Get a Clue! This author offers big nuggets of small-business wisdom.

Jeffrey J. Fox paints a picture of BIZ Experiencesship as anunglamorous but hugely rewarding endeavor in his brief but brightHow to Make Big Money in Your Own Small Business:Unexpected Rules Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know(Hyperion, $16.95). Fox, a marketing consultant, zips throughtopics from selling to hiring in one- to three-page riffs that areeasy to read and often do contain unexpected-but useful-advice.

Among his tips is the observation that many successfulenterprises are founded on ideas big companies rejected as unworthyof pursuing. So, he concludes, you should be alert for corporatecastoffs. On employing family members, he cannily advises hiringevery relative who can do the job and none who can't. Sometimeshe's joking, as when he advises collecting aluminum cans toraise capital. Occasionally Fox is wrong, as when he declaresit's impossible to be productive in a home office. But,especially considering that it won't take much time to read,Fox's foray into small-business advice is one manyentrepreneurs will find worthwhile.

Cutting Loose

Even agile BIZ Experiencess get stuck. In Unstuck: A Tool for Yourself, Your Team and YourWorld (Portfolio, $19.95), management consultant KeithYamashita and Yale University management professor Sandra Spataroshow how to jet out of your rut and into the fast lane. Be warned:This is a quirky collection of anecdotes and exercises that makesodd connections and employs avant-garde designs that some will findconfusing or even irritating. But, with tips such as "Goforward by stepping back" and "Have a moonshot" (agrand motivating goal), Unstuck will at least rearrange yourneurons-even if it doesn't redirect your strategy.

Mark Henricks is BIZ Experiences's "SmartMoves" columnist.