It is apparently a truism in our entrepreneurial universe that money is far easier to come by when you don’t need it. It’s when you actually need some cash, whether to start or expand a business, that it becomes the most elusive.

The real question is how much money do you need? If you’re only looking for a little (that is, under $100,000), there are creative ways to find it; if you need a lot (over $250,000), then you’re probably too big to fail. But it’s those small business owners caught in the middle — in what David Nilssen, CEO of Guidant Financial, calls the “dead zone of financing” — who are the ones in trouble.

I met with Nilssen last week at the International Franchise Association (IFA) conference in Las Vegas, and he explained the yin and yang of business financing to me. Despite the strong comeback of the stock market in the last few years, the credit market remains tight. Nilssen doesn’t see any loosening of credit in the next two to four years.

The problem, says Nilssen, is that “banks are not in the business of servicing loans.” In the past, a bank would make a loan (or a mortgage), and then sell that loan to another institution to maintain the loan, which includes assuming the risk should the business fail. Today, banks “can’t sell the loans,” explains Nilssen, so they’re simply not making them.

So what is a business owner looking for funding supposed to do? Nilssen says, “In a credit-restricted environment, people have to be more creative about funding their businesses than in the past.” For example, if you’re looking to finance your business for less than $100,000, there are several ways to do it, including credit card advances, dipping into your home equity, or by using a self-directed IRA or 401k (which happens to be Guidant Financial’s specialty).

There’s also good news if you need a lot of money ($250,000 or more) to start or expand your business. Businesses needing that much capital generally have some type of “real collateral” to borrow against, making it easier to find the money necessary. If this is your situation, Nilssen advises you investigate unsecured loans, SBA loans, and again, the self-directed IRA or 401k as sources of capital.

Navigating the dead zone is only one of the problems facing companies trying to get financing these days. Steve Moses, co-founder of the Southern California Venture Network, a venture-development organization that helps companies with sales of $1 million to $25 million (and with funding in place) “reach their next milestones,” says that funding needs have fundamentally changed today. “In the old days, entrepreneurs wanted funding to start the next Microsoft. Essentially, they wanted money to build the whole puzzle,” says Moses. “These days, they want money to help them fund a part of the puzzle.” In other words, it’s a more collaborative world out there, though it’s still a tough environment for entrepreneurs to start and build businesses.

But, Moses adds, there needs to be a “catalyst” to change or charge the economy. He won’t predict what exactly that catalyst will be, but he offers some examples ranging from wireless technologies to app development to green energy initiatives (driven by the possibility, according to analyst Charles T. Maxwell, of oil hitting $300 a barrel by 2020).

Moses agrees that times like these call for creative approaches. If you want to open a retail store, for example, think about starting out online. It’s not only a low-cost way to get started, but allows you to “grow into the business.” He calls this startup method “Click-to-Brick.”

Wherever you fall on the entrepreneurial spectrum, at some point you’re going to need money. That quest will be easier for some. But if you’re in the “dead zone,” you’re going to have to try harder, be more creative, take more risks, and solve more problems. I recently heard someone say, “Entrepreneurship is messy.” But nearly every entrepreneur I meet says that it’s worth it.

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