As veteran business writer Allan Lynch points out in his preface to Sweat Equity, Atlantic Canada is not generally perceived – either within the region or without – as a locus for economic success. Yet here are 20 case studies of entrepreneurs from Nackawic, New Brunswick to St. John’s, Newfoundland who are making a go of it with ingenuity, perseverance, and hard work.

Sweat Equity is a combined ode to the brain power in this region, a motivational seminar, and a catalogue of useful advice for Atlantic Canadian business people in almost any sector of the economy. Lynch’s engaging profiles discuss ways to get ahead in entertainment, manufacturing, chemical and pharmaceutical businesses, technology, information services, retail, and tourism.

Here, readers will find the elusive Michael Donovan of Salter Street Films (best known for the CBC comedy hit This Hour Has 22 Minutes) discussing the finer points of funding productions in a non-traditional film centre like Halifax. Or the high-rolling owner of Canadian Helicopters, Craig Dobbin, explaining how he went from acquiring a single helicopter for personal fishing trips to owning a multimillion dollar public company.

The entrepreneurs Lynch selected seem candid about the problems they face doing business in Atlantic Canada. Money frustrations are omnipresent – a common refrain is the unreliability of banks and government funding agencies. Lawsuits, insurance, and partnership problems also rear their ugly heads. But Sweat Equity is about overcoming these obstacles and always looking to the next level of achievement.

Lynch does a marvellous job of providing readers with a full range of experience. The stories these men and women tell can be as heartbreaking as losing everything in a fire, or as funny as the fast-talking Hollywood agent who’s transplanted his office – fax machine and all – to the woods of New Brunswick.

Most significantly, Lynch assembles the collective wisdom of his subjects in a few practical chapters on starting and running a business. And while there is a particular emphasis on working from Atlantic Canada, many of the tips (writing a business plan, for example) will be useful to any entrepreneur. These chapters alone should earn Sweat Equity a place on every businessperson’s shelf.