I was surprised to realize that many businesses, especially in the tech sector, learned from the mistakes of their ancestors. It has been this resilience that prompted me to put together a short list of ways small businesses can survive the current crisis - and even come out on top at the end.

1. Cash is King - Regardless of the size of your businesses, cash is going to be king over the next 18-36 months. Up to even a few weeks ago you could pretty much count on your local bank giving you a small business loan or being approved for a business-use credit card. Unfortunately, the liquidity of the market has “thickened” dramatically and has made those opportunities shrink to almost nothing. You’ll no longer be able to rely on loans and credit to get you through the month. From now on… cash should be your #1 priority.

2. Don’t Focus on Growth - This sounds like bad advice for any small business owner, but the truth is that many businesses are going to continue along the same growth pattern as before and find themselves beat to hell by the time they emerge from this crisis. This is the time when you need to hunker down and just wait out the storm. This will benefit you not only in the short term by ensuring you don’t go bankrupt, but will also put you in the perfect position to make strategic growth decisions after the crisis is over. For example, by keeping you expenses down and your cash account padded, you will be in a position to spend quickly right out of the gate - purchasing your competition or just beating them to key customers - because you have saved for what I like to call the “sunny” day.

3. Focus on Value - Since you’ll be cutting back on expenses, spend time on the things that don’t cost that much money but add value to your business. Instead of spending $10k replacing an old machine, spend $100 in phone charges to re-connect with your customers, or improve customer service. Invent new ways to add value to current products without spending a ton of money. That investment of time and energy will pay for itself 10x.

4. Collect - One of the things you can do to add value to your business and increase cash flow is by collecting on your accounts receivable. If there was ever a time to go after those delinquent customers… now is the time. If you don’t have an invoicing system in place there are tons of free and fee-based services out there - from PayPal to FreshBooks. You can even use Excel as long as you are actively trying to collect that cash.

5. Don’t Give in to Hoarding - During this time when “cash is king” you should avoid buying in bulk or otherwise stockpiling supplies or inventories. Although the parable of the ant and grasshopper might come to mind, now is not the time to be hoarding. That extra spending drives expenses up, depletes your cash reserve, and at the end of the day might be worth nothing. What good is a pallet of copy paper at a discount if you don’t have a business capable of using it. You will always be able to buy these items later even if you pass up a small discount now. That “savings” could prove disastrous to your cash flows.

6. Leverage Technology - There are tons of websites, web services, and other technologies that can help save you money. For example, trade in your $600 flight and $400 hotel for that sales trip to Chicago for an online meeting service instead. These days you can share a presentation, hold a conference call, or even converse via webcam - with nothing but a DSL modem and $50 a month for the services. You can also step up efforts to find better prices on products or services you normally use - by simply performing a simple Google search. Buying you your widgets from ABC Company for the past 5 years shouldn’t prevent you from searching for XYZ Corp who is offering the same widgets at 50% off.

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This is in stark contrast to previous years. In April 2001, 41% of credit-card owners said they usually left a credit-card balance at the end of the month, or made the minimum monthly payment or less. This percentage increased to a high of 45% in April 2004 before declining to 40% in 2006 and to 38% in 2008.

Gallup’s survey of credit-card use also shows that American credit-card holders have about four credit cards on average. Many Americans also maintain fairly high credit-card balances. Overall, credit-card holders reported an average balance of $3,848 in April 2008 (though the median, or middle value, is just $200). More importantly, 30% say they have a balance of more than $2,000, with 19% reporting a balance of more than $5,000 and 9% more than $10,000.

So how does your credit card usage compare? Do you pay it off in full each month? (Hint: you should) Or are you paying only enough to cover interest? (Hint: you shouldn’t)

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Two years ago, Todd Davis, the founder of LifeLock, decided to plaster his Social Security number wherever he could get ad space. For a fee of about $10 a month, LifeLock offers what it calls a “proven solution” that prevents its customers from becoming victims of identity theft and fraud. I wrote about whether a solution like this is worth the money a few weeks ago (Is ID Theft Protection Necessary)… and apparently it’s not.

One man in Texas has already succeeded in getting a payday loan in Davis’ name. However, when asked about the breach Davis stressed that his service does not guarantee that your I.D. won’t be stolen. Rather, it aims to reduce the likelihood that your I.D. is stolen, and if it is, LifeLock promises to fix the problem.

But that’s not the real problem. LifeLock’s current problem is dealing with lawsuits of up to 105 of people who now claim that LifeLock didn’t live up to its advertising and have suffered at the hands of identity thieves.

So what can you do to prevent 83 people from trying to access your personal information? The answer is not LifeLock. The answer, as of today, does not involve only one approach. You need to be active in monitoring your own credit, and perhaps combine your own efforts with a service such as LifeLock… to help you with the monotonous lifting. Take a read through Is ID Theft Protection Necessary and try and follow the suggestions I’ve made. Monitoring your own credit, placing freezes on your credit, and many other “tricks” can keep you one step ahead of the game.

But as this problem grows we also see the growth of an entirely new industry - identity theft protection. Banks, credit bureaus, and a host of companies are now providing identity theft protection for prices ranging from a few dollars a month to over $100 per year… but are they worth it?

What Does ID Protection Provide?
Most ID theft protection companies provide a standard fare of services in three major areas: prevention, detection, and identity restoration.

ID theft prevention is actually a lesser-known service, with most people focusing on ID theft detection instead. However, many companies offer services to prevent fraud from even happening by setting and renewing fraud alerts with major credit agencies. The fraud alerts tell the credit bureaus that you your identity may have been compromised, alerting creditors to actually contact you to confirm your identity before opening a new account. In addition, some companies offer to remove you from pre-approved credit offers to decrease the likelihood of someone filling one out in your name.

In terms of helping detect ID fraud, most companies offer some sort of 24/7 continuous credit monitoring service, alerting you to any inquiries into your credit, new accounts opened, or changes to your personal information. Annual or even monthly credit reports are also standard menu items for detection services.

Identity restoration is usually offered in the form of ID Theft “insurance.” The policies, ranging from $20,000 to $1,00,000 are meant to reimburse you for any damages incurred from your identity actually being stolen. Did someone open a new credit card account in your name and rack up $10k in charges? Your ID theft insurance would, in theory, pick up the tab.

Can I Do This Myself?
The underlying worth of ID theft protection is the convenience. There’s no magical product that these companies offer, no “new” service. After doing a little bit of research you’ll come to find out that you can do almost everything the ID theft protection companies do yourself… for free. So the question you have to ask yourself is whether or not the $19/month is worth your time. In a recent FTC study, the median amount of time spent resolving ID theft was found to be four hours. And 10% of victims spent more than 55 hours resolving their problems. So if you can spend a few hours a year maintaining an ID theft protection regimen then you probably shouldn’t waste your money on someone else’s services.

How Can I Do This On My Own?
If you’d like to provide your own ID theft protection, here are a few places to start:

First, skip the insurance. According to a report by Javelin Strategy and Research, consumers spend an average of $422 out of pocket to resolve identity fraud, could spend more than $900 in cases where the fraud goes undetected until a debt collector gets involved or the victim is denied credit. According to another Federal Trade Commission study, in more than 50% of the cases, victims incurred no out-of-pocket expenses for ID theft. In fact, you’re liable for only $50 in unauthorized credit-card charges, and that’s usually waived. Also, take a minute to call your bank, credit union, and homeowners insurance company - you may find they offer identity theft insurance to you for free just for being a customer.

As mentioned above, the best way to prevent ID theft is to contact one credit bureau (which will in turn contact the others) every 90 days to put a fraud alert on your account. The problem is, without proof of actual fraud, you can’t request an extended fraud alert, hence the renewal every 90 days. Alternatively, you can place a freeze on your credit. The rules are different between states, so you should check with your state consumer organization to find out what the rules for credit freezes are. Credit freezes prevent both fraudulent and legitimate lenders from reviewing your credit report without your consent, giving you perhaps more protection than you want. It’s most effective when you’re dealing with an aggressive identity thief, or fear that someone — such as an angry ex-spouse — is trying to ruin your credit.

In terms of credit monitoring, laws are now in place to allow you to receive one FREE credit report from each of the major credit agencies EACH YEAR. This allows you to request a free credit report every 4 months throughout the year (there are 3 major agencies). Start by going to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp . And putting a fraud alert on your account every 90 days as mentioned above entitles you to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus every 90 days. That’s 15 free credit reports a year - definitely more information than you probably need to adequately monitor your credit.

If by chance you are the victim of identity theft, there are a number of organizations that provide free help and support. Since this topic could be the subject of its own post I’ll point you instead to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the FTC’s Identity Theft Site, and the attorney general’s office in some states.

Where Can I Purchase ID Theft Protection?
As with any type of financial service, be sure to do your homework before purchasing. Starting with this post is a good start - congratulations! As a next step, assess what type of protection you’re looking for and the places you can find it. Are you willing to do some of the leg work and want to buy only insurance? Do you want to pay only for credit monitoring? There are a few sites out there such as ConsumerCompare.org that present an easy-to-read chart of ID Theft Protection services and what’s offered by each. Be sure to focus not only on price, but check the “small print” to see if the services offered have any sort of limitations. Also, be on the lookout for reviews from actual customers - ones that have and have not been hit by identity theft.

You’ll hear me, and every other personal finance blogger out there, tell you what to do to get out of debt. Cut back spending… get a second job… make a realistic budget… and on and on…

But have you ever stopped to think about why you CAN’T get out of debt? Seriously, take a second today and ask yourself why you can’t seem to do it.

I think sometimes we get so caught up in trying to do what we’re supposed to in order to get out of debt, that we fail to actually identify what makes us personally get there in the first place and why we can’t get out. After all, the reason I can’t get out of debt might be totally different than yours. You may be laughing every time I talk about budgeting because you’ve already made this amazing budget that would impress the uber-excel nerds and are doing a great job at following it… but you may be struggling in other areas.

Visa recently began promoting the Visa Micro Tag, a new key fob payment device embedded with Visa payWave, the company’s contactless technology feature. The Visa Micro Tag is designed to easily attach to a key ring, and allows cardholders to pay by simply waving their Visa Micro Tag in front of a contactless payment terminal without the need to physically swipe or insert the device into a point-of-sale terminal.

Customers with Visa payWave cards in the U.S. have the option of not having to sign for payments under US$25, a feature that also benefits merchant locations where speed is important and where cash has been the traditional means of payment. The technology is already in use at convenience stores, sporting venues, gas stations and fast food restaurants nationwide - but there are two issues that may stop this form of payment before it even gets off the ground.

1. Visa says payWave-enabled products receive the same security protections other Visa products offer, plus the additional layers of security because the payment device never leaves the customer’s hand, can only be read at extremely close proximity to a reader, and submits a unique digital watermark to the Visa payment network for each transaction. However, the RFID platform has been hacked a number of times already, proving that your key chain might be easier to access (wirelessly) than your back pocket.

2. Visa Micro Tags don’t require a card number to be embossed or printed on the device, in an effort thwart the casual waiter-turned-thief. A Visa account number is not required to be embossed or printed on the device, providing an additional layer of security for consumers carrying a Visa Micro Tag in visible ways, such as on a keychain. However, the use of a PIN number is also not needed for smaller purchases, meaning that your keys may now become an easy target for thieves to score some quick cash.

What do you think? Would you, or do you use a contactless payment device?

Wouldn’t it be nice if our children grew into adulthood in a world without credit cards? Look at all the problems that would be solved in a cash-and-carry society — no gut-wrenching debt overloads, no junk mail from credit card issuers, and perhaps most important, fewer opportunities for cyber thieves to steal our identities.

It’s an interesting idea - could you live without credit cards? Do you wish society didn’t have credit cards?

He received a ton of responses to the piece from people criticizing his head-in-the-sand approach to credit. But some of the responses, listed below, provide some valuable insight into the way people think about credit. In fact, the following statements prove to me that most people believe credit cards are a good thing, when used wisely.

“Easy credit is ubiquitous in our society. If it isn’t bank plastic, there are pay-day loans, no-interest mortgages and floods of home-equity loans. ”

On credit cards and children:

“I gave them credit cards about the same time they got driver’s licenses. Of course, these were cards on my accounts with their names on them. And when the bill arrived every month, I knew exactly what they had spent and on what.

By laying down the rules this way, I required they pay off their balance every month. If they didn’t have the money, I took the cards back and deducted it from their allowance until the debt was paid. Being denied allowance was a shock, and they quickly learned the basic lesson — credit cards are not free money; it has to be paid back.

My kids — one recently graduated from college, and the other a senior — have their own credit cards today but use them strictly as convenience cards. There is no huge debt being amassed. They already learned the lesson firsthand but under conditions where things would not get out of control.”

“I am a Depression child. I was taught to only buy what I could pay for. You certainly won’t get in financial trouble. I have tried to live up to this, but I have had cash refused. I have never thought I would experience this. This is scary.”

Earlier this month, student loan provider Nellie Mae surveyed graduate-school students about credit-card usage. Among other things, the report found that 93 percent of these highly educated students try to pay at least the minimum monthly requirement, but only 20 percent acknowledged paying off their credit card bills in full each month. That’s maddening, and signals an ongoing need for credit education in classrooms and on the home front.

But I whole-heartedly agree with Kevin’s basic thoughts on putting credit cards into the hands of college students: Don’t even think about it until your child can handle cash responsibly and has a firm understanding of the benefits and dangers of using credit cards. It also doesn’t hurt to help them set up something like an automatic withdrawal from their checking account to pay off the balance each month.

I love the convenience and purchasing power that credit cards offer people. But without the proper education, credit cards can turn into your worst nightmare.