Only a small amount of people understand and can even comprehend the statistic that claims 92% of businesses qualify as “small” businesses-that is, they employ less than 500 people. An easier statistic to understand is that, although the vast majority of businesses are small, they only account for about 40% of the total business revenue.

Although those huge businesses employ lots of people, they aren’t nearly as significant to the health of the country as small business; those small businesses account for the livelihoods of a ridiculous amount of people. The 2006 study by the U.S. Census Bureau discovered nearly six million firms (aka businesses) exist in the United States, but only about’,000 of those businesses constitute the size of a corporation like Wal-Mart, which has more than 10,000 employees, as mentioned earlier.

The already-established and well-known economic downfall has not only hindered large companies (Circuit City declaring bankruptcy, for instance), but massive amounts of small businesses. Because small business cannot generate revenue by public trading like multinational corporations, they must rely on financial establishments to loan them money. This reliance on those firms only further complicates problems for small businesses because their source of income is highly restricted-now, even more-so because banks are less willing to hand out loans for fear of repercussions, even to businesses that have frequently displayed aptitude for successful operation.

These major hurdles place great emphasis on choosing your next steps carefully to avoid becoming another statistic under the Bankrupt column. Huge risks are probably not a wonderful idea. For example, spending a ton of hard-earned money on a thirty second super bowl ad, which approximately 2.3 million dollars, is not a very judicious use of income.

A lot of marketing ploys in the past are no longer quite as viable. This lack of viability is because the most effective marketing strategies in the past usually include a decent monetary investment, which is not advised when savings remain scarce. Though you must consider the long-term benefits of short-term investments, some short-term investments may eliminate the possibility of even being around to witness the long-term result.

Take time to learn the free way of advertising, for instance. Become adept with social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, that charge nothing for access but allow access to potentially thousands of people. Research other methods of advertising effectively without spending a lot; more exist than you may think. Even simply placing flyers around a neighborhood park doesn’t cost more than the printing costs, and maybe some discontentment from people who find flyers on their windshields.

The economy will not completely destroy every business, only the ones who fail to properly manage the situation. This includes saving what you would normally spend on extraneous perks. Soda in the office? It’s a wonderful benefit for employees, but not absolutely necessary (unless someone has a Diet Coke dependency). Keep in mind that removing small, seemingly inconsequential, perks like may detract from employee contentment, so you might want to keep the soda, but eliminate what you believe isn’t vital to the overall healthy climate of the firm.

The bottom line is, small business owners will encounter tons of hurdles, complications, seemingly insurmountable odds, but this country was founded on working beyond breaking points; overcome those impossible tasks with a flourish and be all the better for it, but do so intelligently. Hesitate where you believe you should; if something seems too risky, now’s probably not the right time to pursue it. But small businesses keep America running; losing them would be disastrous, so do everything you can to stay around. Just be smart about it.

Brian WayneScott loves to write articles about small business. Previously he’s written how to locate survey jobs, and why online survey jobs can be a fantastic part time job for almost anyone.