QUESTION: For the past three years, my landscaping business has netted about $45,000 a year. Recently, business has dropped off significantly and we expect to make $25,000 to $30,000 less than last year. Is there any government assistance available that can help my business stay afloat? Can I collect unemployment until business picks up?  —Trish Gibson

ANSWER: In terms of government assistance, the Small Business Administration offers a wealth of useful information and tools to help business owners better manage their finances. Small Business Development Centers, which are often located within local universities and staffed by current and former business owners, can offer one-on-one guidance. (Click here to locate an SBDC near you.) At SCORE, an affiliate of the SBA, business owners can also tap into a nationwide network of 10,500 experienced volunteers for help.

As for the unemployment benefits, you can't collect unemployment if you want to stay involved with your business. The only way you can qualify for unemployment is if you're willing to fire yourself then actively seek another job, says Peter Stanwyck, a small-business attorney in Oakland, Calif. The business you're departing also has to be structured as either a corporation or a limited liability company and you had to be considered an employee, drawing a regular salary and consistently paying your own state’s unemployment tax.

QUESTION: We keep our business's short-term cash needs in one bank. We tend to exceed the FDIC's insurance limit. At the end of each business day, our collected cash sweeps into an overnight deposit account that's collateralized by the government. While I'm comfortable our cash is secure overnight, I worry about the uninsured amounts during the day. Can a bank fail during the day, exposing our company to the possible loss of the uninsured amount?  —Mike Caldwell

ANSWER: Unfortunately, banks can fail at any time, says Andrew Gray, a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. While the ax tends to drop at the close of business on Fridays, there's no guarantee that it won't midday on Monday.

As of two weeks ago, the FDIC now covers up to $250,000 in each account (the limit used to be $100,000). So what small-business owners typically do to keep any funds in excess of that amount safe is to spread their funds among a few separate bank accounts. But that may not even be necessary at this point. Given the government's latest plan to buy up to $250 billion in equity stakes in potentially thousands of banks, business owners can now count on some new assurances — at least for the time being. Until 2009, the FDIC will provide full coverage of the noninterest-bearing deposit transaction accounts that are typically used by small businesses, regardless of the dollar amount. That means, day or night, your deposits will be safe.

QUESTION: How can I grow $100,000 into $1,000,000 in five years, without investing in the stock market?  —Mike Henderson

ANSWER: Beyond buying 100,000 Lotto tickets, just about the only way to make that kind of money in such a short time period is by starting, growing and then selling a business. In Inc. magazine's inaugural list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies, which came out last year, 88% of the CEOs who responded to its survey said they were millionaires.

Perhaps you buy commercial real estate in Florida and wait for a market rebound. Or you lasso a programmer to help create that videogame you dreamed up as a kid. Either way, you'll need an idea that's able to gain traction in a tough market, says Ken Gaebler, president of private-equity firm Gaebler Ventures. And you'll need to choose a business you can afford. While energy, biotech and health care are booming industries these days, $100,000 would barely cover the start-up costs, says Simeon Simeonov, a technology partner at Polaris Venture Partners. Instead, he suggests a less capital-intensive industry such as e-commerce. If you can sell a unique and in-demand product, deliver it in a hard-to-duplicate way and establish a healthy customer base, big companies just might come courting.

One less time-demanding option is to invest that $100,000 in a small business, suggests Bill Reichert, managing director for Palo Alto-based venture-capital firm Garage Technology Ventures. By investing the money rather than starting a business, he says, "you can put your money to work and keep your day job." To do so, consider joining an "angel network" such as Alliance of Angels or Gathering of Angels.

Other Asked & Answered columns:

• Asked & Answered: FSAs vs. HSAs
• Asked & Answered: Hiring Help