From the founder of an e-discovery firm to restaurateurs, foreign-born business owners explain how they have made it in America.

ALAN THIAN

Chief Executive

Royal Business Bank

When Alan Thian immigrated to the United States from Singapore in 1976, he dreamed of starting a bank one day, but conceded that it was probably not realistic. He knew the heavy regulation in the U.S. financial services industry to be a real obstacle and didn’t think he’d ever be in a position to overcome it.

“A financial institution is very restricted and highly scrutinized,” said Thian, 57. “When I came to the U.S., I thought that a financial institution was something I could never dream to be an owner of. It’s not easy to establish and not easy to operate.”

So he spent years working at Chinese-American banks. But in late 2008, he started his own institution, Royal Business Bank in downtown Los Angeles.

Despite the profoundly difficult environment for financial firms, Thian’s young bank has held its own in the competitive Chinese-American banking space. Royal Business Bank, which targets Chinese-American companies, has opened a second location in San Gabriel and has plans to open a third in Torrance in the early part of 2010.

“Things are moving along real good,” he said.

Though Thian made the strategic decision to slow down loan production in 2009, he noted that deposit growth has been strong.

Growing up in Singapore, Thian said he had a notion of the United States as a land of promise, where immigrants would be welcomed and given a chance to succeed. He moved to the United States when he was 24, after completing his undergraduate work, but he soon suffered a severe case of culture shock.

“At the beginning, I had to really adjust to the U.S. because the culture is different, everything is different,” he said. “In order to better adapt to the U.S., I decided to go back to school.”

He got his M.B.A. from USC and in 1982 joined General Bank, a Chinese-American institution that would later merge with Cathay Bank.

After working for several other institutions, Thian felt ready to set out on his own. He founded Royal with a team of investors committing more than $70 million in startup capital.

Thian acknowledges the challenges that he and other immigrants face in starting a business in the United States.

“Being an immigrant, you have a lot of limitations,” he said. “The language is a barrier. Even now, I speak with a strong accent – I know that and it’s not easy to change. The only way to overcome your limitations is to work harder.”