Business Profiles
Case Studies of Successful Small Businesses
6 Sales and Strategy Tips From a Big-Time Apartment Manager
Managing your own house is tough enough. Now envision managing 1,000 of them. Business consultant Nancy Butler managed more than 1,000 apartments in Connecticut over the course of a dozen …
At One Publishing Startup, the News Is Still Fit to Print in the Digital Age
Just when most people thought print journalism was going down the tubes, with newspapers consolidating and laying off reporters and readers turning to the internet, journalist Michael Stoll launched the …
Mark Duff on How to Succeed in the DJ Business
DJ Mark Duff has provided music at nightclubs and private events in Southern California for the past 25 years. Although he makes it look easy, the job requires far more …
Stroke of Brilliance: Live Event Artist Taps Into Wedding Market
Painter Ken Lund discovered his unusual market niche in 2005, after a chance meeting with a “live event artist.” These creative types are commissioned to attend parties and other functions …
James Chartrand of Men With Pens on Being a Woman in the Copywriting World
James Chartrand, a copywriter from Montreal, built a reputation as the chief “man” behind the writing and web design firm Men With Pens. Frequent blogging on both that site and …
Ice Cream Shop Adds Flavor to Detroit Neighborhood
Detroit’s Eastern Market bustles with funky retail stores, a farmer’s market, and live music on Saturdays. But as Brittney Mabry and her family strolled through the popular outdoor shopping district …
How One Artist Gets Big Visibility in a Small Town
Rich Sigberman is the consummate small town artist in Corte Madera, California, a small community about 10 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The life of an artist sounds …
Beam Me Up by iPhone — Astronomy Software Makes Celestial Comeback
In 2009, Mike Smithwick was touring Florence with other astronomy enthusiasts to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s invention of the telescope. As soon as he introduced himself to his …
Stockton: A Far from “Miserable” Place to Do Business
Stockton is located in the heart of fertile California’s Central Valley, but based on recent press, you would think the city was a wasteland where dreams go to die. In …
How One Small Doctors’ Office Uses Facebook
Click through a collection of Facebook Pages and you’re likely to see a lot of retail, entertainment, and other consumer-focused small businesses trying to get the word out. But an …
The “Queen of Condiments” Dishes About Being a Foodpreneur
Global Industry Analysts predicts that overall sales of condiments, sauces, dressing, and seasonings will reach $72 billion by 2015. Twenty-three years ago, before America’s condiment craze really began, Lisa Lamme …
Super 8 Ukiah Brings Green to the Hospitality Industry
As electric and hybrid cars have begun to enter the auto mainstream, states like California have been leading the way in promoting the use of these low- or no-emission vehicles. Through …
Teenpreneur Cashes in with Manly Candle Business
When 13-year-old Hart Main joked with his sister that the candles she sold for a school fundraiser were too girly, it sparked a business idea. Why not create candles with …
For Tartine Bakery, Bread Lines Signal Success
At five o’clock, when most bakeries are winding down for the day, San Francisco’s Tartine Bakery & Café has a line of people running down Guerrero Street. Tartine’s fresh-baked bread …
5 Lessons Your Small Business Can Learn From Apple’s Retail Strategy
Throughout most of the 1990s, Apple was a company in decline — a stark reality hastened by the fact that Mac fans often had no savvy sales or tech support …
