Put restaurants for sale on hold.  The 2012 Olympics are here and Americans are tweeting, blogging, watching, cheering and even crying over the results. 

Restaurants for sale take a back seat once every four years while Americans watch spell bound at the feats of our greatest athletes. The 2012 Olympics will unite Americans like few other things in life.  While we may all stand apart on some issues, when it comes to the 2012 Olympics, we’re all cheering together. 

Across restaurant tables and online we are all asking some of the same questions.  “Should Jordyn Wieber have been eliminated from the individual all-around final?”  “Will the Americans lead in the medal count?”  “What’s the deal with those empty seats anyway?” (maybe they should call Scoutmob or Groupon for some help!)

Now you may wonder how any of that ties to buying a restaurant but there is a point to my musings. 

About two weeks ago, President Obama gave a speech in Roanoke Virginia in which he said (quoted verbatim),

“look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. “

                                                             President Barack Obama, Roanoke, VA  July 13, 2012

Those words stand in stark contrast to the indomitable American spirit.  We see it in play every day in restaurants for sale where people have taken immense risks to start or buy a restaurant.  We witness the very opposite of the President’s words as we watch the 2012 Olympics.  No matter how well coached, how well financed, or how genetically predisposed to success in their sport, when it comes to Olympian achievement, these athletes -- every single one -- built it on their own.  That amazing moment when they are acknowledged as the fastest, the most graceful, or the strongest is built on the sweat of their brow and the conviction to their dream.  They built it.  They trained for hours on end when everyone else was sleeping an extra hour.  They set a goal to run 10 miles and then exceeded it and set a new one.  They are the ones that left their families and sacrificed both financially and emotionally.   They didn’t stumble into success.  They built it.

Restaurants for sale are built by owners just like these athletes.  Many started with a loan against their house or from savings that evaporated in year one.  There were plenty of times any one of our restaurant sellers could have folded but they hung in there one more quarter.  While the guy with the secure job slept an extra hour, the owners of these restaurants for sale were doing the books, ordering the food or cleaning up the kitchen by themselves.   Eventually they turned the corner to profitability.  There was no one to bail them out, no one to prop them up and by their own blood, sweat and tears;  they built it.

As you watch the 2012 Olympics, celebrate the courage, determination and drive of the American spirit in these athletes.  Take another minute and acknowledge that entrepreneurs from all walks of life have those exact same traits.  Respect and honor the American spirit and success whether you’re watching a 2012 Olympic athlete or negotiating with an entrepreneur.  They deserve it because they built it.