Are you an entrepreneur or business owner? If so, you know how tough it can be to be a successful one.
We value your time, listen to full article here:
In order to build a thriving business, you have to make smart decisions every day and know what’s going on in the industry. You need to have self-discipline and stay motivated. It is not an easy life for these people, but it can be made fun with the right read on your downtime!
I have put together this list of 15 must-read books for entrepreneurs that I believe will help us succeed in our careers while making us laugh, smile, and get excited about life! Regardless of what type of business you are running, there is no shortage of useful information in these books.
Each book varies in length and style, but all offer invaluable advice and insight into how to take that leap into the unknown world of entrepreneurship.
1. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It: by Michael E. Gerber
The most valuable lesson I learned from this book is that small businesses should not be about business. They are largely personal and service based-you run a small business because you want to be good at doing what you are good at (and like). Unfortunately, most small business owners see it as just a profitable side business. They don’t spend time understanding what people want. Instead focus on the needs of their customers rather than their own needs. Therefore, they will feel frustrated when things like customer loyalty, repeat visits, and profits are not as easy as they thought. If you are considering opening your own small business or taking over an existing small business, you should read this book. It provides valuable advice on how to succeed where others have failed.
2. The Little Red Book of Selling: by Jeffrey Gitomer
When most people hear the word “sale”, they immediately think of dirty used car salesmen, scammers who feed on innocent victims, or cunning mortgage brokers who force customers to fraudulently obtain high-value loans. people. But there is more. In his book, Jeffrey Gitomer outlines the key elements of becoming a good salesperson and gives detailed advice on how to use these elements in his business. This is a quick and interesting reading that will completely change your perception of sales and salespeople.
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: by Stephen Covey
When I first picked up this book, I was not sure what to do. But far from a bunch of “nonsense about visualizing your path to success”, here are some very valuable lessons.
One of the habits I want to mention is: Think Win/Win, which teaches the importance of exploring all available solutions to problems. When someone disagrees with their point of view, many people feel angry or upset and see it as an attack on their personal integrity-they believe that if someone disagrees with their point of view, it is because they are stupid or just don’t understand. On the contrary, we need to recognize that there are different ways to solve the problem, and most people want the same result: solve the problems of all involved people in the best way.
4. The Magic of Thinking Big: by David J. Schwartz
This book is based on a very simple premise: if you don’t think about the big picture, your dreams and wishes will remain the same-dreams and wishes. Many of us are plagued by anxiety, fear and a long list of “problems” that seem to prevent us from pursuing the life we want. However, the problem is that these problems are not as bad as we think. There is a solution: only by pursuing what we want can we find the success that the universe has prepared for us.
5. The Long-Term Capital Gain Tax Cut: How to Accelerate Wealth Creation and Boost Economy: by William G. Gale, Kevin J. Hassett
This is a well-written book that provides reasonable advice on how to invest successfully. The lesson of this story is that we can start investing relatively small amounts of money at each stage, and over time, it will accumulate into something bigger than we thought. One of the most important points made in this book is to truly understand what you are investing in-if you don’t, you will most likely end up making a big hole in your pocket.
6. The 4-Hour Workweek: by Timothy Ferriss
If you want to improve your business, this book will show you the strategies, techniques, and techniques that other successful entrepreneurs have used to achieve their current level of success.
This book’s idea is that you don’t have to work a full 40-hour week. It claims that with strategic planning and rigorous daily time management, you may free up to four hours a week from your calendar, allowing you to devote more time to personal pursuits or travel. The author describes his personal experiences as an entrepreneur over the last decade, detailing how he surmounted adversity after adversity by adhering to these ideals.
7. The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done: by Peter Drucker
This is a fantastic resource for learning how to become a truly effective executive in today’s business climate. This book provides a unique viewpoint on its findings based on real-life experience, and it is written in a way that everyone can comprehend, even if they are not in management. I also make an effort to make it obvious that rejecting the plan is an option. When a suggestion is accepted by the group, it becomes a policy. With this in mind, consensus is the best way to go (if you’re acquainted with Mozilla’s consensus procedure, click here).
Also, before you bring it to the group for review, make sure you’ve run it by all of your stakeholders. Making proposals can be difficult, so I propose starting with a draft and iterating your way there.
8. The Art of War: by Sun Tzu
“Fight with the minds of your enemies and this is the only way to conquer them” — Sun Tzu
This is a timeless piece of advice that encourages you to take the initiative and exploit your opponents’ weaknesses. It shows us that the techniques and methods we use in business are no different than those we use on the battlefield – they’re simply more covert.
9. Rework: by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
Rework is all about how to succeed in business by doing less, but doing it better and faster. The premise is that most of the work we do is unimportant — it’s busy work that doesn’t actually help us get to where we want to go. Every business is different, and every employee has their own area of expertise — it’s up to us to identify what those are, and then take full advantage of them. This book won’t appeal to everyone, but anyone in business would do well to give it a read.
10. The $100 Startup: by Chris Guillebeau
The $100 Startup is a simply written guide to help you start your own business. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, it’s more of a challenge for you to pick up and take on.
The premise of the book is that it doesn’t matter how big your company is or how much money you have, what matters is that you start taking control of your life. The tools you have right now are the ones you need to get successful — they may not be the best, but they’re what you have. If you want to do something, you need to stop waiting for someone else to do it for you, and just go out and do it yourself. You don’t need permission or approval, just a willingness to try.
We even have an full guide how to start your business with only $100! Check it out here.
11. The Lean Startup: by Eric Ries
The Lean Startup is a fantastic book that teaches you how to establish a successful company by teaching you how to produce things.
The book’s concept is that our perceptions of value — from consumers to employees — may shift overnight as we learn more about what is truly important. It’s also a terrific resource for individuals looking to learn about the latest product development practices in the startup market.
12. The Power Of Habit: by Charles Duhigg
This book helps explain why habits exist and how we can change them. Habits are things that are hardwired into our brain — when we find ourselves in a situation, we don’t actually think about what to do; we do it instinctively. This book serves as a good reminder that even though you can’t control what your brain does, you can control how you respond to those impulses.
13. The Art of the Start: by Guy Kawasaki
This is an excellent book that teaches you how to start a business and grow it successfully. It’s written in a simple, easy-to-understand format that makes it simple to understand what’s going on. The lessons in this handbook are based on interviews with successful entrepreneurs who have gone through the startup process and piecing together what they’ve learnt. Anyone who wants to establish a business should read it.
14. The Accidental Creative: Solve Problems, Work Smarter and Live Your Best Life: by Todd Henry
This book offers a unique viewpoint on how to work smarter, not harder. Although it is written from the perspective of an author and blogger, I believe it can be applied to any type of employment. It’s all about assisting you in being more aware of the factors that keep you from getting work done. It also provides insight into how to deal with distractions when they do occur.
15. Reading People: by Anne Bogel
This is the book that I am currently using to help me understand and read people. The first part of the book focuses on understanding who the different types of people are, which serves as a good starting point for recognizing communication styles. It then moves onto how you should respond to them in each type, broken down by what people typically do when they are in specific problem situations.
This next part is the most important, which is to learn how to read people on a day-to-day basis. This includes how to communicate with each personality type in various scenarios, what kind of phrases to use and when, etc. In the end, you are trained on how to not only read people but respond as well.
As entrepreneurs ourselves, we understand that reading is a valuable tool for success. We always have at least one book on hand to read and learn from. They can be a nice distraction when we’re bored or if we need some motivation during tough times.
Reading these books will help anyone take their business to the next level. These are not easy things to do, but with a little time, effort, and follow-through, they’re well worth the investment.
Work up a plan for yourself and set out to achieve it — you’ll be astonished at how much you can do.
Finally, if you have any thoughts about this list please do leave a comment below.