Keep It Up Jugglers multitask faster'n greased lightnin' and feel the weight o' the world on their shoulders.
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Joe Elias has a lot going on. He's trying to get a brand newbusiness, Write For Hollywood, off the ground. At the same time,he's figuring out how to offer script-evaluation services toaspiring screenwriters over the Internet. He's working tomanage a score of freelance script readers. He's reading,critiquing and editing scripts himself. Finally, the 24-year-old istrying to do the same thing as the customers of his two-personRedondo Beach, California, start-up-namely, marketing a script ofhis own.
The last may be the toughest of all. "I read recently thatthe odds of selling a screenplay in Hollywood are something like 1in 200,000," says Elias. "And I'm right there withmost of our clients, trying to do some writing myself."
Elias is a classic example of a Juggler, one of fiveentrepreneurial types identified by a nationwide study ofsmall-business owners for Pitney Bowes Inc. by YankelovichPartners. Twenty percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed areJugglers, which means they exhibit unusually high energy levels butcon-stantly feel under pressure. That's probably because, morethan other types of business owners, they try to do a lot, if noteverything, themselves.
Other characteristics of Jugglers are an abiding concern withcash flow and a high degree of personal involvement in theirbusinesses. They're uncomfortable with relinquishing control,are constantly looking for ways to boost business and tend to getimpatient with suppliers who, they often feel, aren't offeringthem a good deal for products and services.
Elias, who started his company after three years working as ascript reader for Hollywood movie studios, feels the Juggler cap isa good fit. "They hit it pretty much on the head as far as mebeing worried about cash flow and the growth of the business andwanting to bring the business to a point that I don't have toworry so much about getting the word out," he says. One thingElias learned from the survey: He probably worries too much,especially about the fact that many screenwriters don't knowthat services like his exist.
When not writing, Elias stays busy trying to publicize andpromote his Website, www.writeforhollywood.com-aswell as keep it fresh and inviting-and keep his freelancersproductive. Fortunately, he has a lengthy supply of another Jugglerattribute: optimism. That, plus his interest in a number of fields,gives him the perspective, flexibility and confidence necessary tofind a niche, one way or another.
"I have a realistic optimism," says Elias. "I dothink we'll be around. It's just a matter of in whatcapacity."
Balanced Attack
The nature of most entrepreneurial types is to specialize.Jugglers? No. When asked how they spend their business time,Jugglers just couldn't make up their collective minds. Some didthis, some did that, but a relatively equal percentage dideach.
- Administrative details:31%
- Doing the work:38%
- Financing issues:30%
- Managing employees:23%
- With customers/selling:31%
Think you might be a Juggler? How about an Idealist? Hardworker, Optimizer, Sustainer? Take the test and find out yourentrepreneurial type at www.pitneyworks.com.
-Study performed by Yankelovich Partners.
