Celebrating Today's Bold Go-Getters

The SBA's National Small Business Week celebrates small business owners and their efforts to grow their companies, generate revenue, create jobs and uplift their neighborhoods.

"In America, we believe that anyone willing to work hard and take risks can get their good idea off the ground and into the marketplace.  It is a notion that has made our nation bold and bright, and the best place to do business for generations -- from small-town storefronts to pioneering startups that keep our country on the cutting edge," President Obama said while kicking off the event.

America has 28 million small business owners nationwide.  No country does more to spur the entrepreneurial process and encourage its citizens to incorporate their businesses and pursue their dreams.

I speak with many small business owners on a monthly basis.  They range from mom-and-pop operations to larger companies that are looking to move their firms from sole proprietorships to more formal structures and credible entities: LLCs, S-Corps, C-Corps, limited partnerships and other formats. Their industries range from service companies to retailers and new restaurants and bars.  Their owners work hard to earn a living, become profitable, create jobs, and help build their communities.

When some asks me, "What is an entrepreneur," I tell them that it is someone who is a bold thinker and a risk taker.  Entrepreneurs are not people who sit on the sidelines. They are go-getters. Their demographics include all of us: young, old, black, white, Latino, rich, middle class and sometimes poor. Often they are immigrants.

This week, we celebrate small companies from across the nation. Small Business Week is a unique celebration of what's great about our country. We've always been known as the land of opportunity and for generations people have risked so much and left the lives they've known to come to America's shores and start anew.

While Americans may disagree about tax rates, ObamaCare, and how closely government should be involved with enterprise, we can all agree that our entrepreneurial zeal is what makes this country great.

E.J. Dealy is CEO of The Company Corporation, the small business unit at Corporation Service Company® (CSC®), which incorporates tens of thousands of new businesses annually and provides ongoing compliance services to 200,000 companies located throughout the U.S.