The Women Entrepreneurs Blog @ Simon

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

How could I resist writing about this funny and entertaining book? I couldn't. It's not just funny and entertaining, it's a quick education in entrepreneurship. As the subtitle says, "The tell-it-like-it-is guide to cleaning up in business, even if you are at the end of your roll."

Mike Michalowicz, the author, doesn't just want to point you in the right direction, or give you a few good quotes, he wants to show you what you need to do. And his method is a bit unorthodox, to say the least. Isn't that what gets people's attention, though? If you've a mind to - follow the advice on the back of the book that says, "For a Good time call: 800-918-5880." Which is something you'd see in a bathroom stall...when you're down to your last piece of TP.

And so, here's what Mike claims you can learn from this book:

"We can't all be Media Darling Entrepreneurs - those one-in-a-billion wunderkinds who gave us companies like Google, YouTube, and Facebook. Most of us are destined to be Toilet Paper Entrepreneurs - steadfast innovators who make miracles happen with three sheets or less."

Are you still with me? If so, here's the bulleted list of what Mike purports to teach you in this outrageously titled book about entrepreneurship:

• Why a business plan is a total waste of your time.
• Why fulfilling your own needs is the first and last order of business.
• Which three sheets of paper you need to successfully launch, manage, and grow your business.
• How to get started with little or no money.
• How to find and exploit resources that no one else knows about.
• How to stop procrastinating and take action NOW.

Time for me to fess up. I only read half of the book. By Chapter 4, Mike had pretty well bored me to tears. Sorry, Mike. Your advice isn't new. Your insistence that we believe in ourselves, that our thoughts will drive our actions, that passion rules, is old, old, old. If people haven't figured that out by now - in this post-"The Secret" world - they never will. You telling them over and over in this book, won't do it. (and that pic on your homepage - of YOU by all the books...what's up with that? better you had shared a few of your TPE Attributes - after all, we can get your picture from Google with just a few clicks of the mouse. The Attributes at least offer value.) 

Ok, your concept is good. So, I am recommending the book. Hey, my opinion isn't the be all and end all of the world. However, I do believe that the real value comes on Mike's blog. Where you can interact with him. Otherwise, this book is just another hardcover rah-rah-rah-you-can-do-it cheerleader's focus on being an entrepreneur. IMHO

(ok, I cannot really speak to the second half of the book because I just couldn't finish it; maybe the second half is where the best stuff was; problem is, you have to get me interested enough to read the second half, in the first half. Didn't happen.)

Skirts in the Boardroom: A Book Review

As the fortunate receiver of a number of good books on how to conduct business today, I often find myself overwhelmed with business advice from one author or another. Unlike this blog - where the advice is offered in nice, small nuggets - reading a 200 page book takes a lot of time and thought.

Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes...it isn't. I rarely write about the times it isn't because, really, who does that help? Not the reader of the blog, not the author, and not me. So, my goal in offering book reviews is to share the good stuff - stuff that will help you in your entrepreneurial endeavors.

I recommend you get a copy of Marshawn Evans' book Skirts in the Boardroom: A Woman's Survival Guide to Success in Business & Life.

As I read the book, it brought back many memories of starting my own business, and how the bumps in the road, as well as the serious pitfalls, were so distressing. There were few people I could talk to, and the ones that I did talk to were supportive but unable to advise - and that's what I needed: good advice.

Evans describes three attitudes in her book. She calls these "a symptom, not a disease; an adjective, not a noun." The Observer "watches from the sidelines." She's Passive; not the place you want to be if you are hoping to achieve entrepreneurial success. The Opponent "is active. She may be on the team, but she challenges the team--and not in a good way." The Optimist is "...optimistic, positive, and creating a strong impression wherever she (or he) may go." 

Which attitude are you? Which attitude should you be looking to connect with to grow your business? If you're not the Optimist you think you should be, can you change your behavior to become an optimist? Evans believes you can. She believes attitude is a learned behavior and can be unlearned if it's not helping you move forward - or, relearned to provide the right environment for your success.

Wiley, the book's publisher, says this about the book, "It will help you navigate the male-dominated corporate world and keep you inspired when you're unmotivated and unsatisfied with your career."

Over at 800-CEO-Read this review notes that this book helps women who find themselves "unmotivated, unhappy, or unsatisfied" with their careers.

Evans, on her website, offers this explanation, "...the definitive guide to being a modern-day sassy, savvy, sensible, and smart woman learder in 2008 and beyond." She's been interviewed on numerous national TV stations and you can see on her website that she definitely takes her own advice. The site is a bit overwhelmingly about her - instead of about how she can help us...but, that, too, is a lesson. A lesson in marketing yourself.

It's clear she has the smarts, the talent, and the energy to go "beyond"... if you read her book and follow her lead - you, too, can enjoy the "Sisterhood, Knowledge, Integrity, Respect, Tenacity, Substance" demonstrated in SKIRTS in the Boardroom.

Web Tip of the Week: Women Mean Business

How will women change the web? How will women change work? How will women demonstrate how to adapt to a world of flexibility?

In this video, we hear the answers to these issues, including thoughts about how young women fit into the emerging world of entrepreneurship, and how men figure into the picture. The book they are talking about is Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of our Next Economic Revolution by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland. 

Can you see yourself in this new world - where women are recognized for their talent and their integrity? As the world changes, as more women build businesses in an uncertain economy, we will see great successes, and we will see small successes.

You are the only one who can choose which you want to be. Remember: sometimes small is just the right size. We don't all need to be 'big'. This week's tip is to read this book and choose wisely.

Practical Intuition: A Book Review

Many entrepreneurs search Amazon and Barnes & Noble for the latest best seller on how to be a success in their business. It's all well and good to read books by the masters - who hasn't read Jim Collins' Good to Great? Or, Guy Kawasaki's Art of the Start? Some of you may even be familiar with Lee Thayer's Thinking, Being, Doing. But are these books the best ones for you to spend time on?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I would suggest branching out and today I am going to talk about a book that was published in 1996, but which has eternal staying power and is a must-read for the female entrepreneur.

Losing It ... Valerie Bertinelli's story

So I just finished the new book by Valerie Bertinelli, Losing It ... And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time. I really wanted to read it because being a child of the 70's, I used to love watching the sitcom she was in, "One Day at a Time", with Bonnie Franklin and McKenzie Phillips.  Sure, the show was a little corny, but it was good for a laugh or two. 

Her life story is pretty interesting and quite a roller coaster ride!  She has two brothers and had an older brother who died suddenly at 19 months.  She has constantly battled weight gain and has tried every dieting fad under the sun.  Her marriage to rocker, Eddie Van Halen, was quite tumultuous with drugs, alcohol and all the trappings of a rock star lifestyle.  Both of them were equally into addiction and infidelity and it's unbelievable that they stayed married for over 25 years! 

My Favorite Book on Getting Started

I am the daughter and also the granddaughter of entrepreneurs. My brother is also an entrepreneur. It would seem that entrepreneurship runs in our family's blood. Or maybe, as my father says, none of us could work for anyone else so we had to start our own businesses!

Whatever ... I knew many years before I founded My Brands that I wanted to build my own business. Apparently this is common among entrepeneurs.

A dear friend of mine,William J. Stolze, who passed away a few years ago, wrote my favorite book on the topic of entrepreneurship: Start Up: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching and Managing a New Business (1999). Bill was one of the founders of RF Communications here in Rochester. In Bill's book he observes that many entrepreneurs know that they want to start a business, but they don't necessarily know exactly what business they want to be in. That was definately true with me!

I highly recommend this book. It is an easy read full of common sense and great advice. I followed Bill's advice that an entrepreneur should develop good business skills and keep their eyes and ears open to potential opportunites for new businesses. That is exactly the path that I took that led me to the idea for My Brands. I suggest that if you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur this is the easiest first step that you can take.

You can view a couple of good excerpts from his book here.