For Jen Bilik Knock Knock’s Success is No Joke

“There are two kinds of entrepreneurs,” Jen Bilik says. “The first kind plans. They save, they strategize. They come at a new business with knowledge. The other kind, they have no idea what they’re doing. They just jump in.”

She pauses.

“I’m definitely in the second group.”

Bilik may be playing wry, which wouldn’t surprise anyone who’s a fan of Knock Knock products, her line of “witty objects of cosmopolitan panache.” The 35-year-old founder of the three-year-old company has a great ear for humor and irony, and a great eye for design to boot. The result: hip, retro-tinged gifts on the stationery side of the aisle—composition books straight out of high school English class, middle school binder-style organizers for take-out menus (young working women, rejoice), and Private Library kits that allow lenders of books, music, and videos/DVDs to label and keep track of their wares in general circulation.

The Knock Knock approach to the world now graces the shelves of more than 2,000 stores, says Bilik, and the company did $2.3 million in sales last year. Not bad for a jumperinner with no training in the art of business or management.

Bilik, in fact, got her start in publishing at Rizzoli Books in New York, where as a writer she worked alongside high-level designers, asking questions and learning as she went. When Bilik left the high end publisher, she struck out on her own as a freelance writer and editor, but instead found herself designing play announcements, business cards, and other projects for friends.

It was time for her vocational epiphany: “The goal,” Bilik says, “is to get paid for what you do when you’re not getting paid.” Translation from Knock Knock-ese: work at what you really love. In other words, in 2001, it was time to take the profits from the sale of some New York real estate, hire an assistant, rent a space, and put together a catalog of 13 initial products that she shipped to 1,500 stores nationwide.

Knock Knock (knockknock.biz ) was launched a few months later, took off immediately, and now, with a staff of nine in her offices in Venice, California, Bilik balances her naturally creative impulses with her acquired management skill-set. “I think creativity works best with some boundaries,” she says. In her managerial role, she says, “I feel like I’m operating on all the cylinders. It’s this great feeling that everything is being challenged.”

“Managing requires maturity,” Bilik says, oh-so-managerially. But then comes the inevitable Knock Knock punchline. “You have to be the one,” Bilik adds, “who can’t melt down.” Look for that quip on a coffee cup next year.