While Washington, DC touts the end of the great recession, small businesses have been slower to pick back up. But, the founder of Printing for Less, Andrew Field, says he's noticing that small businesses are starting to take a darn the torpedoes attitude toward growing their businesses.

"I think that small business owners are tired of hunkering down and want to get back to work...they're saying I'm just going to go out and sell my good or service, and go for it, and we're seeing some do quite well" Field told us.

He added that his company has become leaner and more efficient since the economic downturn. The efforts that Printing for Less has made to streamline and save money have also helped small businesses like the Baccus Pub hold down some of its marketing costs.

The Baccus Pub is still adjusting to the seasonality of the bar business in a college town, but the owners have tried to make up for slack times with sweat equity and new ideas.

"It was a little slower this summer so we though about how to bring people in, so we added a full menu which brought people back" said the pub's Jake Monnin. "We got that going and recently opened up a wine bar and that helped us weather this sort of storm as we head into our first anniversary."

Field says small businesses aren't benefiting from federal stimulus money, they're just battling tough times with hard work.