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There was a rise in optimism among small business owners in November, according to a National Federation of Independent Business survey. The NFIB's optimism index rose to 92.1, from 90.2 in October, spurred largely by perceptions among small business owners that labor conditions are improving. Here's a look at the long term trend: While the uptick is certainly a nice change from the end of the summer, when the index was down at 88.1, NFIB economists William Dunkelberg and Holly Wade do not exude optimism in their report. After all, they point out, the index is still 2 points lower than it was at the beginning of the year. The economy is slowly righting itself, dealing with a huge excess supply of assets created in the 2003-2007 boom and the associated debt incurred to create those assets and take consumption to a record high share of GDP (the “party”). The 2000 stock crash left winners with cash and losers with worthless shares of lostmoney.com. We moved on, winners and losers declared. The housing bubble crash left a different set of assets for us to deal with. Declaring, even finding, winners and losers is a mess, not the least due to government trying to determine the outcomes. Not worthless pieces of paper but millions of houses, apartments, condos and less often discussed, retail stores, strip malls, restaurants and the like and a pile of inventory to get rid of. This process is difficult and protracted. In 2007, 845,000 new firms were formed (displacing 804,000 existing firms). This process went into reverse in 2008. More firms terminated, fewer started, fewer new homes were built, inventory went on sale to raise cash and employment was slashed as the now surplus of firms struggled to survive. Many of these sought loans to “tide them over”, loans that by now would in most instances have gone bad had they been made. The adjustment seems to be about over. Historically high percentages of owners report inventories are in balance, reduced to match anemic consumer spending. However few plan to add to stocks as prospects for improved growth have not been optimistic. Firms have stopped firing workers, employment has adjusted to weaker sales, but hiring new workers remains muted, as sales prospects offer little reason to hire more workers. Most equipment is still working requiring little need to buy new stuff. Still a problem is the number of firms competing for reduced levels of consumer spending, experiencing poor financial performance. There is likely more to come here, more terminations. This will increase sales at the remaining firms and with a boost from modestly improving consumer spending, begin to address the unemployment problem a bit more aggressively. The excess supply of structures will continue to be a drag, but less so. Read the full report here .

New Yorker writer James Surowiecki challenges the political rhetoric that small businesses drive America's prosperity. Sharing a history lesson from Marc Levinson 's The Great A. & P. and the Struggle for Small Business in America , Surowiecki points to past efforts to control large businesses on behalf of small stores through policing prices that suppliers charged chain retailers. From his Financial Page column: These days, government regulation to keep prices high is less popular. But the fetishization of small business continues apace. Some of the support derives from real virtues that small companies offer—diversity of choice, connection to local communities. But much of it derives from the idea that the nation’s economic well-being depends on such companies. Given that the overwhelming number of American businesses are small, and that, as we’ve all heard, small businesses create most new jobs, this seems reasonable enough. But the truth is that, from the perspective of the economy as a whole, small companies are not the real drivers of growth. One can see this by looking at the track record of the world’s economies. The developed countries with the highest percentage of workers employed by small businesses include Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy—that is, the four countries whose economic woes are wreaking such havoc on financial markets. Meanwhile, the countries with the lowest percentage of workers employed by small businesses are Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and the U.S.—some of the strongest economies in the world. This correlation is not a coincidence. It reflects a simple reality: small businesses are, on the whole, less productive than big businesses, and though they do create most jobs, they also destroy most jobs, since, while starting a business is easy, keeping it going is hard. This is true around the world. A recent study by the World Bank that looked at ninety-nine developing countries found that large firms had significantly higher productivity growth. And in the U.S. the connection between size and productivity is, as a 2009 study showed, especially close. In part, this is because big businesses are able to enjoy economies of scale and scope. Big businesses are also better able to make investments in productivity-enhancing technologies and systems; in the U.S., for instance, big companies account for the vast majority of R. & D. spending. Read Big is Beautiful here .

The Intuit Small Business Employment Index brings some much-desired good news on the small business front. The index shows job growth in nearly every region. The total jobs gained in small businesses for the month of September were not large--50,000--but wages and hours are also ticking up. Get the details in this infographic from Intuit's small business blog : via: Small Business Employment, Compensation, Hours Worked All Up in September 2011 [INFOGRAPHIC] (Hat tip Barry Ritholz )

At Forbes , Mary Frakes and Thomas Harrison teach us about five personality factors they say are key in assessing whether one has the necessary makeup to be a successful entrepreneur. The first four may seem obvious: Openness to Experience Conscientiousness Extroversion Agreeableness The fifth personality factor stands out a bit: Neuroticism . Here's how Frakes and Harrison introduce this trait: This one's a biggie. Neuroticism measures how strongly and negatively you react to the stresses of life. Highly neurotic people have strong emotional reactions to problems and take a long time to get over bad moods, anger or hostility. They often feel anxious or depressed, and are seen as worriers. Those at the other end may not always be happy or cheerful, but they don't tend to be overwhelmed if they occasionally feel depressed, anxious, or angry. Such equanimity gives them an advantage as entrepreneurs because they tend not to let snags get them down. Frakes and Harrison provide a quiz that examines one's neuroticism, and the other 4 factors, as a means of determining whether one is better suited to work in a company or for herself/himself. Take the quiz here , and then read more on the methodology here .

Diane Helbig says we are living in an "expertise economy." With all the tools consumers have to do their own research, Helbig says what business owners know is as important as what they make. Writing at Small Business Trends , Helbig shares some best practices for businesses in this new economy. One of the parctices she encourages is to "build a community": Find experts in other fields that are complementary to yours. Invite those experts to share their information with your audience. Build a foundation of experts so your audience sees you as a go-to company whenever they need information – even outside of your area of expertise. Szarka Financial in North Olmsted, Ohio, is a great example of this practice. Not only have they developed programs that they offer around their industry, but they have gathered a stable of experts in various areas that touch theirs. They have established their firm as a go-to source for people who are looking for information in and around the area of personal and business finances. They understand that they aren’t going to do business with everyone. However, sharing information with everyone helps consumers decide if Szarka is right for them and provides Szarka with a great referral pool. Actually, two referral pools: (1) the partner organizations they promote, and (2) the people who take advantage of the information Szarka and their partners share. Read 3 Steps to Succeeding in the Expertise Economy here .

Bloomberg News reporters Anna-Louise Jackson and Anthony Feld write that at least a million formerly self-employed Americans, aggregate, have lost their businesses since the start of the recession. This knocks down one silver-lining narrative of the global economic crisis: that more people will take the opportunity to work for themselves as big corporations shed jobs. The 18-month contraction that started in December 2007 initially resulted in more would-be business owners, as the number of people who work for themselves grew to 16.3 million in July 2008 from 15.7 million at the end of 2007, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since then, the total has fallen about 10 percent to 14.7 million in July, the data show. Employer businesses - those that provide work for individuals including the founder - "have been starting in fewer numbers, with fewer workers and growing at a slower pace than in the past," according to Robert Litan, a vice president at the Kauffman Foundation, which supports research on startups. "Therefore, these entrepreneurs are generating increasingly fewer new jobs for the U.S. labor market." The number of new employer businesses dropped 24 percent to 505,473 on an annual basis in 2010 from 667,341 in 2006, according to Litan, who co-wrote a report published in July on small-business job creation. Read Economy knocks self-employed out of business here . The Kauffman Foundation report to which the article refers provides helpful detail and analysis of the loss of jobs among small businesses and startups. We'll share just one chart from the report that illustrates the central point of Jackson and Feld's reporting: Read Starting Smaller; Staying Smaller: America’s Slow Leak in Job Creation here .

The cover of the legendary Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had two simple words: Don't Panic . Mike Periu of EcoFin Media urges small business owners to heed that advice. As bad as it may seem, panic is not a productive response. Instead, Perlu writes at American Express's Open Forum , "take a deep breath," and then follow these steps: First, check your lines of credit Second, slash your sales forecasts Third, increase your DSO, A/R, and bad debt assumptions Fourth, hold an employee meeting Fifth, stay flexible Read Should You Be Panicking Right Now? here .

The popularity of food trucks continues to climb, and the business world has been taking notice. While once the domain of streetwise entrepreneurs with culinary chops, investment bankers and established fast food businesses are getting into the game as well, according to Entrepreneur Magazine 's Jason Daley : The food-truck craze--whether it's a bubble that will eventually burst or a new fixture on the American culinary scene--is pulling in big numbers. In a 2010 survey by Chicago-based food industry research and consulting firm Technomic for American Express, 26 percent of Americans said they had visited a food truck in the last six months, despite the fact that most trucks are concentrated in a few big cities. A popular Food Network reality show, The Great Food Truck Race, in which seven mobile gourmands try to outsell each other, has primed millions of people for mobile dining. "Ten percent of the top 200 restaurant chains will have a mobile presence in the next 24 months," says Aaron Noveshen, co-founder of Mobi Munch, a Los Angeles-based company that helps develop mobile platforms and runs several food trucks in California. "I can already count eight that do." Even if the hipster sheen fades from the gourmet food trucks, Noveshen believes they'll still find a customer base at colleges, corporate campuses and other areas where full-service restaurants aren't viable. Food trucks offer something that is always appealing: convenience. "People are more time-starved than ever," Noveshen says. "Mobile food will serve that need. It's a fundamental thing that never goes away." Read Franchises Hop on the Food-Truck Trend here .