Resolved to be a somebody, a shipping clerk named Turtletaub starts his own business knowing only that he intends either to create a product or to provide a service, and whichever one it is, he pledges, "it will be good...for everyone."

Turtletaub is a practical sort of dreamer who budgets his meager means so as to rent a thirty-seven square foot office space in which to start his business. He feels that his freedom, as well as that of his wife, depends upon his being able to succeed in this endeavor. And before he knows it, Turtletaub has happened upon hiring an awkward, kind day laborer as his assistant and a confident yet conflicted salesman as his sales force. Now all that Turtletaub needs is to figure out what it is that his business will do.

But there is constant noise streaming in through the vent in the ceiling of Turtletaub's office, and the landlord keeps giving Turtletaub the runaround. And his salesman has somehow started bringing in investment money, even though they do not know what it is that their business does, and Turtletaub is not sure what it is, exactly, that he owes these investors. As the pressure builds and things start to move, Turtletaub seems farther and farther away from having his idea become a reality. Until one night it hits...and it's great...