Ten years ago, Chris Dingman launched his company on the flimsiest of grounds. It’s called The Dingman Group, and it relocates professional athletes — so, say, if a guy is traded from the Miami Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers, The Dingman Group would arrange to sell the house in Miami, pack it up, move the stuff and find a new home in Cleveland. It’s a clever, one-of-a-kind service, but there was a hitch: The “Group” was just Dingman, and he had no experience in real estate or professional sports. Also, he was damn near broke — and it took him almost a year and a half to find his first client. “It was gnarly,” he says. “No matter how much you’re struggling as an entrepreneur, you have to put a face on.”

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