Small Business

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.

At age 60, C. Kumar N. Patel had a resume of accomplishments few scientists could match. In a span of four decades, Patel invented the carbon dioxide laser, which revolutionized manufacturing and surgical procedures, obtained 38 patents and ran the physics and engineering departments at Bell Labs, a premier research operation historically attached to AT&T.

While lawmakers in Washington grapple with an economic rescue plan, small-business owners aren't waiting to take steps to survive the deepening recession. Layoffs, sweeping reviews of business models, increased client hand-holding and sped-up product launches are underway at local firms, with some predicting growth despite the tough economy.

Renee Kim hopes her heart doesn't get broken on Valentine's Day. The Long Beach newlywed isn't worried about her husband, James Slama. He'll be at her side all day, helping deliver cookie bouquets and other goodies for her franchise bake shop, Cookies by Design. She's concerned about sluggish sales of the $20 to $150 arrangements of heart- or rose-shaped cookies. "I'm really bracing myself," says Kim, who bought the shop on Pacific Coast Highway almost three years ago.

Income tax filing season can be a trying time for small-business owners, even more so in a recession. One of the biggest pitfalls owners are likely to encounter is a perennial one: poor record keeping that makes it hard for them not only to complete their returns but also to know where they stand financially. Another common problem is keeping up with changes in the tax laws, especially for state and local governments that are looking for ways to increase revenue.

Environmentalists are battling small businesses to preserve a law that would pull children's products that may contain lead and chemicals from shelves by next week. The environmentalists won a round Thursday when a federal judge overturned a decision by a government commission and said manufacturers and retailers could not sell children's items containing phthalates, which are chemicals used to soften plastic, after Tuesday.

As the recession bores deeper into the economy, small and medium-size businesses are showing the effects by shedding workers at a rapid pace. That indicates, employment experts say, how the downturn is spreading well beyond the manufacturing and housing sectors. On a more upbeat note, California officials have decided not to stiff the smallest businesses even though the budget mess has left the state unable to pay many of its bills.

Terrence Payne's 48-year-old family grocery store was lost in a blaze of urban rage. A bid to rebuild it was strangled by red tape. A subsequent consulting operation struggled against closed doors. Some people might have taken the hint and decided that they weren't meant to be their own boss. Instead, Payne tried again.