Microbusiness owners are optimists. Especially successful microbusiness owners.

It is possible to be a pessimistic microbusiness owner. It is also possible to be an optimistic microbusiness owner without being a successful one.

But those who are successful are all optimists.

That's why it seems as if New Year's Day would have to be pretty high on the microbusiness owners' short list of favorite holidays.

New Year's Day is all about clean slates and fresh starts. No matter how gruesome the previous year was, once it's over, it becomes easier to point your face toward tomorrow with a renewed sense of possibility.

Of course, if you think about that objectively, it doesn't really make much sense, does it?

The economy was a mess throughout 2009 and I would bet that none of the macroeconomic indicators suddenly did an about-face on December 31st, such as would justify unbridled optimism now.

In fact, without Cash for Clunkers, it is entirely possible that the economy started contracting again in the fourth quarter of last year. And there is certainly no evidence that the job market has turned the corner.

In short, nothing has changed — except the date, of course.

So, even though nothing has changed, January 1st still feels like we all get a chance to start all over again. That seems to infuse people with new energy and a renewed sense of roll-up-the-sleeves-and-get-back-to-work attitude.

That's why it makes perfect sense to me that I completely lost track of the number of microbusiness owners who have told me, in one way or another, over the last month or so:

"Thank God that's over!"

They all seem to think that 2010 is going to be much better than 2009 and I'm inclined to believe them.

Even the pessimists seem to agree, although they would probably say, "Well, it could hardly get much worse."

A new year seems filled with possibility.

In fact, that's really the ‘happy' part about Happy New Year, isn't it?