Concrete is a basic commodity, so how does a supplier differentiate itself in a highly competitive marketplace? With a relentless focus on customer service and delivery. That’s precisely how Leaman Building Materials Inc., based in the Houston ...

Decorative Water Gardens & Landscapes is rooted in founder Antonio Aparicio’s desire to help Oklahoma homeowners and businesses enhance the beauty of their properties. Since he founded the company in 1994, Aparicio and his staff have created ...

ParkingCarma, Inc., located in Flint, Michigan with development offices in California, is the 2007 spin-off of the flagship business segment of Acme Innovation Inc., a California-based company that specializes in converged communications and dynamic ...

As a San Francisco social worker, Akiko Giometti enjoyed helping others improve their lives, but she could never quite shake a long-held dream of running her own business. So while she continued working with homeless youths, getting them started ...

Many people love animals, but few take their obsession as far as Mark Klaiman and Virginia Donohue do. The San Francisco couple run Pet Camp, a luxurious home away from home for dogs and cats whose owners are out of town. View the PDF

The hills in and around San Francisco are part of the city’s charm—that is, until you have to run them at 6 a.m. That’s what Mike Giometti does almost every day, with scores of clients. Giometti owns SF Outdoor Fitness, a five-year-old boot ...

Pacific Southwest Financial® (PSF) operates behind the scenes. The firm doesn’t have storefronts you can walk into, and it doesn’t deal directly with the public. Nonetheless, thousands of high-net-worth investors in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii ...

Art collectors Burt and Missy Finger started their Photographs Do Not Bend (PDNB) Gallery in 1995 to showcase high-end photo-based art. The gallery exhibits important work from regional, national and international artists from the early ...

About Gulf Copper Gulf Copper started operations over 50 years ago as a specialty contractor installing copper tubing on marine vessels. Since that time, the company has greatly expanded its scope of operations. It continues to serve the commercial ...

A Recipe for PerfectionCustomer Service Foodies have been known to travel hours for a taste of the grilled black figs with tangy lime sauce, a medallion of veal tenderloin with woodsy mushrooms, or a slice of Valrhona chocolate cake with roasted ...

Q and A with Gloria and Richard Pink of Pink'sSince 1939, Pink's has been serving up hot dogs to crowds that line up day and night in front of the Los Angeles stand. As Gloria Pink notes, even the stars come out - and wait, just like everyone else - ...

Second-generation Americans are taking over the businesses started by their immigrant parents, and expanding them beyond their original ethnic niches with savvy marketing and financial know-how. At the same time, these modern managers are retaining ...

Janet Kraus and Kathy Sherbrooke had corporate experience, Ivy League degrees, and M.B.A.s from Stanford. But they still had to battle sexist venture capitalists. Today, their company, Circles, is one of three national concierge services, with sales ...

These mothers of invention have created an endless variety of kid-inspired products, started their own companies to take their ideas to market, and in several cases made some serious money. Now organizations and Web sites have sprung up to serve ...

Who is most likely to start new businesses? People aged 55 to 64, that's who. Venture capitalists may not be interested in later-life entrepreneurs, but banks are. These entrepreneurs all have experience, but there is one aspect that separates the ...

Let's Be FriendsFrancisco Dao once worked at a small west coast firm that ran like a big, happy social club with a never-ending stream of office parties, ice cream socials and pub crawls. The only problem was the firm, which had recently gone ...