Books for Small Business Owners
Successful entrepreneurs pull knowledge from many resources – their family, mentors, movies – but no one can downplay the power of books. Words have a way of getting through to people; for small business owners, might just be what gives them and their business that boost they need. These are the must-read books for small business owners:
You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero
“You Are a Badass at Making Money crystallizes the concept that financial abundance begins with your mindset. Jen Sincero combines hilarious personal narratives with “aha” concepts to help you grasp your earning potential and get real results. Channeling the sass and wit that made her first You Are a Badass book a bestseller, Sincero helps readers identify and overcome their limiting beliefs surrounding money.” (Summary from Entrepreneur)
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey is a self-improvement book. It is written on Covey’s belief that the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions. In order to change a given situation, we must change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions.” (Summary from HubSpot)
Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life by Gary John Bishop
“In this straightforward handbook, author Gary John Bishop gives readers the tools and advice to break through the crap that’s weighing them down. Bishop wants you to become the best version of yourself that you can be. First, though, you need to stop getting in your own way by filling your head with negative self-talk. Unfu*k Yourself will help silence that hateful inner critic and get you feeling more positive about yourself and your life.” (Summary from Entrepreneur)
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
“Can a “good” company make the transition to be “great”? And if so, how? Through extensive research and analysis, Collins identified a number of timeless principles that helped a small group of companies to break away from the rest and consistently outperform the market.” (Summary from Reading Graphics)
Every Family’s Business by Tom Deans
“Every Family’s Business chronicles the journey of two people who meet on a flight to Barbados. Both discover that they work in family businesses and proceed to share their successes and failures. One character reveals 12 questions that have been passed down through four generations of his family; questions that have shaped their approach to succession planning. Entertaining and informative. Every Family’s Business helps families break the ice and gets them thinking and talking about the future if their family firm. A bestselling novel sure to leave families in business together thinking differently about what’s really important. A book that gives families a method for coming together to plan using sound business principles, love and mutual respect.” (Summary from Goodreads)
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
“How To Win Friends and Influence People teaches you countless principles to become a likable person, handle your relationships well, win others over and help them change their behavior without being intrusive.” (Summary from Four Minute Books)
The Creator’s Code: The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs by Amy Wilkinson
“Based on in-depth interviews with more than 200 leading entrepreneurs, a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business identifies the six essential disciplines needed to transform your ideas into real-world successes.” (Amazon)
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
“The Tipping Point explains how ideas spread like epidemics and which few elements need to come together to help an idea reach the point of critical mass, where its viral effect becomes unstoppable.” (Summary from Four Minute Books)
The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
“Solo entrepreneurs can learn a lot from Tim Ferriss, who made lifestyle design popular. This is a must read for anyone with an entrepreneurial itch, or anyone who dreams of escaping the rat race to live their life the way they want. Ferriss details smart strategies like outsourcing, following the 80/20 rule and automating processes. Forget the concept of working decades for retirement. The 4-Hour Work Week is a blueprint for how to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent ‘mini-retirements.'” (Summary from Entrepreneur)
Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith
“SELLING THE INVISIBLE is a succinct and often entertaining look at the unique characteristics of services and their prospects. How any service, from a home-based consultancy to a multinational brokerage, can turn more prospects into clients and keep them. Beckwith covers service marketing from start to finish. Filled with wonderful insights and written in a roll-up-your-sleeves, jargon-free, accessible style, such as: Greatness May Get You Nowhere, Focus Groups Don’ts, The More You Say, the Less People Hear, and Seeing the Forest Around the Falling Trees.” (Summary from Amazon)
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
“We take for granted the products and services many companies provide, and we pay little attention when these companies fail. Most of all, we don’t pay attention to the very basic ideas that cause companies to fail. It’s obvious the author put a great deal of effort into picking and analyzing these companies.” (Amazon)
The 24-Hour Customer by Adrian C. Ott
“In The 24-Hour Customer, Adrian C. Ott—the CEO and founder of a top Silicon Valley–based consulting firm—challenges businesses to re-conceive their approaches to time and technology in order to win an unprecedented share of their customers’ attention and loyalty. Filled with powerful and provocative ideas, The 24-Hour Customer is an indispensable handbook for any company competing for business in today’s around-the-clock economy.” (Summary from Goodreads)
Small Business Cash Flow by Denise O’Berry
“Many small business owners don’t understand the importance of maintaining a healthy cash flow. More than anything else, cash flow determines the success or failure of a small business. Small Business Cash Flow covers all the basics of cash flow, from selecting a great accountant, to keeping money flowing in and out of the business, to budgeting and record-keeping.” (Summary from Amazon)
All of these are great books for small business owners and can help you grow your ideas! Check out our Pinterest for more books for small business as well as business tips to help your small business.
Receive more tips for starting your small business by subscribing to our newsletter:
