One Year Later

Like many new entrepreneurs, David Fralick fretted over generating enough business when he formed his Naples video company, Alpha Media Productions, a year ago.

And, like others in his position, the Naples native made a common miscalculation.

"When I started out people would ask me, 'Can you do this by a certain date,' and I'd say, 'No problem.' Then another person would ask me the same thing, and I'd say, 'No problem,'" Fralick recalls.

Bottom line: Fralick wanted to make sure business was rolling in, so he was very accommodating to clients. Maybe too accommodating. Eventually he realized he had spread himself too thin. "Working for yourself is much more time consuming," he says.

But as he became more familiar with the local market, he realized he could call upon others with video businesses to help him out. "There are big projects we'll team up on," Fralick says.

Alpha Media-just Fralick, right now-produces training and marketing videos, and television commercial spots. The start-up is Fralick's latest turn in a career that began when he was 16. He volunteered behind the camera at WEVU-TV in Naples in 1978, when it was an ABC affiliate (it's now with UPN). "A month later I was asked if I wanted to make money doing it," says Fralick, now 42. He studied TV production at Edison Community College and then embarked upon his career.

Fralick worked as a cameraman at different stations in Atlanta for 10 years and then wound up at WJLA, an ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. A year later, he got tired of the congestion and moved back to Naples, where his mother, Ruth, was undergoing a hip replacement. "I wondered what I was going to do. There wasn't much going on here," he recalls.

So he bought a computer editing system and camera and hung out his shingle. He also joined the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, which he credits with gaining him word-of-mouth referrals. His client list includes a bank, merchant association and musicians.

Fralick is adjusting to self-employment after working in the corporate world for years. But he says there are challenges, such as keeping up with paperwork. After Fralick's rookie year, he offers some advice: "You really need to try to feel out the market first. Surround yourself with positive people who will give you support. And don't say yes to everybody. It's all about time management. I'm still learning."