With the end of a crazy year for millions of economic "refugees", it makes sense to start the year fresh and re-visit your assumptions, goals and business plans. A business plan is useful if it's updated and not a forgotten document but a living document.  Your business plan will help you look at what worked in the past year, what is outdated, and areas for improvement. Take a look from outside your business with a fresh perspective. What would you do differently if you were to start your business over again? Use the SMART process of business goal setting to make 2010 a memorable year.

In prosperous times, gifting your customers during the holidays doesn't require a second thought. This year more companies are being conscious of spending money on customer gifts. According to American Express Open Small Business Holiday Monitor, almost 70% of business owners don't believe the worst of the recession is over and nearly six in ten entrepreneurs (57%) say the economic downturn has changed their holiday gift giving behavior. Yet, 10% of those surveyed planned to increase customer gift spending this year.

With less holiday edibles and gifts for staff, sending corporate gifts can be an inexpensive means to stand out from the competition in tough times and show your clients you really value their business.

Resources such as time and money are in tight supply for most start ups and existing small businesses. These constraints often mean the difference between expanding into new markets or struggling to survive. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Small business is a community of like minded business owners. One of the best means to expand your business is to partner up with similar or complementary businesses.

Business partnerships and joint ventures offer a means for businesses to pool resources and grow business. Additional benefits include:

• exposure to larger shared customer base
• decreased marketing costs
• utilize the talents of others

Vampires have become a pop culture phenomena spanning TV, books, movies and even Vampires on Facebook. The spark for this current craze can be traced to the best selling vampire book Twilight by Stephanie Myers. The author redefined the genre with vampires who could love and created a cultural trend.

The vampire craze provides an interesting glimpse into what drives a hot trend for a valuable lesson to small business. Getting in early on any trend wave requires keeping in tune with pop culture. Best selling books are often the catalyst for movies and the precursor to a large trend. Looking at best selling book lists can provide a glimpse of what is popular in the public conscious. Other media such as magazines can tell you what is up and coming. Many leading visionaries often read all types of media from fashion news to nano technology to see the broader trends in society.

One of my favorite ways to test for trend development is Google Insights. This nifty tool will allow you to enter in search terms and see the trends over time whether consumer search volumes are increasing, decreasing or flat. Tracking trends can provide your business with the opportunity to see the road ahead and possibly capitalize on the trend.