i have my own business too ...20 years ...   i do better on economic down turns . as people dont want to buy new cars when they worry about their jobs ...

right now this economy is kicking butt - there is a backlog of new housing construction in this area enough so that local towns have institited a moratorium on new construction - the base price for a little house is 300 grand , new hoses cost 300 to the sky grand averaging 500 grand - our large employer[ IBM ]has announced lay offs and nothing changes ...   total property taxes hover between 3k and 20k depending on location and house age.      i live in dutchess county NY and we are not the fastest growing county in the state .   we are #3 .

              this country has the lowest unemployment of any western country - our trade deficeit was $650 billion - much higher than many other's totals -- our interest rates are low but slowly climbing , the dollar is low compared to foreign currency , oil here and gas is cheaper than any other western country even thogh it is at a record high   - it doesnt get much better than this folks -   quitcherbitchen .  

stop buying cheap chinese crap and lower the trade deficeit - that is the only problem with the current economy ..... it's up to you , the american consumer to do it .