So first the bad news. If you're starting a business right now, here's one reality you can't avoid: stuff has gotten expensive. A lot more expensive. In business speak: the cost of goods purchased by businesses is at its highest level in more than 27 years, reports today's New York Times. Just over the past year, the producer price index, which is a weighted average of wholesale prices, has jumped nearly 10%. And it's not just limited to one particular sector.

"There is virtually nothing that we have touched in the last six months that hasn't increased," Gary O'Neal, a division manager at a business that distributes steel to construction and farming equipment manufacturers, tells the New York Times.

The good news is that some economists believe that we're over the hump. While a high producer price index typically indicates that inflation is high, there's some indication that the worst has passed. Bank of America senior economist Peter Kretzmer tells the Wall Street Journal today, "It's likely that this increase does reflect the peak given that energy costs are coming off now."

Until then, most business owners will likely continue what they've been doing: passing the extra expense off to consumers. Nonetheless, here's hoping!