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There Ought To Be A Law So you've only got one business? And maybe making that work is a struggle? Well, some business owners have more than their share--and make it look easy. We call them serial entrepreneurs.

By Geoff Williams

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

It was November 1957, outside Plainfield, Wisconsin, when thepolice arrested Ed Gein. Inside his kitchen was a bountiful meal ofpork chops; macaroni and cheese; pickles; coffee; cookies--and,simmering in a saucepan on the stove, a human heart.

Inside his house, the police made other grislydiscoveries--including a box of noses, skulls on the posts of hisbed and a headless corpse. The only room that appeared normal, savefor the coat of dust, was that of Gein's long-dead mother. Ifany of this rings a bell, it's because Gein was the real-lifeinspiration for Robert Bloch's novel, Psycho, whichbecame one of Alfred Hitchcock's film masterpieces.

America has long had a gruesome sense of humor, so maybethat's why "serial entrepreneur," a riff off serialkiller, is the term often used to describe entrepreneurs who ownmultiple companies in their lifetimes. It's hardly a crime, butthere does seem to be a growing number of entrepreneurs who stalk atrend, create a business from it and then, when it'sflourishing, kill it (by selling or dissolving). Some serialentrepreneurs can't get rid of their company--it's theirbaby--but they want a growing family, so they hire managers to runthe daily operations while they give birth to a new business.

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