There often comes a point in a businessperson's work life, when they have one of two choices - give up or roll the sleeves up.
For chief executives (CEOs) of smaller companies, their decision can be the difference between a company's ultimate survival and failure.
The recession has impacted upon almost all businesses in some way, but more often than not in a negative sense.
Cue sleeve-rolling.
A couple of examples of American business owners stepping up to the realities of the recession and mucking in with 'lesser' jobs were recently featured in CNN Money.
Entitled 'When the CEO heads back to the mail room: As staffs shrink, business owners are taking on support duties they haven't had to handle in years', the piece really got to grips with the recession's realities.
The businesses featured could well find that their fortunes soon change as a result of the online PR they have received from the piece - the sleeves could be coming down sooner than they think.
SkirtSports, an athletic clothing company in Boulder, is case studied first. In order to deal with the economic bust Nicole DeBoom was forced to lay off a number of employees.
The ones lucky enough to keep their jobs were subsequently put in a position where they had to take on the responsibility of their departed colleagues under strict "no-raise, no-bonus" conditions.
However, this was no 'lower-rungs only' policy. No, Ms DeBoom got involved in jobs that she hadn't had to do for a while - so long in fact that when it came to sending out a batch of orders, she was unaware of how to print them out.
She learned from her staff and the company is still in production.
The second featured company is Diego & Son Printing, a print shop in San Diego, where owner Nicholas Aguilera was forced to ax half of his staff - including his 82-year-old aunt who had worked at the company for 25 years.
He has since had to take on extra responsibilities, including that of production manager.
Furthermore, in a show of solidarity after having to reduce his employees' paychecks by ten per cent, he and his co-owner sister cut their wages by 20 per cent.
Essentially, it's hard work and an acknowledgement that no job is too small for a company owner that has led to these businesses featuring on CNN Money.
That said, state director for the New York Small Business Development Center Jim King believes this should always be the case for small firms, whether in a recession or not.
He told CNN Money: "In a small business - if [it] is a successful business - you probably always have the manager rolling up their sleeves."
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