Allied Forces

So what exactly does a value-added reseller of voice and data communication hardware do? "Data communication equipment is what marries computers to telephone lines," explains Bernie Mikula, 34, co-owner of Moorestown, New Jersey-based The RE/COM Group Inc. "When computers need to talk to other computers, [they do it through] telephone lines. The data communication equipment that goes between the computer and telephone line is what we sell."

But their work doesn't stop with the sale, adds RE/COM partner Eric Williams, 32. "We're planning where our customers are going to be next year, whether they know it or not," he says. "We have to be smart enough and knowledgeable enough to tell them where we perceive the industry is going."

This article was originally published in the November 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Allied Forces.