The headlines have been filled with stories about the credit crunch. Consumer lending is tighter, and loans for business have become much harder to get. The smallest businesses aren’t immune. In a recent National Small Business Association survey, one-third of firms with less than $5 million in annual revenue and fewer than five employees said access to capital was the biggest challenge they faced. Fully 45 percent said their business had been “significantly or moderately” affected by tight credit. So where does that leave you? Times like these offer a hard lesson in the value of managing money carefully, even
