So in the good news department (we think) the Senate passed the bailout bill yesterday. The trouble is, it's unclear whether it's going to have any effect on the parts of the economy that are most critical to entrepreneurs: credit. That, and it still has to go through the House. That's why worried entrepreneur Mike writes us today asking what he should do—and where he should go next— if his bank turns him down for a small business loan.

We say: don't throw your business plan in the trash yet, Mike. You've got a few more options that extend beyond throwing in the towel. Since this is a topic we've covered over several blog posts before, we're going to throw a little recycled content at you today, but we think it's especially relevant now considering what's going—particularly for those of you with business plan in hand.

If your bank turns you down for a small business loan, the first thing to do is to find out why. Is it because you didn't have enough equity in the business? Or is because your credit score stinks? Both of those things are critical, by the way, despite what some people will tell you when it comes to getting a bank loan. Consider talking to your banker about a line of credit. If that, too, is out of the question, you may want to consider a small bank credit card if you absolutely have to have seed capital to get started. While it's not an ideal situation—because terms and interest rates can change at will—it's increasingly how many entrepreneurs are getting their businesses off the ground.

Another alternative is to consider whether you can raise seed capital through an investor. The first thing to bear in mind here though is that not every business is a venture capital deal. More traditional start-ups like restaurants, car washes, and groceries aren't going to get venture capital funding because they can never generate the kind of revenues that VCs require. That figure is typically on the order of $100 million plus within five years. Even if you're not eligible for VC funding, you can potentially raise funding through an angel investor. Angels are often successful entrepreneurs who want to invest in other start-ups, and typically don't demand the same, exceptionally high returns that a VC does.

If all else fails, you can always bootstrap your business. This means launching it using your own funds, as well as those donated (or loaned) from friends, family members, or business associates. The truth is an awful lot of businesses get started this way. While it may mean you have to scale back your business plan and cut costs substantially, there are some benefits. You don't have a repay a loan, which means that technically your house or whatever other equity you would have put up as collateral won't be on the line (although certainly if you're bootstrapping, there will be other significant financial risks). And if you don't raise VC or angel investment, you won't be beholden to an outside party who you'd likely have to give some percentage of your business. There's no question that bootstrapping a business is a tough road to take, but then, in many regards, that's just the nature of starting a business no matter what sort of start-up capital you have.