And if you believe that I have some land to sell in the middle of the Sahara Desert that will magically have water.....  Had to write about this subject as a caveat to the small business owners. The last few days most media has been sharing the "good news" that the recession is over.

Part of the responsibility of being a small business owner is to know your community and the condition of your economy. Don't rely on a few people in Washington, most of whom have never run a business, tell you that the Slump is over. Numbers can be manipulated so that they always tell the story that they are trying to "sell us".

Being your own economist allows you to make the right decision; whether you should expand your business, add new products and services or take a different marketing approach. I subscribe to the "hands on, find out for yourself" theory of economics. In your community here are several suggestions that may help you determine whether the recession is really over.

• contact a Realtor and get market trends as far as values of sold properties, number of properties on the market, and the number of foreclosures. This information is readily available at no charge.
• talk to other small business owners in your town
• talk to several bankers about the availability of loans for small business owners.
• do research on local unemployment figures; study the trends for the past 12 months.
• Last, but not least is your own business; have you seen a positive trend?

On the national level consider following gold and silver prices. As long as they are increasing, it shows a fear about the value of the dollar. These are just a few suggestions, there are many more ways to test the economic future of your own community. Most small business work within a community and rely on it customers.

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It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check once in a while and make sure you haven't lost the things money can't buy.