If you have been following the news for the past few days as I have, you probably are asking the very same questions as many small business owners do; what about us?  I watched the news last night and it was becoming clear that the Fed has no plans for the small business owner, we are on our own.
A couple of weeks ago I met with a representative of the small business development corp. to see if they knew of any programs coming up for small businesses, I was told that they knew of nothing and were waiting to see what the Fed would do in the future.  I kept thinking that any day now I would hear something positive coming form the Fed, but nothing so far.
Yes, I would say we are on our own.

If you are not one of the big boys tied in at the level of Wall Street then it appears you are out of luck.  So what should you be doing if you are a small business owner in these difficult times.  The first line of defense you have is that old standard, cutting expenses.  You may have to lay a couple of employees off or reduce their hours, difficult decisions but necessary if your business is going to survive.  Next you may be reducing in other areas of your business such as inventory.  In good times business owners tend to carry a good supply of inventory, if you are floor planning this is an additional interest cost and if you are buying outright it drains your cash flow, either way it cost.  You may want to consider cutting back on your hours of operations.  Remember it takes money to open in the morning and stay open throughout the day.  With banks not lending, you have no way for replacing that cash flow. Every dime you bring in must be treated with respect to the survival of your business.
 
Small business is no different then big business, it takes cash to operate.  The big three are on Capitol Hill  begging for another government hand out, cash is what they need right now.  The one thing we have not seen is small business on Capital Hill asking for help.  On the little barrier island where I live, here in North Florida, we are starting to realize quickly that we have to help eachother survive on a local and regional level. Buy USA on the larger scale of things becomes Buy Local. Support Your Local Small Business Owner. If it requires protectionism of the local business scene, than that is the stark reality. Another important venue is to start networking with other small businesses. We are all in the same boat, but by networking our field of influence and information becomes much larger, which in turn will increase our chances to keep the money flowing in smaller communities.

Isolated communities, such as islands, understand this much better, especially if their main source of income is seasonally affected. Islands that live from tourism, create a second ehomegrown economy to get them through the off season, whether it be construction, agriculture, fishing or Internet Operations.

Owning your own business is the hardest job in the world, I am convinced of that.  Entrepreneurs do it because it is in their blood and they must do it.  There will be those who will survive these hard times, many will fall by the wayside as the economy sinks deeper.  Those that survive will apply the long standing Fundamentals of Wealth, Health and Happiness ( work longer, harder and smarter, give time and attention to a strong homebase of happiness and give your body the physical excercise it needs to stay strong and healthy).

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