The recession is real, but it, like any other difficulty, should also be seen as an opportunity. Here are some tips on keeping the entrepreneurial spirit high, and starting (or running) a successful business in a rough economy.

• Start with Your Passion – The French writer Francoise de Motteville once wrote, "The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our work and find in it our pleasure." Those words ring true with any entrepreneurial enterprise, because if you start with an occupation or vocation that drives our passion, then you’ll never have to worry about losing interest.

Every small business needs a web presence. Often, the quality of a website and its ability to attract and retain customers is directly dependent on the web hosting provider. Take a look at our sister site's Annual Web Hosting Awards, and choose the best company for your web hosting needs.

The majority of small business owners approve of the economic measures proposed by Barrack Obama, found a survey by SMB software-as-a-service provider Smart Online. Here are some key findings:

WOMbeat!, an online source of recommendations for local businesses from people you know and trust, and an enterprise sparked by a dream, is the winner of the latest Idea Cafe grant. Congratulations! WOMbeat! submitted their nomination in November, and during the month-long voting phase of the grant they emerged as the leader, with 25.66% of the votes. They are followed by another exceptional business, PALS with PAWZ, who got 20.86% of the votes.

The poll for deciding the winner of the Idea Cafe Innovation and Originality Grant has been online for almost a month now, and we have received a significant number of votes. Below you can see the current distribution of votes. Trends are starting to appear, with one company pulling ahead as the strongest candidate for winning the grant, but there is time until January the 15^th for the overall picture to change. See the preliminary results below.

Below is the annual Eight Great Tax Tips for Businesses, by C.P.A. Bernard B. Kamoroff. It is excerpted from the 2009 Edition (8th Edition) of Mr. Kamoroff's book 422 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self Employed Individuals.

Tax Tip #1. Your business expenses are deductible even if you paid them from your non-business bank account, personal credit card, or cash. Take a few minutes and go through all of your expenses for the year. If the expenses were for your business, deduct them. (Does not apply to corporations).

Intuit and Staples offer an exclusive deal for small business owners--today, for one day only, QuickBooks Pro 2009 is free at all Staples stores. So if you need a complete accounting and finance solution for your business, act now!

The regular price at Staples is $199.99. Customers who buy today receive $40 in instant savings and a $159.99 mail-in rebate, which essentially makes the product's cost zero. You need to pay sales tax, but shipping is free. The offer is limited to one copy of QuickBooks Pro per customer.

You can find the nearest Staples store at www.staples.com or buy on-line.

Just in case you missed it, the voting page for choosing the grant finalist is now open (you need to register with Idea Cafe in order to vote). From here, you will be able to choose your favorite finalist. We've presented almost all the contestants on this blog, so that you can browse an exclusive selection of business ideas.

Votes are already being submitted. The campaign will continue into the new year, and we will announce the winner in the second half of January 2009.

I also would like to say a big and sincere "Thank you" to all the finalists who took the time to answer our questions.

The Playground Guide publishes directories of playgrounds for busy parents and caretakers. Their books are professionally designed, with included hundreds of photos and they tell parents everything they need to know to plan healthy, wholesome, low-cost outdoor activities with their kids. The books include directions, insight on bathrooms, parking, picknicking, equipment, ground cover and more. The books also tell you about cool places to visit like museums, art studios and kid-friendly restaurants and shops.

Safelyfe provides a free service that allows individuals to contact family, friends or neighbors in case of an emergency by just pressing a single button on their cell phones.