The Bold and the Profitable Think you've got the guts to strike out and do something completely different?

The word "bold" is defined as showing a readiness to take risks or face danger; daring; fearless. In the business world, it can also mean being audacious and stepping out in defiance of the status quo. You already did it once when you started your business--now it's time to make boldness your modus operandi.

It's certainly a philosophy John Acres, founder of BiGHA Inc., an adventure bicycle manufacturer in Corvallis, Oregon, lives and works by. For Acres, 50, being bold in business is second nature. "For me, not going ahead, not doing something new is incredibly hard," he says. "It's the antithesis of life."

Acres made a bold move in 2001 when he started a business to sell a new kind of bicycle he had designed-an ergonomically sound vehicle where the rider sits comfortably back in his seat.