The Small Biz Quiz: Satisfy Your Inner Factmonger
by Steve Strauss on August 19th, 2009
So here we are in the dog days of summer and it seems that no one is working much. Oh sure, we might pretend we are working, we might even try and finish some projects, but is anything of substance getting done? No, not much.
So rather than the normal pithy infotainment I try and offer, and in the spirit of summer, for today, please enjoy The Small Biz Quiz. Answers at bottom.
1. Who said, “There’s no business like show business, but there are several businesses like accounting”?
A: Woody Allen
B. David Letterman
C. Groucho Marx
D. Ethel Merman
2. Which one of these businesses started out as a home-based business?
A. Xerox
B. Disney
C. L.L. Bean
D. Amazon.com
E. None of the above
F. All of the above
3. True of false: According to Alexa.com, Twitter gets more traffic than Facebook
A. True
B. False
4. After the disastrous introduction and failure of “New Coke” in 1985, what happened to the executives that spearheaded the new product?
A. They were all fired
B. Nothing
C. They left to start their own soft drink company
D. They were given raises
5. What was the first computer to use a two button mouse and a graphic interface?
A. The Xerox Star
B. The Commodore 64
C. The Apple I
D. The Apple Lisa
6. What year was the Small Business Administration founded?
A. 1933
B. 1953
C. 1961
D. 1978
7. What is this?
A. The first logo for McDonald’s
B. The first logo for Aunt Jemima
C. The first logo White Castle
D. The first logo for Bisquick
8. What is “factoring”?
A. Computing your past-due invoices
B. Selling your accounts receivables for a discount
C. Analyzing your best performing products
D. Taking a loss on a bad debt
9. Which one of these business people filed for bankruptcy?
A. P.T. Barnum
B. Henry Ford
C. Abraham Lincoln
D. Stan Lee (Marvel Comics)
E. All of the above
F. A and B
10. True or false: Indiana was the home of the auto industry before Michigan
A. True
B. False
11. What is the stock symbol for the Anheuser-Busch company?
A. AB
B. ANHB
C. BEER
D. BUD
12. Where did the term “brand name” come from?
A. Branding ranch names on cows
B. Branding owners’ names on horses
C. IBM Think Labs
D. Branding company names on whisky barrels
13. How much did it cost for the first three minutes of a call between London and New York when the phone was first introduced in 1927?
A. $75
B. $25
C. $5
D. None of the above
14. How old was Warren Buffet when he first started investing in the stock market?
A. 11
B. 21
C. 25
D. 31
15. What is it called when a salesman asks, “Would you prefer to purchase two or three today”?
A. The master close
B. The clear choice close
C. The alternate choice close
D. The kicker
16. Prior to becoming an author, blogger and speaker, what did Seth Godin do?
A. He worked in a circus
B. He commuted from California to Boston in order to work and go to school at the same time
C. He played minor league baseball
D. He worked for Entrepreneur Magazine
17. In a business lawsuit, “res ipsa loquitur” means
A. The defendant is being ridiculous
B. The case is worthless
C. The product is faulty
D. The thing speaks for itself
18. Who said, “We don’t have a monopoly. We have market share. There’s a difference.”
A. Jeff Bezos
B. Steve Ballmer
C. Sergey Brin
D. Rich Uncle Pennybags
19: In the movie Risky Business, what is the name of the club Joel (Tom Cruise) is a member of?
A. Early Entrepreneurs
B. Young Entrepreneurs
C. The Small Business Society
D. Business Today!
20. What is the best small business book you can get?
A. The Small Business Bible
Answers: 1: B, 2: F, 3: B, 4: D, 5: A, 6: B, 7: A, 8: B, 9: E, 10: A, 11: D, 12: D, 13: A, 14: A, 15: C, 16: B, 17: D, 18: B, 19: B, 20: A of course!
Today’s Tip: Inc. Magazine (a great resource for small business, by the way), just launched the 2009 version of its annual Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000. There are some surprising results this year. Despite the recession
• Aggregate revenue for the 500 came in at $18.4 billion, up from $13.7 billion last year
• Total employment is more than 57,000, up almost 6,000 from last year, and
• 96% of companies on the 500 list have hired in the past year
The issue is on newsstands now.
