In general, it's Clark's belief that stimulus packages just create temporary false booster shots that artificially pump up the economy. Once the money is all spent, it's as if there was no boost at all.

However, the Obama plan has some benefits for small businesses that could stoke our nation's economic fires. Small business accounts for much of the economic growth in our country, and the stimulus package will give additional funding to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for loan guarantees, microloans, bridge loans and more. See a breakdown of the funding courtesy of The Los Angeles Times.

Of course, small business faces a very challenging climate right now with lines of credit and credit card limits alike both being lowered. What's an entrepreneur to do? Well, barter is back in a big way for the first time since the early 1990s.

In its simplest form, barter involves trading your services or goods for another's services or goods. There is no exchange of cash. Clark wants you to know that through bartering, you create reportable income. So be aware of the implications of potential income tax evasion here if you don't report it.

The most popular form of barter is going through an Internet-based barter exchange. The barter exchange simply administers the transactions (for a small fee) and keeps a record of them for members. So in essence, you as a small business trade your services for credit that you can then use to "buy" services from other businesses.

One caveat: Clark's recommendation is that you should never put more at risk than you can afford to have wiped out if the barter exchange goes insolvent.