The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up by Norm Brodsky, Bo Burlingham, Norm Brodsky

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Synopsis

Two of Inc. magazine’s hugely popular columnists show how small-business people can deal with all kinds of tricky situations.

People starting out in business tend to seek step-by-step formulas or specific rules, but in reality there are no magic bullets. Rather, says veteran entrepreneur Norm Brodsky, there’s a mentality that helps street-smart people solve problems and pursue opportunities as they arise. He calls it “the knack,” and it has made all the difference to the eight successful start-ups of his career.

Brodsky explores this mind-set every month in Inc. magazine, in the hugely popular column he co-writes with journalist and author Bo Burlingham (best known for his acclaimed book Small Giants). In both their column and now their book, they tell stories about real companies facing real challenges, and show readers how to apply “the knack” to their own businesses.

Brodsky and Burlingham offer essential advice such as:

• Follow the numbers—that’s the best way to spot problems before they become life threatening
• Keep focusing on your real goal--it’s amazingly easy to get sidetracked by secondary concerns
• Don’t get so close to the problem that you lose all perspective Brodsky and Burlingham prove that street smarts and business acumen can be within any entrepreneur’s reach.

Publishers Weekly

Brodsky and Burlingham, both Inc. magazine columnists, offer a host of advice to budding businesspeople in this thoughtful guide. Having seen businesses fail and succeed, the authors have served as mentors to a wide variety of self-starters and use their experiences as object lessons. The book focuses mainly on big-picture practicalities-the protection of startup capital and the necessity of focusing on high-profit-margin sales-but also expounds on overcoming the sales mindset in favor of the entrepreneurial mentality and facing mistakes with grace and an eye to learning. With a clear, conversational style, the authors give advice on raising capital, maintaining relationships with banks and lenders, customer relations, dealing with unexpected roadblocks and hiring good management. But in the end, they contend that entrepreneurship is not only a passion but a way to achieve a happier, richer, fuller life for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren-and with the right mental habits and skills, anyone can achieve entrepreneurial success. Encouraging, succinct and informative, this is an excellent guide for anyone looking to dive into a new business or expand an existing one. (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Biography

Norm Brodsky, the founder of Citi Storage, is an entrepreneur and a three-time Inc. 500 honoree. He began writing his monthly Inc. column (with Burlingham) in December 1995.

Bo Burlingham is Inc.'s editor at large. He is the coauthor of The Great Game of Business and A Stake in the Outcome, and the author of Small Giants.