January 12, 2021 6:00 AM
A man walks by a closed business with a sign reading For Lease in Santa Monica on July 28, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)
Thousands of small businesses in Los Angeles closed permanently this year. Many more are limping along. So what do the ones that stayed open have in common?
I ve been putting that question to local small business experts, as well as business owners themselves, and one trait keeps coming up: a willingness to try new things. If you want to stay in business, keep being innovative, flexible and responsive, said Colette Moore, who leads the Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Corporation in Koreatown.