Book Review - A kick in the right direction

The Toilet Paper

Entrepreneur

Author: Mike Michalowicz

Publisher: Obsidian Launch, LLC;

Boonton, New Jersey (2008)

Reviewed by: Glenda Anderson

If you have ever agonised about the pros and cons of starting your own business, the bare bones, almost graphic approach of the 175-page 'manual' , The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, may just be the shot in the arm you need. Better yet, in the style of the author Mike Michalowicz, that well-placed kick to get you off the pot and hopefully on the way to success in business.

Pulling on his own experience as a young person just out of college who took on the challenge of building a business with meager resources, Michalowicz's unconventional stance is that it is possible to ditch the standard how-tos, including the much-touted, all-important 'business plan', and reap success by simply making the most of what is available.

It is this passion, creativity and hard work which he insists will guarantee success, every time. Strangely, possibly because of its stark practicality, Michalowicz's use of bathroom humour is very effective. In what he describes as a three-sheet strategy, the author suggests a dynamic approach to running a business.

'Miracles' out of the trash

"Have you ever been in the bathroom only to realise there are a mere three sheets of toilet paper left ... but somehow, often with the help of the trash can remnants, manage to make it work? This is how a toilet paper entrepreneur runs business ... he makes do with what hey has, pulls "miracles" out of the trash and makes more and more with less and less," he says.

His Toilet Paper Entrepreneur philosophy is based on the notion that not only can one start a business with fewer resources, but that having fewer resources can actually work to your benefit.

In possibly one of his more off-the-wall principles, he scoffs at the idea that people need money to start a business. He maintains that having fewer resources (read little or no money) can force the entrepreneur to tackle an issue in highly innovative ways versus simply spending money blindly to solve it. The author urges persons to aggressively hack away at those things which discourage this natural urge to entrepreneurship. These could include your own negative thoughts, discouragement from friends and family and, yes, limited funds.

Several guidelines

But the work is not a grand plan to launch your business on a wing and a prayer. Michalowicz offers instead several guidelines throughout (prosperity plan, daily metrics guide) and a wide range of handy resources for entrepreneurs - from where to find cheap furniture, technical information specific to your choice of business and freebies of all kind - to experts who are willing to help.

It is not simply another book on starting a business. It is a how-to manual and workbook with a little black book thrown in there.

The simple conversation style and ready (colourful) quips, quotes (there's even one from Bob Marley) and inspiring stories heighten the 'I can do this' feeling.

Michalowicz started his first business, Olmec Systems, Inc., a regional computer network integrator, at 24 years old. He sold it in 2002 through a private transaction. He says literally a day later he started another. He co-founded and served as managing partner of P.G. Lewis & Associates, LLC, a national provider of data forensic services, which he went on to sell to a Fortune 500 company in 2006. He was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999 by the MCCC; New Jersey's Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the SBA in 2000; and is a 2004 graduate of MIT's 'Birthing of Giants' Entrepreneurial Program.