This is a subscriber-only article.

Save 20% on Entrepreneur+ during our Spring Growth Flash Sale

Use code SPRING20 at checkout.

Subscribe Now

Already have an account?

Sign in
Entrepreneur Plus - Short White
For Subscribers

How to Grow When <i>You</i> Are the Business The road to expansion is open, even if your business is built around your own specialized skills.

By Mark Henricks

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Christopher Dorris wanted to send more people his message of using sports-derived psychology to enhance business performance by battling the fears and beliefs that hold people back. The problem was that he and Alison Arnold, his partner in the Phoenix training and consulting company Head Games, were the only people he knew who had enough drive and commitment to their approach to open a second office.

"We've come across many who demonstrate interest and are desirous of being involved in an expansion project," says Dorris, 35. "But other elements were missing: sharing the philosophy, and the ability and desire to run your own show."

Jennifer Roitman, an intern who had worked with the pair for two years, decided to move to Boston and approached them about opening a Head Games office there. After putting in some time with the co-founders, Roitman had absorbed their philosophy. And with Dorris and Arnold's encouragement and assistance, she opened an East Coast office in summer 2002. "Before we met Jen, we were wondering how we were going to grow," says Dorris. "But it's been a great relationship, and now we're profiting from her work."