Mickey Finn's Brewery & Pub, Libertyville, Illinois

Buy a business you love

Pat Elmquest

Libertyville, Illinois: In this episode of the television show, we discover how two men changed the face and the fortunes of a town. They dared to dream an impossible dream. Pat Elmquest and Bill Sugars invested in their local community when no one else would. The old downtown was virtually abandoned -- over 60% vacancy with pawn shops and the like.

Pat had bought the pub; then with a $2 million loan, the two created a brewery and restaurant. The transformation was underway. They were true pioneers and visionaries.

As more people return to the downtown, especially over a drink during the golden moments of sunset, they began to see all the potential. The rest is history. Today, Libertyville is an award-winning historic business district.

These two entrepreneurs teach us about financing, about partnering, and about the restaurant business. But most of all, this is a story about two men who never abandoned their dreams. Both dropped out of corporate America. Bill and Pat cashed out after thirty years. Then, they put it all at risk. Their wives thought they were having a delayed midlife crisis. But the statistics were with them. They were over 50.  Learn more...

Corporate dropouts have over a seventy-percent success rate when they become entrepreneurs! It is their rebirth. They know what works at least some of the time. And, most know how to work!  This combination - experience, actualizing a deep-seated dream, and risking it all (they could not afford to fail) - profoundly increases the chances for success.

Mickey Finn's Brewery & Pub is a classic case study.