The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

by Mike Micalowicz 

The title of this book, Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, suggests this is not your everyday business book. And it isn't  The author equates starting a business to a certain biological function, and then he continues to draw analogies between what we do when we do number two, and what we do when we start our own business. And although that analogy is something short of obvious, the author still succeeds in using it to provide a useful guide to entrepreneurship. TPE contains the usual hints, suggestions, tips and strategies of any number of self-help business books: how to obtain and keep customers, how to save money in everyday business, how to get motivated to start, and the like. Where it differs is that it takes a much more down-to-earth approach and is candidly realistic. The author continues the candor and refreshingly straightforward approach to tell the reader what will or will not (in the author’s opinion) work in starting one’s own business. The author also discusses the entrepreneurial mindset and even goes so far as to tell the reader that if you don’t possess a certain quality or foster a certain talent, you need to give up the idea of being an entrepreneur and go back to your day job. The book has a number of the money saving tips and is chock full of practical advice from the author’s own experience. Not everything in this book is for everybody. For example, there is a whole section about capitalizing on one’s youth, which as a pushing-fifty company man I felt completely alienated me and ruled me out as a potential entrepreneur. (Personally, I think my experience and knowledge are assets that are at least as valuable, if not more valuable, than the “vigor of youth”.) Anyway, the sections that are applicable to you as an individual reader will be interesting and definitely of some use if you plan to start your own business (and even if you don’t). This is a well written, informative, at times funny, and always earthy book. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in business in general, or who is interested in becoming an entrepreneur.

Note: The author provided a gratis copy of the book for purposes of this review.