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If you started your own business after a stint in the corporateworld, you may find that your former employers make primeprospective customers. Gerry Baker knows that firsthand: When heformed Corporate Consulting Inc., a crisis management publicrelations firm in Edmond, Oklahoma, one of his first clients washis most recent former employer.

"You have significant advantages [selling] to your formeremployer," Baker says. "You know the system, the companyway." But that inside knowledge of the company will only helpyou get your foot in the door. "There may be a honeymoon for awhile, but at some point, you're going to be expected toperform as good as or better than anybody else out there."