Last week, my daughter and I were reading a fairy tale about a town where everyone was about to to lose their job because the mill owner was very old, and no one had enough money to buy the mill when he retired. The towns people in the story became very sad and angry when they heard the news, and things in town got a little out of control.

At that point, I stopped, and asked my daughter, “What could the people in the town do to get more money.” She made me proud when she answered “sell things and start a business.”

We’ve all heard stories about amazingly successful entrepreneurs who used their last dollar to turn their lives around and ended up making it big. Real estate investor Armando Montelongo of Flip This House fame is one example that comes to mind.  Sometimes the success stories are smaller, but no less awe inspiring, like the people who have brought themselves out of poverty by starting businesses with microloans from places like Kiva.

Entrepreneurship is amazing.  It can allow people in the worst circumstances to overcome the odds in a way that a minimum wage retail job never will, allowing them to bring THEMSELVES out of poverty.

Every day, when I check in on the business news served up by Google News, the outlook for the US economy seems even more bleak. As I sat and started to type this post yesterday, headlines which jumped out at me included record crude oil prices of $112.21 a barrel, a declaration from the International Monetary Fund that the US economy is going into a recession, and an update on the ever climbing foreclosure rates and possible mortgage bailouts.

In addition to the bleak news stories, it seems like every time we chat with friends and family with corporate jobs, people are going through layoffs and downsizing, and it seems like more and more of my flooring competitors are laying off or going out of business as well.

Thankfully, we’ve never been ones to sit idly by when it comes to business, and “multiple streams of income” has been part of our mantra for as long as I can remember. Still, the current economic trends are less than pleasant, and it’s hard not to worry about what the upcoming year holds. Do you think, like so many people I talk to, that the US economy is improving, or do you believe the worst is yet to come? If you’re one of those who believes the worst is yet to come, what are you doing to protect yourself from the US economic downturn?

A while back, we asked for your input on how you would use your $600 tax rebate if you HAD to spend it on your business (and no, in most cases, we don’t consider a Wii a business expense…). We also asked this question to our friends on Twitter, and got some good responses. From the three whole responses we got, it looks like you’ll spend the money to foot the bill for online services you’re already using, hire a professional for a new logo or graphic design work, or buy some new software.

If I had to spend my $600 on a business expense (and my wife didn’t have veto power), I’d use the money to buy a new monitor. Or, I might use it to buy a video camera for some videos were planning on shooting for Ask a Floor Guy. Other budget priorities include online advertising for several of our ventures.

We’d still love to hear more from all of you about what you’d do with your $600. Come on, please, we’re begging here!