Archive for October, 2008

One of the most useful tips I could give anyone starting his/her own business is to start by finding a niche. The niche should be related to your business and should be a small outlet to get you started. Hopefully those in the niche will either provide you with resources to get new clients or will be your first set of clients themselves. Targeting one niche allows you to set and focus on your goals. Without a clear target group, it is very challenging to succeed and grow. Remember, satisfied clients will give the BEST referrals.  Read more »

VIDEO - Mike's Vlog on Be the Hot Girl  Read more »

TOILET PAPER ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES Kate Sullivan, Founder of Kick Public Relations   Company Name Kick Public Relations   Year Launched February 2005  Age 30  Company’s service A boutique PR firm specializing in emerging fashion and working with talented designers with limited budget to get them some buzz.   Startup cash $800 from friends and family who threw me a good luck/ goodbye party. I put it into a website, [...]  Read more »

This is an EDUCATIONAL video by Mike Michalowicz of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. In this video you will learn WHY now (in a down economy) is the best time to start a new business, or to grow the one you already have. Additionally Mike outlines WHAT steps to take and HOW to do it. Have a pen and paper ready.  Read more »

A video from the Young Money series, explaining why you have an expert opinion.  Read more »

Everyone wants what you’ve got. There is something so unique, so compelling about you that everyone wants a piece of it. They just don’t know it yet. And you know what? Neither do you.  Read more »

Tom Trush of The Red Pen Review interviewed me (Mike Michalowicz) on how to keep a strong business mind in a weak economy (or in any economy for that).  Read more »

TOILET PAPER ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES Mark Truman, Founder of Omniac Education   Name of your company Omniac Education Year and Month Launched January 2007 Company Services Academic tutoring, ACT/SAT test preparation, and college consulting. Startup Cash A little over $1000.  Favorite Food El Pollo Loco chicken.  I’m freaking addicted! Favorite Quote “Do or do not.  There is no try.”  - Yoda Favorite TP What’s the one with the bears?  I like bears!   TP - [...]  Read more »

In a recent blog post I explained why now is the best time to start a new business. As your competitors run for the hills and newbie’s decide to wait out the storm, you are sitting pretty to launch your company. But what if you are already in business? What if you were just hitting your stride, and got smacked in the head as the economy came to a screeching halt? Most are, as I said before, running for the hills. But I am here to tell you that you are far from finished. This is the time to take decisive action, and leap frog your competitors… and you can do it without spending a penny. Here’s how:  Read more »

VIDEO - Mike's Vlog on Look in the Mirror  Read more »

TOILET PAPER ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES Emma Loggins, Founder of FanBolt.com The Company FanBolt Entertainment     Launched March 2002 Owner(s) names Emma Loggins Age 25 Company’s Service An entertainment site providing news, reviews, interviews, message boards, contests and more. Startup Cash $10 for a domain name. $20/month to host.  $80 for some software. College The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Favorite Food Lasagna Pet Roxy - a Yorkshire Terrier Best Quote “The only people for me are the mad ones, the [...]  Read more »

Mike's video post for Young Money.  Read more »

Have you ever woken up in the morning, looked in the mirror and said, “Who the f*ck is that?” Have you ever been terrified by the stranger looking back at you in the mirror and run screaming back to bed, only to realize it was YOU all along. Yeah. Those were the days.  Read more »

TOILET PAPER ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES Laura Ryan Day, Founder of A New Day Hypnosis   The Company A New Day Hypnosis Launched July 2006 Founder Laura Ryan-Day and Simon Day The Service Hypnotherapy services Startup Cash Around $200 Favorite Quote “The little I know, I owe to my ignorance” Sacha Guitry TP Roll - Over or Under? Either Favorite Movie Step Brothers and Welcome to the Dollhouse Fly, Drive, Bike or Walk? Drive, It is too [...]  Read more »

Ayat Shukairy is a managing partner at Invesp consulting, an ecommerce conversion optimization company. She also blogs regularly on topics related e-ecommerce, conversion optimization and web usability on the Invesp Blog.  Read more »

VIDEO - Mike's Vlog on Hit the Snooze  Read more »

TOILET PAPER ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES Jun Loayza, Founder of Future Delivery The Company Future Delivery  Launched July 7, 2007 Founders Yu-kai Chou (CEO), Jun Loayza (CMO), Jason Wei (CTO) The Service Fun and easy career development for students and young professionals.  Our products are FD Career and FD World. Startup cash used $5000 from our own savings.  College UCLA grads and fraternity brothers of Delta Sigma Pi. (Mike’s Deep Thoughts [...]  Read more »

Mistakes? Not me. All right, all right. I’ve made a few. More importantly, I’ve seen it all. And in my experience, if you can avoid these whoppers, your success is almost guaranteed.  Read more »

Do you bolt out of bed when your alarm sounds, or do you hit the snooze button seventeen times before you crawl out of bed in a sleep-induced haze?  Read more »

TOILET PAPER ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES Jenniffer Bennett, Founder of Jendarling    Company Name Jendarling Year Launched Founded - October 2007 Launched - August 2008 Founder Jennifer Bennett, 29 The Product Jendarling designs Eco-Lux garment bags for storage and travel.  Startup Cash $15,000  for samples, events, marketing materials, leather - the whole nine yards… Favorite food Sushi = Anytime, anyplace, any fish! Pet A very social nine-month old puppy named Milo.  Best Quote “Success is going [...]  Read more »

Business is not about you. It never will be. So how come people haven't learned the lesson? How come 95% of all new businesses fail in the 1st year?  Read more »

VIDEO - Mike's Vlog on Holy Grail  Read more »

TOILET PAPER ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES Christopher Milas, Founder of PrintPrintPrint.Biz   Company Name PrintPrintPrint.Biz Launched March 2008 Owner Christopher Milas, 24 The Business Cheap price, superior quality printing of many products. (Mike’s Deep Thought - Mummification services not included) Startup Cash Around 1G Favorite Food Pizza Pet 6 dogs! In order of size - Great Dane (Einstein), American Bulldog (Beast), Mutt (Chance), American Eskimo (Sakari - it means beautiful in Eskimo), Papillion [...]  Read more »

The sky is falling. Oh – My - God. It’s all over. Stick a fork in us, we are done. NOT! So, the economy sucks! So what? Here’s some news for you, bucko. It sucks every ten or fifteen years or so. Welcome to the great cycle of the economy. We go through this all the time, and here is a predication, it will continue to stink for quite while. Perhaps another year or so, then it will begin to heal and thrive again. It always has and always will, cycle.  Read more »

Ingenuity is one of the greatest assets you can have in business. It’s more important than money, connections, and education put together. Creative ideas and solutions are the Holy Grail of entrepreneurialism, and every great quest requires boatloads of the stuff in order to reach the destination.  Read more »