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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A recession may seem like the wrong time to start a new business, but there are hopeful entrepreneurs in Colorado Springs that want to prove otherwise.

Teri Lucero is one of them.

Two months ago, Lucero and her family opened Lulu's Frozen Yogurt, not far from the Promenade Shops at Briargate.

"We saw similar models in Arizona and thought it would be a great concept to bring to Colorado Springs," Lucero said.

Even though frozen yogurt is a concept that has already taken off in the city, Lucero believes her store will stand out.

"We want Lulu's to be an experience," she said. "We want people to think of us as a place to have fun and be with their family. It is fun, it is affordable and it is something we think is going to be sustainable in an economy that is not on the upswing.

However, 'not on the upswing' may be putting it too lightly. Local economist Fred Crowley said the current economic conditions are not as good as people may think.

"Right now we just finished a comparison of where we've been and where we are now," Crowley said. "We're no better today than we were in 2007, just before the recession began. We're in the same exact position."

The small business statistics do not look great either. According to the Small Business Administration, about seven out of 10 new businesses last at least two years. Only 50 percent survive at least five years.

"Sometimes they fail within a month or two of having opened," Crowley said. "That's because they didn't do their homework."

But small business owner Mary Beth Wujcik said you cannot let the numbers stop you from chasing your dream.

"You can't wait until the conditions are all perfect," she said. "You have to follow your dream when it is right for you."

Wujcik opened Nana's Quilt Cottage in Old Colorado City in December of 2010. Though the slump economy has made things tough, she said she has enjoyed the challenge.

"During the time I opened and summer, I had a few fearful moments," Wujcik said. "I lost some sleep and laid in bed wondering how I was going to pay my bills. But you cannot really live your life in fear. You have to go on and try to make something happen. And that's what I've been doing, trying to be good to my customers and make them want to come back."

Customer service just might be the key to beating the odds. In 2008, when the economy reached one of it's lowest points, Patrick Graham bought Relax the Back. Despite the economic conditions, his business has been successful.

"One of the biggest keys to being successful is you can't expect people to walk through the door every day," Graham said. "It's not like it used to be when you'd just kind of put your sign up and people just come and buy things. You have to be a lot more active."

So is it wise to start a new business in a bad economy?

"Even in a down economy, certain things are demanded," Crowley said. "If I'm selling one of those items, I stand to do pretty well."

A few businesses that did 'pretty well' when they opened during a recession: Microsoft, Starbucks, CNN, and Burger King -- just to name a few.