Joe Elias has a lot going on. He's trying to get a brand new
business, Write For Hollywood, off the ground. At the same time,
he's figuring out how to offer script-evaluation services to
aspiring screenwriters over the Internet. He's working to
manage a score of freelance script readers. He's reading,
critiquing and editing scripts himself. Finally, the 24-year-old is
trying to do the same thing as the customers of his two-person
Redondo Beach, California, start-up-namely, marketing a script of
his own.
The last may be the toughest of all. "I read recently that
the odds of selling a screenplay in Hollywood are something like 1
in 200,000," says Elias. "And I'm right there with
most of our clients, trying to do some writing myself."
Elias is a classic example of a Juggler, one of five
entrepreneurial types identified by a nationwide study of
small-business owners for Pitney Bowes Inc. by Yankelovich
Partners. Twenty percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed are
Jugglers, which means they exhibit unusually high energy levels but
con-stantly feel under pressure. That's probably because, more
than other types of business owners, they try to do a lot, if not
everything, themselves.
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Other characteristics of Jugglers are an abiding concern with
cash flow and a high degree of personal involvement in their
businesses. They're uncomfortable with relinquishing control,
are constantly looking for ways to boost business and tend to get
impatient with suppliers who, they often feel, aren't offering
them a good deal for products and services.
Elias, who started his company after three years working as a
script reader for Hollywood movie studios, feels the Juggler cap is
a good fit. "They hit it pretty much on the head as far as me
being worried about cash flow and the growth of the business and
wanting to bring the business to a point that I don't have to
worry so much about getting the word out," he says. One thing
Elias learned from the survey: He probably worries too much,
especially about the fact that many screenwriters don't know
that services like his exist.
When not writing, Elias stays busy trying to publicize and
promote his Website, www.writeforhollywood.com-as
well as keep it fresh and inviting-and keep his freelancers
productive. Fortunately, he has a lengthy supply of another Juggler
attribute: optimism. That, plus his interest in a number of fields,
gives him the perspective, flexibility and confidence necessary to
find a niche, one way or another.
"I have a realistic optimism," says Elias. "I do
think we'll be around. It's just a matter of in what
capacity."
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