Dive summary:

• Much of the data reported about the economy generally and the industry specifically are broad, national figures, but economics, like politics, is local—whether it's your market and your business.
• The strongest economic indicator you have is your gut and what it's telling you—and in the clear light of day, not at 2 a.m.
• There are unconventional but arguably useful indicators, too, like whether steak houses are starting to see traffic against from expense-account executives and one that Alan Greenspan used to watch all the time—prices for scrap metal.

From the article:

Smaller companies make 99.7% of business transactions and 46% of the GDP. ...