Running a small business in LA usually means being your own accountant, marketer, and emergency plumber, often on the same Tuesday. So it’s worth pausing for a program that actually takes one of those hats off your head.
The LA County Department of Economic Opportunity launched a new Financial Clinic on August 22, aimed at businesses with 100 or fewer employees and under $19 million in annual revenue — which covers the overwhelming majority of businesses in this county, including, statistically, yours. The program pairs you with Managed Career Solutions for financial assessments, capital readiness coaching, and financial literacy workshops, plus Money Management International for debt counseling and budgeting support. Translation: someone else finally looks at your cash flow spreadsheet so you don’t have to.
Services cover credit-building, debt management, and general financial stabilization — the unglamorous stuff that determines whether a business survives its fifth year, not just its first. The county is targeting at least 200 small businesses through this and the companion Marketing Lab+ program, and enrollment is open now through at least the end of September 2026 at emi.lacounty.gov/FinancialClinic.
If you’ve been putting off getting real about your books because “free financial coaching” sounded like a scam or a timeshare pitch, this is neither — it’s a county program with your tax dollars already paying for it.
Got your finances in order (or working on it)? Make sure customers can actually find you while you do — list your business on Los Angeles Business Web and get discovered by the LA area searching for exactly what you do.