Secrets of entrepreneurial success

Sarasota executive Jim Abrams is the classic definition of an accidental entrepreneur: The son of a World War II veteran and Detroit autoworker, Abrams' first job after college was teaching history in high school.

Abrams soon moved to business, and has had a career with some remarkable successes. “There was no thought process in becoming an entrepreneur,” Abrams told the Business Observer in 2008, when he was named the newspaper's Entrepreneur of the Year. “I'm an entrepreneur by mistake.”

Abrams career highlights include growing the franchise business of Weight Watchers in the 1970s; running a sales division for air-conditioning firm Trane; organizing and implementing a franchise platform for The Mutual Fund Store; starting his own air-conditioning business; launching Clockwork Home Services, a brand of three home services franchises that grew to nearly $200 million in annual sales; and, most recently, founding Fyzical, a fast-growing chain of physical therapy centers.