Small businesses come and go. The odds are against them at any time of year. But nowadays, the economy slump has made the situation more grim, and business owners are making adjustments to survive. Local experts say sometimes breaking even is just as good as winning.

A lot of businesses—especially this year—are realizing how hard it is to keep the money coming in. While some business owners are crossing their fingers, others are going beyond their store fronts.

The hardest thing about opening a small business is keeping it open.

"A lot of sweat equity," says Phil Dexter, owner of Ampersand. Dexter is finding that out for himself. He just opened a new gift store called Ampersand in downtown Springfield.

"We opened on august first, so just a month," laughs Dexter. "It's picking up slowly and we've heard good comments about the store. I hope that word of mouth is going around so far."

Hopefully for Dexter, he will be one of the lucky small businesses that succeed. With this economy, so many business owners are finding out that costs are killing their profits.

“It surprises some individuals. All of a sudden, they're not making any money because not realizing that their costs are rising," says Paul Nowak, Drury finance professor.

"The new business plan is just to stay even,” says Jed Pierce, Planet Smoothie General Manager. “Keep the same numbers you did last year because that's better than a lot of other businesses."

Nowak says national financial experts guess it could be next year before small businesses get a break. In the meantime, though, Dexter over at Ampersand is launching at least three websites, hoping to make a fortune beyond his storefront.

"When you have an online store you have a countrywide audience," says Dexter.

In the meantime, Nowak says the best thing business owners can do is know their costs—a lot of them don't until it's too late. He says buying in advance can help prepare for your costs and in a way, your revenues.