A broadcaster who's now a home-based CEO - Chief Executive Officer - video producer wins second prize in Home Office Computing's first annual best home business contest

Home Office Computing, June, 1991 by Ronnie Gunnerson

After 17 years as a high-salaried producer for Chicago's CBS-owned televison station, Jim Hatfield was flabbergasted when a senior manager called him in, closed the door, steepled his fingers, and said, "Jim, it's moments like this that give each of us deeper insight into our own mortality."

No, the doctor hadn't called his boss with terminal test results: The weekly television magazine Hatfield produced was terminated. "The market is changing," the station executive said. Hatfield was out. But a new life was around the bend.

"After considering a job search for about 10 seconds, I decided to do what I'd always wanted to do anyway--start my own business at home," says Hatfield. "No more corporate cliff-hanging. No more going through channels to reach the CEO. I would be the CEO!"

In keeping with his promise, Hatfield has built a winning scriptwriting and video production business thata won him second place in our Best Home Business Contest. He's been in business for about three years.

Thankfully, his first scriptwriting job came within a week of being fired: a documentary script that paid six months' worth of mortgage payments. Not a bad start. Not only did it raise Hatfield's comfort level, but it allowed him to roll over his CBS pension and investment funds and use some of his severance to equip his home office.

"People who write for a living need to turn out good-looking copy, so I invested in a Macintosh SE and a LaserWriter II SC," Hatfield says.

"To give myself a competitive edge and to make the most of my broadcast-honed ability--turning out good copy fast--I added an Abaton Interfax fax board," he says.

"Regardless of which of my services I'm providing, I try to deliver as much value as possible. A happy customer is a repeat customer. I aim for $800 a day on producing or directing assignments and negotiate fees of $1,000 to $5,000 for scripts, depending on length and complexity."

In the early days of his business, Hatfield milked leads from the many contacts he'd made in his 20 years of broadcasting. Then he began building list upon list of hospitals, law firms, banks, benefits consultants, and public-relations firms until he had hundreds of potential clients.

"I began contacting them by phone and following up on the most promising possibilities with a packet of materials, which by then included my own presentation video--me on camera talking about my background and introducing excerpts of my first few video projects," says Hatfield.

Today, Hatfield is as busy as he ever was in his corporate job and is almost up to his old salary level.

Filing in corporate gaps, Hatfield has produced videos on everything from prostate cancer to truck engines to computer marketing, as well as a slew of video news releases for companies and public-relations firms. He conducts media training and consulting, teaching people how to dress, prepare, and behave for live television interviews.

His home office houses his work tools and his play tools: a trumpet, a cornet, and a flugelhorn. "I can practice jazz licks while I'm waiting for my LaserWriter to do its stuff. . . . Now there's something you can't do down at the office.

"In fact, I've been thinking about looking up that old senior manager so that I can thank him for giving me deeper insight into my own opportunity."