白手起家

白手起家 [bái shǒu qǐ jiā]

1. ■ start empty-handed; build up from nothing; start from scratch; start from taw; build up one's fortune from scratch; rise in life without help; rise by one's own efforts; make a fortune starting from scratch:

你们白手起家， 修建了这么多钢铁厂， 这简直是个奇迹。 Starting bare-handed， you have built up so many steel plants. This is nothing short of miracles.

很难相信这个造纸厂仅仅是在几年前白手起家办起来的。 One can hardly believe that this paper mill was started from scratch only a few years ago.