Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
Entrepreneurship

Introduction

EntrepreneurshipIntroduction
Figure 12.1 US 1 is the route into and out of the Florida Keys that residents and visitors alike take to their intended destinations. But more importantly, US 1, a physical structure of steel-reinforced concrete, is the artery through which economic exchanges are created and enhanced. (credit: modification of “Seven mile bridge” by Tinsley Advertising/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY)

Chapter Outline

Introduction

US Route 1 in southern Florida connects 43 islands of the Florida Keys via 42 bridges. It is a bidirectional economic path from the US mainland to its endpoint at Key West and for all points in between. Without the bridges it provides, residents, workers, and tourists would be required to ferry to their destinations, sacrificing time, money, economic efficiency, market productivity, and recreation. The bridges ensure an unimpeded flow of economic activities that benefit residents and visitors, increasing tourism across the entire state, and ensuring Key West is not economically and socially isolated.

Every entrepreneur can learn a few lessons from US 1. First, independent market players are stronger and more stable when connected to other independent market players. Second, connections are not always easy to establish. The idea of connecting all of the keys met resistance, and engineers had to solve many challenges. Third, you must be prepared to repair connections whenever they are severed. A hurricane destroyed the original railroad that connected the islands, but replacing it with an automobile highway was a major improvement. Other lessons are that benefits should outweigh costs, and that it takes time to build new connections: The original railroad took seven years to build. Costs of ongoing repair and maintenance have exceeded $1.8 billion1 (adjusted for inflation) but produced $2.7 billion in annual economic activity for 2017.2 Today, no one in Florida would dream of doing without the highway.

How are businesses similar to Key West? Every business includes people who produce goods and services for customers to purchase. In turn, businesses and those who work for them need to consume the products and services provided by their own vendors. Finding and establishing relationships with vendors and customers, in addition to the support of community organizations and educational resources, facilitates the exchange of information, products, and services. The connection between a business and its vendors or its customers makes up a network.

Footnotes

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/entrepreneurship/pages/1-introduction

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/entrepreneurship/pages/1-introduction

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Jun 17, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.