For some new entrepreneurs, the recession may have been just the motivation they needed to get started with their business plans.

A recent report on CNNMoney.com focused on some business owners who cast aside concerns about the state of the economy and embarked on their own self-employment careers.

"In these difficult times, options are narrow. People who had work and contract work no longer do. They're being forced to go after business ideas that were gathering dust because they desperately need income," Rich Sloan of StartupNation.com told the news organization.

Among the people profiled were a former metalworker with a business specializing in metal furniture and ornaments, and a young man on the way to starting his own limo company.

If you're wondering whether the current recession might be a bad time to start your business, remember that some highly successful companies got their start during recessions. That said, be ready to be persistent when it comes to things like securing financing, given the increasingly tight state of lending standards and the credit markets.