on Montrose's picturesque Honolulu Avenue. Founders Gale Kimmel and Howard Meehan are long gone, and soon their store will be too. On Thursday, the landmark haberdashery launched a going-out-of-business sale with all merchandise marked 40% to 80% off.

Dear Karen: Last year I started an online business for ladies' apparel, but I have yet to sell an item. Where can I buy products? Answer: If you're having trouble sourcing product, you haven't done enough research into the apparel industry, said Ilse Metchek, president of the California Fashion Assn. "Locating manufacturers is not a problem in Los Angeles. There are thousands of them in the Fashion District" downtown, Metchek said. "I suggest that writing a business plan is in order."

Professional matchmaker Julie Ferman, chief executive of Cupid's Coach, used to meet with clients in a hotel lobby or one of a dozen restaurants around town to save them the drive to her home-based office in Westlake Village. It wasn't always the best choice for clients expected to share personal information for their dating profiles, but like many start-up founders she was pinching pennies and testing her concept. Ferman spent the time between appointments trying to work in her parked car.

It wouldn't have surprised me if Leila Mozaffari and her staff were spending their workdays in stone silence, amusing themselves by watching the hands on the clock inch forward. And when that got old, perhaps twiddling their thumbs or making paper airplanes. Anything to while away what I imagined might well be long, lonely hours without any clients. How dare I underestimate the pluck of the American entrepreneur. Or, in some cases, the survival instinct.

Tonight, the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th U.S. president, hundreds of partygoers will gather at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington to celebrate the role of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the historic election.

The beginning of the year means small-business owners need to start thinking about income tax returns. But with the economy in tatters, they may need to focus more on bringing in revenue than sorting through receipts. The recession is making many owners reexamine their priorities. Many may realize that chores that they've handled themselves in the past, including taxes and keeping the company books, are better off turned over to someone else.