By Co-Editor, Bobby B:

GreatStartups.com is committed to celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit that is embodied in anyone who has started a new business. That spirit has been sorely tested over the last two or three years. However, things appear to have turned a corner.

For the first time since September 2007, the majority (55%) of small business owners have a positive view of the economic environment and its impact on their ability to grow, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor.  However, more firms are at risk of going out of business (17%) than six months ago (11%), due in part to personal funds being tapped out: one-third (32%) say they are using personal or private funds to manage cash flow challenges (up from 23% six months ago).

While there appears to be a widening divide between healthy and struggling businesses, even the healthy businesses are proceeding with caution. Fewer firms have hiring plans than at any point in the eight-year history of the Monitor (falling below the fall 2002 recession level of 26%), and plans for capital investments equal the record-setting low from Spring 2009 (42%).

The semi-annual survey covers a very broad range of topics and offers segmentation by business owner age, industry sector and geographic region. Some highlights from the survey are as follows:

Nearly seven-in-ten entrepreneurs (68%) are stressed out by the economy and three-in-ten (31%) say that the current economy has caused them to question their decision to become an entrepreneur;
Read more