In both sports and warfare, they say the harder the battle, the more valuable is the ground that’s gained.

Maybe that’s why some entrepreneurs come to believe their company is worth more than it really is. They’ve poured blood, sweat and tears – not to mention loads of hard-earned cash – into their venture. They’ve battled competitors, banks, their spouses, customers and accountants – the company has got to be worth a million dollars! Or is it?

Source/Read More: CBC News

Started with the numbers:

1. The math just doesn’t work. There is not enough demand for the product or service at a price that will produce a profit for the company. This, for example, would include a start-up trying to compete against Best Buy and its economies of scale.

Get the rest of the reasons why small businesses fail here.

A burrito company known for super-sized stuffed tortillas goes small. A chocolatier turns to cheaper pick-me-ups rather than expensive indulgences. A furniture retailer expands in the midst of the housing market bust.

Three businesses with three different stories, yet one unmistakable conclusion. For all the hand-wringing about the economy, plenty of companies are getting it right. They’re doing it the same way businesses have survived bad economies for decades: through innovation, cutting costs and a little luck.

“When you see big national companies struggling, many times I wonder how we will make it,” says John Pepper, who founded the Boston-based burrito chain Boloco 13 years ago. “We are constantly blocking and tackling. We have to be.”

What follows are three good-news stories in a bad-news economy.

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ALL BUSINESS: What companies do in a tough economy

I have been observing more and more business owners who, although their businesses have survived the economic downturn, seem to be losing heart.

The stress and strain caused by these difficult times has worn on them. But doing business in today’s economy requires a steady hand, a sharp eye and most of all — a calm mind. There are four steps that can be taken to help to cope with the emotional toll of being an entrepreneur in difficult times.

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Surviving the Great Recession: Tips for business owners losing heart

After months of rising confidence, small business owners are not as optimistic, according the latest mood-gauging index.

The Discover Small Business Watch reported that its index, which measures economic confidence, fell to 86.1 in June from 87.4 in May. The drop in the index is thought to have been caused by business owners worrying over having access to enough capital to successfully run a business. The number of small business owners who said that they were having problems with funding rose to 51 percent, up from 45 percent in May. The number of small business owners who have been worried about access to cash has not been at that level since January.

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Discover Small Business index finds declining confidence

While recession continues to run as a powerful business killer, small business owners have inherent set of distinct advantages – speed, flexibility, and manageability – that can help mitigate or neutralize recessional difficulties. Unlike their counterparts in many large business organizations, small business owners can quickly make important decisions, change business models, adopt new operational paradigms, and manage new growth objectives based on their internal capacity to respond to external factors of business.

To leverage these distinct advantages to a sustainable position of strength amid recessional pains, it is best for small business owners to adopt the following basic strategies:

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Strategies for small business owners dealing with a recession

Recessions are especially hard on small businesses. Few small firms have the resources to stay the course and wait out the bad times. Credit is scarce, and budget cutting difficult. In a small operation, there are not that many places to cut.

“It’s always easier to tip over a small boat,” says W. P. Carey School Assistant Dean Andrew Atzert, who organized the school’s Small Business Leadership Academy two years ago. “When seas are rough, it’s that much easier.”

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How Small Businesses Can Survive — and Thrive — in a Recession

During these tough economic times, many small businesses are experiencing difficulty hanging on. With little hope of recovery on the horizon, some are wondering about their staying power. Should they continue to stay the course or it is time to throw in the towel? Perhaps neither is the right answer — maybe it’s time to reinvent your business.

How do you know which is the right course of action? Start by analyzing where you are today.

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Reboot Your Small Business by Reinventing

One way to save money on paper is to maximize its use:

You also need to put an emphasis on making the best use of the paper that you do purchase. One of the best ways that you can do this is to set all of your printers and copiers to print on both sides of a piece of paper. Many copiers or printers are only set up to print on one side of the paper. Then, if you print out multiple pages, you are going to use one piece of paper for each page of text. By printing on both sides, you will be able to cut the number of pages that you use in half. You should also tell your employees to put an emphasis on using the entire piece of paper, regardless of what they are doing. By using the whole piece of paper, you will be able to cut back on the amount of paper that you buy.

Check out FavStocks for more paper-saving tips.

Mark J Holland NLP Mind Coach shares three ways to increase your Net Profit by 95% as a small business.

Click here to view the embedded video.