Don Nielsen, owner of Light Doctor in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, puts himself squarely in the camp of business owners who are high on their own prospects, but skeptical of the economy. His company installs energy-efficient lighting for business customers.

“I’m not too excited about the economy either, but I am optimistic about our own business,” he said. “We are benefiting from the green movement and the rebates that utility companies are offering. We are on a roll now and hopefully we can keep it that way.”

As for the economy as a whole? “I think it’s stopped going down, and I think it is slowly going up, but I don’t have great hope for a rapid recovery,” Nielsen said. “There’s a new normal, and it’s lower.”

Larry Hyatt, owner of the 50-year-old Hyatt Coin & Gun in Charlotte, North Carolina, also says he’s optimistic about his company’s prospects. But as for the national economy, color him skeptical too. For him, the skepticism has everything to do with a loss of faith in government, large corporations, and economic prognosticators.

“As to the future, there’s been a loss of confidence. The economic reports and our 401(k)s and our homes…took the big hit and, nobody seemed to have seen it coming,” he said. “And that makes you wary. That loss of confidence in government and big corporations scared us a little bit.”

William Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said the tracking poll his own organization shows business-owner attitudes improving. But small-business owners, he said, aren’t yet confident enough to make big plans like expanding or hiring a lot of people.

For Mac Nicholson, owner of Charlotte Pedicabs, a bike-taxi service, and a Sub Station II franchise, the issue isn’t the economy at large. It’s what he can do to bring success to his businesses. And for him, that means bringing on the optimism.

“I’m going to be positive,” he said. “We all got to kind of pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and get on with it.”