Small Business

With Fortitude Ranch, the entrepreneur Drew Miller is betting on franchised timeshares for people who are worried about the end of the world.

By Alexander Nazaryan and Emily Najera

For many Black women, summertime calls for braids. Pricing for knotless braids, which are faster to braid, feel lighter and have gotten more popular, depends on the length and size of each braid and color blend, and whether hair used in the boho style is human or synthetic.

By Lola Fadulu and Naima Green

As chronic work stress climbs, entrepreneurs find opportunity in the burgeoning space of burnout coaching.

By Martha C. White

Twenty years after opening in Williamsburg, Catbird is expanding across America.

By Misty White Sidell

To help make the Olympic Games in Paris greener, Le Pavé, a manufacturing start-up, is making podiums and stadium seating out of recycled plastic.

By Liz Alderman

Funding for A.I. firms made up nearly half the $56 billion in U.S. start-up financing from April to June, according to PitchBook.

By Erin Griffith

The online marketplace is putting in place a new safety-oriented policy, banning the sale of “mature” products, including vintage Playboys and many sex toys.

By Jessica Testa

Tyrese Haspil, 25, was convicted of murdering his former boss, the entrepreneur Fahim Saleh, and dismembering his body in 2020.

By Maia Coleman

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT are finding widest use at big companies, but there is wide expectation that the impact will spread.

By Sydney Ember

The leading companies are co-opting Silicon Valley’s traditional cycle of disruption.

By Mark Lemley and Matt Wansley

Cole Mannix, of Old Salt Co-op, is trying to change local appetites and upend an industry controlled by multibillion-dollar meatpackers.

By Susan Shain and Rebecca Stumpf

Bill Hall, the proprietor, has assembled a vast collection of hard-to-find fashion books and magazines coveted by designers and influencers.

By T.M. Brown

Who has not dreamed of turning a side hustle into a full-time gig? Luis Rivera Jr., who sells barbecue on the weekends in the Bronx from his food truck, is trying.

By David Gonzalez and Elias Williams

In “Triumph of the Yuppies,” Tom McGrath revels in the stories of a generation that turned its back on protest and bought into consumer culture.

By Jacob Goldstein

A fire left Lucy Yu’s literary hub in Chinatown gutted. She was determined to rebuild it.

By Jordyn Holman and Hiroko Masuike

With a rising number of artists vying for a limited number of galleries and grants, arts professionals are pivoting to careers as coaches. But can they help people profit from their talents?

By Travis Diehl

Social media fans of Bag Balm, a moisturizer originally made for cows’ udders, say it’s just the thing for “slugging.”

By Steven Kurutz

Ampla, which lent money to smaller businesses that sold clothing, home furnishings and other items directly to consumers, is struggling financially and seeking a buyer.

By Jordyn Holman

Marc Andreessen, Chamath Palihapitiya and several other tech venture capitalists are increasingly criticizing President Biden and making their disaffection known in an election year.

By Erin Griffith

When James and Alexa Hirschfeld started Paperless Post 15 years ago, some saw its digital invitations as a fad. Instead, they have become a fixture of events and have spawned imitators.

By Christopher Barnard

The experience of TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, in Beijing and Washington shows how much the ground has shifted for China’s entrepreneurs.

By Li Yuan

The brand’s entrepreneurship program aims to expand opportunities for business owners creating “solutions for change.”

By Nazanin Lankarani

The National Labor Relations Board says the management at Lodi unlawfully fought a union drive. If the allegations are upheld, the board could force the company to bargain.

By Priya Krishna

For Olympics-goers and just plain vacationers, here are new accommodations that offer a special taste of France, Italy and Greece.

By Stephanie Rosenbloom

New Ho King, open since 1976 in Toronto, has become an unlikely pop-culture battleground after being featured in songs from both rappers.

By T.M. Brown

Companies like Lego and Mattel have divisions that seek out design concepts directly from collectors and other highly dedicated fan bases.

By Isaac Aronow

The chain, which started with a single shop in Brooklyn in 1924, said it would close all 42 of its locations by the end of July, citing competition from online retailers.

By Michael Levenson

Carpenters Workshop Gallery has long pushed the limits of design. Now, they’ve made a bold bet on a new space in North Kensington. Will it pay off?

By Ginanne Brownell

In the battleground state of Georgia, some Black entrepreneurs are frustrated over the impact of higher interest rates, a source of economic anxiety.

By Peter S. Goodman

Since pleading guilty to violating money-laundering rules, Changpeng Zhao, who ran the giant crypto exchange Binance, has networked across the United States to set up his next act.

By David Yaffe-Bellany and Cade Metz

After moving 10 times in 10 years, a woman found that a little luck was the best companion for a lot of hard work. She won a studio in a lottery on her fifth try.

By D.W. Gibson

The oil-rich kingdom is plowing money into glitzy events, computing power and artificial intelligence research, putting it in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China struggle for technological influence.

By Adam Satariano and Paul Mozur

Lawyers for Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the crypto exchange Binance, countered that he should receive no prison time.

By David Yaffe-Bellany

La red social ha superado a la competencia sobre todo porque sus rivales han flaqueado. En marzo, registró 1,5 millones de visitantes únicos en Estados Unidos. La popularidad no asegura que sea rentable.

By David Yaffe-Bellany and Matthew Goldstein

Donald Trump’s social media platform has outdistanced similar conservative sites such as Parler and Gettr, even as it lags far behind X and others.

By David Yaffe-Bellany and Matthew Goldstein

A laid-back shop in Los Angeles is a semi-secret spot for celebrities and costume designers.

By Alexandra Jacobs

Another solution to a problem we didn’t know we had.

By Jessica Roy

A dozen red roses is timeless. But its price tag is not. At Ditmars Flower Shop in Queens, where costs have soared in recent years, a bouquet is $72, up from $60 in 2019.

By Stefanos Chen and Adrienne Grunwald

A few New York City restaurants are experimenting with virtual staff members, who greet customers onscreen via Zoom from the Philippines.

By Stefanos Chen

Amira Yahyaoui, a human rights activist, promoted the success of her student aid start-up, Mos. Some of her statements do not add up, according to internal data and people familiar with the company.

By Erin Griffith

Many companies, particularly in the beauty and fashion industries, have boosted sales through the platform. They don’t really have a backup plan.

By Jordyn Holman and Julie Creswell

Beyoncé, Shania Twain, Kevin Costner and many reality TV regulars are loyal customers of Kemo Sabe hats. The shop in Aspen can’t believe its luck.

By Jessica Roy and Kristín Braga Wright

Fresh business school graduates are raising “search funds” from willing investors to buy companies they can lead.

By Nell Gallogly

Big-name investors such as Reid Hoffman and Michael Moritz are pulling back, creating room for a new generation of tech power brokers.

By Erin Griffith

Marc Lore, the entrepreneur behind Diapers.com and Jet.com, would like to disrupt food delivery. But he really wants to build a brand that actually lasts.

By Elizabeth G. Dunn

Palm oil. It’s in your snacks, your soap, pretty much everything. But palm oil plantations have caused vast deforestation. Can these three tech executives help fix things?

By Dionne Searcey

He avoided the spotlight, but he helped bring to market an explosively popular computer program that revolutionized the architecture and design industries.

By Alex Williams

Are role-playing games enriching culture, or destroying it? In two shows, the artist Simon Denny spoofs the grandiose fantasy worlds of tech entrepreneurs designing virtual reality.

By Travis Diehl

Higher prices? Fewer places? As several states consider lifting wages for tipped workers, here’s how the shift is already playing out in the nation’s capital.

By Priya Krishna

Robert Kwok founded Beaufort Watches, one of only four such businesses now operating in New Zealand.

By Annabel Davidson

The company raised $7.3 billion over the last year, as the lure of artificial intelligence changes Silicon Valley deal-making.

By Erin Griffith and Cade Metz

The entrepreneur wants to help build the new space economy, one Prada spacesuit and Jeff Koons-filled lunar lander at a time.

By Tim Fernholz

Readers who are self-employed react to an Opinion guest essay. Also: Nikki Haley; fears of extinction; cutting sociology; the agony of the bulls.

Regulatory scrutiny felled the sale of Figma, a design platform, to Adobe. Now it’s grappling with employee expectations and a changing market.

By Erin Griffith

Blame rising costs, shrunken crowds and a black-market permit trade. Chicken over rice costs $10 at the Halal Plates, a cart in Lower Manhattan, up from $6 prepandemic.

By Stefanos Chen and Ahmed Gaber

Some ambitious entrepreneurs in New York City are experimenting with diversified business models to connect with shoppers and bring in more money.

By Nina Roberts

Hannah Neeleman, a Utah homemaker with a huge social media following, goes to Las Vegas, newborn in tow, to compete for Mrs. World.

By Madison Malone Kircher and Bridget Bennett

Are they gas stations that serve food or restaurants that pump gas? A new photography book explores the lure of these restorative community rest stops.

By Kim Severson

Wanda James is on a mission to empower entrepreneurs from communities harmed by racial disparities in marijuana arrests.

By Joshua Needelman

That’s the hope at the restaurant Maxim’s in Paris, which recently started a new chapter after 130 years in business.

By Chantel Tattoli

Paynter Jacket Co., a small label in London, has built a loyal following thanks to its limited-edition chore coats.

By Steven Kurutz

Her new store, Atelier Jolie, occupies an unassuming building on Great Jones Street with an illustrious history.

By Alex Vadukul

Miniature livestock are a hot-ticket item this holiday season.

By Madison Malone Kircher

In a fractious era, tea salons provide an oasis.

By Steven Kurutz

Trevor Milton, who founded the truck company Nikola, was sentenced on Monday in a fraud case that exposed the excesses in the electric vehicle business.

By Jack Ewing

Amid wild cost fluctuations and extreme weather conditions, a small army of workers toiled for years at Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm in Belvidere, N.J. The goal? Producing this year’s crop, including this seven-foot Norway Spruce, which is sold for $105.

By Stefanos Chen and Bryan Anselm

Este ha sido el año más difícil para el sector en una década, según los expertos. En Silicon Valley, las nuevas empresas tecnológicas con más negocio son las que ayudan a otras a finiquitar sus operaciones.

By Erin Griffith

The National Retail Federation had said that nearly half of the industry’s $94.5 billion in missing merchandise in 2021 was the result of organized theft. It was likely closer to 5 percent, experts say.

By Eduardo Medina

After staving off collapse by cutting costs, many young tech companies are out of options, fueling a cash bonfire.

By Erin Griffith

The humble cotton button-down helps power New York City, through its presence in practically every office in town. But few people understand the shirt’s transformation from dirty to clean, which at Kingbridge Cleaners & Tailors will run you $6.

By Eliza Shapiro and Lanna Apisukh