Small Business

The little tortilleria, hidden away in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood near Watts, could be mistaken for a thousand others in the city's immigrant core. It's on a mostly residential stretch of Nadeau Street, a few blocks removed from commercial corridors where the buildings that look newer than others nearby are the ones that were rebuilt after the 1992 riots. Playa Azul is a family business, and pork is the house specialty.

Chatting with curious shoppers at her Santa Ana eco-boutique, Delilah Snell finds herself spending hours answering questions about the uncommon goods she carries: $47-a-gallon soy-based wall paints, biodegradable cutlery and native California seeds, among other items. Most first-time visitors to the Road Less Traveled don't buy a thing. "But they come back," said Snell, 32, who opened her North Main Street shop three years ago with $12,000 saved from a waitress job.

For many of the millions of Americans who lost their jobs over the last year, the next step is starting a business. And many of these enterprises are being launched out of the entrepreneurs' homes. Owners of new home-based businesses find there are pros and cons to running a company out of a spare bedroom or den. The upsides include a more flexible lifestyle and big cost savings.

Empire Building Services owner Suzanne DeRossett still refers to the thick report put together three years ago by a team of student consultants from Cal State Fullerton for her janitorial firm. She paid $1,250 for the semester-long consulting project, which helped her set up a new accounting system, streamline inventory management and create an employee handbook and new performance rewards. The review came at the right time for her Santa Ana company, which was just passing the 50-employee mark.

At Mt. Waterman ski and snowboard park, the vintage two-seater chairlifts are a bit on the rickety side, and equipment pokes through the snow near a huddle of no-frills buildings and plastic picnic tables scattered halfway up the slope. With none of the chaotic cacophony of larger resorts, the isolation is punctuated only by the soft swish of skis, the occasional darting flash of a boarder through the trees, the snow melting into the sky. And that's how the regulars like it.

Last spring, Drew Boyles got the news that his junk-hauling operation would have to pay as much as $510,000 to retrofit its 17 diesel trucks under new state anti-pollution rules. The El Segundo business owner, who runs several 1-800-Got-Junk? franchises, said he feared that buying equipment to curb diesel exhaust for his entire fleet would put him "in grave financial distress."

Robert L. Holton is happiest in the paint-spattered studio behind his One Day Signs shop in Anaheim, making the paint-dribbled pop art that is his true passion. If he could, Holton says, he'd devote all his time to Drizzle Studios, his fledgling side venture. But Holton feels a duty to stick with the sign business until his son, Trevor, decides whether he wants to take over the family operation. Trevor, 27, runs the office and owns a 5% share.

Diane Krup spent more than $200,000 four years ago to buy a small shop in San Juan Capistrano that sells British foods and knickknacks. Then the recession hit. Krup hasn't taken a salary in over a year, and she has been steadily losing money for months. She expects to be out of business soon. "Where's my bailout?" Krup, 49, wants to know. "I'm not asking for a golden handshake. I'm not asking for a lot of money. But there needs to be some way to help small businesses during times like this."

As he pursued a new line of work for his small fragrance firm, Neal Harris realized something startling: His competitors might be able to do the job better. Instead of giving up, Harris hooked up with his rivals to make a new product for a customer's book about a dog that could "see" colors using his sense of smell. Harris provided the fragrances, one temporary partner provided the material that carried the scents, and a third small business helped with packaging.

DBC Ride Shop in San Clemente hit some rough waves in recent years as competition, the loss of a longtime location and an expensive experiment with snowboard gear drowned sales at the once-thriving skateboard and surf shop.