They Did Build That!

The Definitive American Success Story, Now Newly Updated!

Some entrepreneurs describe it as an itch. That unshakable belief that they can do something better or tap a whole new market. But it takes far more than this to build a business.

It takes a bankable business plan, which is a dream put to paper then bolstered by numbers. It requires multiple parties willing to budge on price and numerous other terms. It needs banks willing to lend. Most of all, it takes nerve.

That's because even the smallest business deal is an audacious bet on the future. It's why such transactions can be so rare, so precious and so complicated. All this to realize a single dream.

Even in uncertain times, true entrepreneurs can't stand pat for long. They are America's true blue believers. Their creed is hard work, big ideas and just the right amount of risk.

They are the economic engine that keeps America running. And this is their story: An inside look at the entrepreneurial fire that burns inside even the smallest of small business people. Because no matter the size of the company, to start one you have to dream big!

That’s the thing very few ever realize when they walk into a store, go to work in an office or toil in a factory -- all the work, worry and test of wills that went into just opening its doors.

This is the birth of a business, the anatomy of a deal -- and the very best of America. And it marks the culmination of all the complex negotiations, legal wrangling and financial transactions that begin with a dream, nag like an itch and churn deep in the gut.

Until a deal is done. A business is open. And another entrepreneur realizes a vision.
 

About the Author:

Journalist John Luciew is the author of more than a dozen books, including nonfiction accounts of a small family farm, a year in the life of the Great Recession in America, a chronicle of Pittsburgh Steelers fans, and a patient-centric look at catastrophic illness and how afflicted families respond and rally. He has been covering business and economics for more than 25 years.