Everything I Know About Business I Learned from my Mama: A Down-Home Approach to Business and Personal Success

226 Pages·2007·0.77 MB·English

by  Tim Knox

Everything
I Know About Business
I Learned from My Mama
A Down-Home Approach
to Business and Personal Success
TIM KNOX
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Praise for
Everything I Know About Business
I Learned from My Mama
“Not your typical success book by any means. It’s laugh-out-loud
funny, full of great stories and outstanding business ideas, and has
real heart. This is one I would spend my money on!”
—Larry Winget
New York Times best-selling author of
It’s Called Work for a Reason and star
of A&E’s hit reality series, Big Spender
“Every now and then I find a book that is so inspiring I immedi-
ately start making a list of all the people I know who must have a
copy. Everything I Know About Business I Learned from My Mama is
one of those books.”
—Dan Miller
Author, 48 Days to the Work You Love
“This book is a great combination: both entertaining and educa-
tional. You’ll get some terrific ideas and insights and have so much
fun in the process, you might not even realize you’re learning. I rec-
ommend it.”
—Mark Sanborn
Author, The Fred Factor: How Passion
in Your Work and Life Can Turn
the Ordinary into the Extraordinary
“This is one of those rare books that works on every level. Tim
Knox is an absolute pleasure to read, his stories are joyfully engag-
ing, and there’s a business lesson on every page. I enthusiastically
recommend that you get this book immediately and, like me, you
won’t put it down until you’ve reached the last page. Hey, Tim,
write another one soon!”
—Joe Calloway
Author, Work Like You’re Showing Off!
“Think of this book as Jeff Foxworthy meets Donald Trump. You
get all of The Donald’s wisdom dished up in some of the most hi-
larious business adventures ever described anywhere. Only Tim
would learn a major business lesson from having his daddy try to
electrocute him. If it ain’t fun, don’t do it. By that advice, you
should read this book—it’s an entrepreneur’s gold mine nestled in
a silly foam container.”
—Jerry Newman
Author, My Secret Life on the McJob
Copyright © 2007 by Tim Knox. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico
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L i b r a r y o f C o n g r e s s C a t a l o g i n g - i n - P u b l i c a t i o n D a t a :
Knox, Tim, 1960–
Everything I know about business I learned from my mama : a down-home
approach to business and personal success / Tim Knox.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-470-12756-8
1. Success in business. 2. Success. 3. Industrial management. 4.
Entrepreneurship. I. Title.
HF5386.K753 2007
650.1—dc22
2006101142
Printed in the United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
■
FOREWORD Dan Miller ix
ABOUT THE AUTHOR xiii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv
IS THIS BOOK REALLY FOR YOU? xxiii
ABOUT THIS BOOK xxxi
Chapter 1 How the Heck Did I Get Here? 1
Chapter 2 The Day I Took a Beating in the Produce
Business 7
Chapter 3 Maybe I Was Just Too Dumb to Know
When to Quit 9
Chapter 4 A Quick Word About PMA 17
Chapter 5 How to Figure Out What Success Really
Means to You 19
Chapter 6 When Business Stops Being Fun, Get Out
of Business 25
Chapter 7 A Tale of Lightbulbs and Red Tape 29
Chapter 8 Maybe I Just Think Too Much 35
Chapter 9 Serial Entrepreneur Doesn’t Mean You
Manufacture Breakfast Food 39
Chapter 10 Burning Out Like an Old Muffler 41
Chapter 11 Are You Just Waiting for the Right
Opportunity to Come Along? 45
v
CONTENTS
Chapter 12 Be a Serious Entrepreneur—The World Has
Enough Contractors 49
Chapter 13 There Is No Such Thing as a Perfect
Entrepreneur 53
Chapter 14 There Are No Dumb Business Questions, Only
Dumb Business Question Askers 65
Chapter 15 Start Your Business When Life Tells You To,
Never Before 69
Chapter 16 How Important Are Book Smarts and
Experience to Business Success? 73
Chapter 17 Are You Ever Too Old to Start Your
Own Business? 77
Chapter 18 Look Out Boys, Them Crazy Girls Are
Catching Up! 81
Chapter 19 How to Choose the Business That’s Right
for You 85
Chapter 20 Just How Big Is Your Really Big Idea? 89
Chapter 21 Learning About Market Research from
the Back of a Boat 93
Chapter 22 Perceived Value Is in the Eye of the Beholder 99
Chapter 23 What’s in a Name? When It Comes to Your
Business, Plenty 103
Chapter 24 When Signing a Lease, Look for the Words
“First Born” 107
Chapter 25 Never Borrow Money from Anyone Who
Sits Across from You at Thanksgiving Dinner 115
Chapter 26 Operator Error Is Why Most Businesses
Really Fail 119
Chapter 27 Do a CSI on a Failed Business to Discover
the Real Cause of Death 125
Chapter 28 Use Roadmapping to Plot Business and
Personal Growth 129
Chapter 29 Business Lessons Learned at the Mall 133
vi
CONTENTS
Chapter 30 Piercings, Tattoos, and Other Important
Matters of Business 137
Chapter 31 How to Boost Your Bottom Line with
Two Little Words 141
Chapter 32 Most Customer Service People Are Walking
Oxy-Morons 145
Chapter 33 You Should Never Stop Caring About
What Your Customers Think 149
Chapter 34 Sometimes You Have to Give Customers
the Boot 153
Chapter 35 Managing Employees Is a Little Like
Herding Cats 157
Chapter 36 If It Were Easy, Everybody Would Do It 165
Chapter 37 Is Brick and Mortar Dead as a Door Nail? 169
Chapter 38 Moving Your Business to the
World Wide Web 173
Chapter 39 Can You Really Make Money with an
Online Business? 183
Chapter 40 The Last Word (For Now) 187
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TIM KNOX PRODUCTS
AND SERVICES 189
vii
“Business is like extreme skiing. The person who wins is the
one who screws up the least and doesn’t die.”
—Bo Peabody
“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas
are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”
—Howard Aiken
“My son is now an ‘entrepreneur.’ That’s what you’re called
when you don’t have a job.”
—Ted Turner
“And everything is possible; you’ve just got to find a way to
make it work.”
—Wally Amos