The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.
Ahh, if only I could take credit for coming up with that title!
*it’s sooo good* 🥲
Alas, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is actually the name of a great book by Mike Michalowicz that I read when I was just getting started with creating and selling.
This is still one of the BEST books relating to entrepreneurship that I’ve found, and while I’m not really a huge nonfiction nerd, I have done a fair amount of studying on this particular topic (especially during grad school).
Why do I love it so much!?
Because it’s simple, it’s readable, it’s unforgettable, and it causes you to shift your thinking away from “causal” managerial thinking and towards “effectual” entrepreneurial thinking.
These terms, coined/popularized by the work of Dr. Saras Sarasvathy, essentially just mean this:
Causal thinking means you’re goal-oriented, and you look for means to achieve the goal.
Effectual thinking means you’re means-driven, and you look for possible goals that could be achieved using those means.
You might say — WHAT?? Why would I want to not be goal oriented?
Isn’t that just bad planning?
How will I succeed?
But this is the way to succeed, in my experience, and this is what Mark teaches in his book.
The idea behind the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, or TPE, is that they might have only 3 squares of TP to work with. 🧻 When you’re sitting on the toilet with your pants down, it’s pretty impossible to go find more. So, you gotta work with what’s on hand, and get creative!
If you love potty humor and learning timeless entrepreneurship principles that will actually stick with you and transform your *shitty* outlook, then I highly recommend uncovering the rest of the story for yourself and reading the book.
Mark also has a sequel, called The Pumpkin Plan, that I equally love! You can read them in any order, but I recommend starting with TPE.
Good luck, and don’t fall in! 🚽
