Ezio Fusco turns a lifetime of small-business lessons into a book for young founders

Irish businessman Ezio Fusco has published Big Business, a memoir-style guide aimed at young entrepreneurs starting with little money. The book blends practical lessons, setbacks and startup advice from decades of work in Dublin and County Kildare.

Why it matters: - Big Business is aimed at young people with an idea but little capital, a group often left out of polished startup advice. - The book pushes readers to test whether business is right for them before they commit time and money. - Fusco frames the book as both a personal record and a practical guide for founders starting small.

What happened: - Ezio Fusco published Big Business in Ireland on September 25, 2026. - The book recounts how Fusco started, ran and sometimes lost businesses in Dublin and County Kildare. - Fusco said the book is meant to show readers “how I did it” and to stimulate new thinking.

The details: - Fusco left his father’s employment at 23 and took over a fish and chip shop in Tallaght for six months while the owner was on holiday. - He later ran a pub in Newbridge, County Kildare, and a small shop on Thomas Street in Dublin that also housed a post office. - He took over a leasehold restaurant next to the Olympia Theatre on Dame Street that was first priced at €60,000. - Fusco paid €15,000 for the restaurant and covered the equipment payments himself using borrowed money, savings and the proceeds from selling his car. - The restaurant, It's Natural, was one of the first vegetarian restaurants in Dublin. - He later renamed it Da Lorenzo's, a pasta restaurant named after his son. - Fusco then bought Cafe Ritz, a 260-seat self-service restaurant on Abbey Street, from his father. - He also worked as a crane-truck driver for a small family firm and later became an owner-driver in Dublin's waste removal trade. - He bought his own truck and worked on building sites across the city. - Fusco also spent about eight months as a cook on a gas platform off the coast of Cork. - The book includes a dispute in Newbridge that ended with an uncontested court order requiring Fusco to leave the premises within 12 hours. - Fusco writes that everything, including the pool table, was moved to his house. - During the Irish banking crisis, the mortgage on the Abbey Street building rose above the property's value. - The building was sold, and Fusco later lost his house. - Fusco describes the strain those losses placed on his family and his return to steady work as a driver. - The book compares starting a business in Dublin in 1983 with starting one now. - It points to student enterprise programmes and university startup hubs as supports available to young founders today. - It also cites ongoing challenges such as the cost of living, early funding and regulation. - Fusco says some supports favor university graduates, while many young people leave school after the Intermediate or Leaving Certificate. - The book argues that common startup checklists do not explain what to do when every option fails. - Fusco says the book is not professional advice. - He describes himself as someone who has spent a lifetime involved in a variety of businesses. - Fusco is 70, lives in Ireland and now drives a limousine in Dublin. - His past work includes restaurateur, shopkeeper, publican and haulage subcontractor. - He describes himself as retired but still in business.

Between the lines: - The book appears to reject startup mythology in favor of hard, uneven experience. - Fusco's path suggests entrepreneurship without a university background can still mean learning through repeated trial, debt and recovery. - The story also shows how housing, banking stress and family finances can shape a small-business career as much as business skill.

What's next: - Fusco hopes the book will help readers see a challenge differently. - He expects younger readers to find the book useful and older readers to recognize familiar lessons from the same road. - The book may also serve as a counterpoint to polished startup culture by emphasizing resilience over spectacle.

The bottom line: - Big Business is part memoir, part cautionary guide, built around one core message: starting small is possible, but it rarely looks like the version seen on television.