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GO IT ALONE!

way: “One of the huge mistakes people make is [trying] to force an interest on themselves. . . . If you’re really interested in med-icine, and you decide you’re going to become an Internet entrepreneur because it looks like everybody else is doing well, then that’s probably not going to work. You don’t choose your passions, your passions choose you.”

There are many examples of go-it-alone entrepreneurs who have succeeded because they have aligned their core business activities with their core skills: Mitch York, whose activities as a Maui Wowi franchisee are detailed in Chapter 7 (pages 141–143), exercises his tremendous marketing creativity to make the business a success. Sherman Eisner, who founded A&E Home Security Company for do-it-yourselfers, describes himself as “mechanically inclined” and has a unique ability “to envision the problems a customer may be facing” in self-installation, so he can provide unparalleled phone support. The founder of 1–800-MYLOGO, David Tartamella, had an unusual and very strong interest in corporate identities and the design of logos from early childhood. What’s exciting is the way he has turned this interest into a worldwide business. (See The Art of the Repeatable Business System, pages 106–108.)

Do You Need to Be an Expert?

One question that naturally arises is the value of subject expertise in building your business. Do you need to be an expert to make your business a success?

When you develop a business idea, you may see that it fits with your core skills and has real value to potential customers. You may not, however be an expert in the business area involved. Indeed, many go-it-alone entrepreneurs start with limited expertise but have the capacity to learn rapidly. This facility is a direct result of the alignment between the business idea and

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