20 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read
No matter how experienced you are as an entrepreneur whether you’re just starting, or you have been in the system for a while you can always benefit from advice from someone who has succeeded in the field.
That’s where reading some of the best entrepreneurial books comes into play. It may just be the only thing you need for the next big thing
Whatever entrepreneurial advice you need, you will definitely find them in these entrepreneurial books. Before that, you should also consider reading 10 CEO books every aspiring business executive should read.
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
How To Win Friends And Influence People is one of the best entrepreneurial books you should read, it is a self-help book written by Dale Carnegie, published in 1936, Over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books.
This book will teach you how to become a better entrepreneur and take you through all the do’s and don’ts of social life, but it will also teach you how to be a better entrepreneur.
In this book, Dale Carnegie explains the steps you need to take in order to not just make friends but influence everyone you meet.
It teaches you how to overcome competition as an entrepreneur and win over people who are close-minded to become interested in your pitch. One of the entrepreneurial books every entrepreneur must read at least once a year
2. The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
Is one thing to have a good product and it is a completely different thing to be able to convince somebody else to believe that the product is actually good enough.
Every successful business requires good sales techniques and that is exactly what this book offers. Not only do you sell your product, but you also sell your brand and idea, this book teaches you how to do it effectively.
The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy is one of the must-read entrepreneurial books for every entrepreneur that wishes to run a successful business.
The book provides valuable information about how to make more sales by focusing on the person. Brian Tracy narrates the basics of selling which most entrepreneurs’ neglect.
3. Getting Things Done by David Allen
It is usual for small business owners to become overwhelmed with the running of the business and get wrapped up in the details which most time results in very little productivity. – “Getting Things Done” will teach you how to avoid this stress and maintain perspective on your business.
This book will enhance your ability to keep a clear mind when making decisions for your business is crucial to your business’s growth and success.
4. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
One of the things that matters the most in business is the ability to make decisions no one wants to make in tough times. But how do you know when you’re making the right decision? And what makes a good decision-maker? this book which is one of the finest entrepreneurial books will answer all of these questions and more.
If you are just starting out and need to learn how to make those first, pivotal decisions that determine the success of your business, this book is a must-read for you
5. Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
Crush It! is Four-time New York Times bestselling author by Gary Vaynerchuk. The book explains how technology has made it easy to connect your personal brand with your entrepreneurial success.
This book teaches entrepreneurs how they can study practical and tactical social media platform to advance their brand and stories of how other business owners have succeeded in utilizing Vaynerchuk’s advice.
6. Start With Why by Simon Sinek
This book is a great entrepreneurial book coming from a motivational speaker and an author Simon Sinek, a popular Ted Talker teaches in this book how to be a great leader and inspire your employees to be productive, and generate loyalty among customers, by starting with the big word-WHY
7. Measure What Matters by John Doerr
Do you know what OKRs are? Do you know which are your company’s? If you don’t, you really have to read this John Doerr brought to light “objectives and key results,” after Intel in the 1970s and since then several companies have adopted this concept.
OKRs have helped several companies focus on their goals, and recognize what actions they need to take to achieve those goals. This concept will greatly boost your business productivity and help help you know you to satisfy your employees.
8. Dying for a Paycheck by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Work-life can be very draining mentally and physically, this book shows you how to not escape the trap of dying for a paycheck but how you can also be part of the solution.
Jeffrey Pfeffer in this book will inspire you to change what method of work that is not working. It will also help create a healthy and productive company culture that will attract and keep talented people.
9. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
“The Hard Thing About Hard Things is one of the inspiring entrepreneurial books every entrepreneur should read, in this book, Horowitz shows aspiring entrepreneurs how building a business is much harder than just executing an idea.
Horowitz explains the problems that business owners confront on a regular basis and how to deal with such problems.
10. The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong by Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull
The Peter Principles, written by Dr. Launrence J. Peter and Raymond Hull and originally published in 1969 is one of the entrepreneurial books that answer the question ” Why do things go wrong?” This book will help you identify weaknesses and develop a plan for productivity.
This book will also teach you how to recognize when you’ve reached the point of incompetence and unproductivity and need to hire new people to grow your business.
11. The Founder’s Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman
It is just as important to discover what can zink your business just as it is to discover what can make it great, it is risky for an entrepreneur not to know what pitfalls to look out for.
“The Founder’s Dilemma” shows you all the mistakes there are in small businesses mistakes so you would not make them. Consider this one of the best books for entrepreneurs who want to learn and understand how not to fail.
12. The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
“The Obstacle Is the Way” teaches how one can overcome the challenges of running a business and become successful through ancient Greek Stoicism. The book gives a great understanding of the core principles of being a great business owner.
You will learn how to turn challenges into opportunities by identifying the things you can control and letting go of the ones you can’t control.
13. The Simplicity Cycle by Dan Ward
No doubt complexity sometimes is necessary for some business ideas and processes, and other times it just adds problems.
In “The Simplicity Cycle,” Dan Ward analysis how important it is for you to balance complexity and simplicity to make the business run better. Ward in this book teaches how to identify problems, how to fix them, and when you just need to simplify your business.
14. Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
A good entrepreneur would always keep their creativity antenna active, employing new innovative ideas in the business for the growth and success of the business.
This book helps you create a creative environment for your business to always stay ahead of the game. This piece is one of the best entrepreneurial books.
The book will show you how you can lead your employees to great heights, and approach problems in unique ways
15. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
“The 4-Hour Workweek” is a must-read for anyone who wants to become an entrepreneur, this book is considered one of the best entrepreneurial books most especially for those who need some inspiration to get out of the nine-to-five race.
Ferriss in this book teaches you how to create an income generator (your “muse”) so you can spend more time on what you are passionate about without working 40 hours a week.
16. Rework by Jason Fried and David Hansson
“Rework” will greatly influence your perception about starting a business, in this book Fried and Hanson explains the fundamental steps you will have to take in building a sustainable business.
Doing away with the old usual way of starting a business this book teaches a whole new effective system that will help you act on your entrepreneurial dreams and reach your goals faster.
17. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
In his book, Guillebeau presents the 50 most impressive success stories of business owners who started with little money.
If you are not inspired by business because of money, this book will help show you that the most important thing you need is the idea and the drive to make it happen.
18. The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle LaPorte
A great book from Danielle LaPorte to motivate you on your next business venture.
In this book, LaPorte provides 16 sessions full of motivation to take initiative, which will give you a great start on your small business journey.
“The Fire Starter Sessions” will help you address what’s holding you back head-on and make you launch your business without wavering
19. The Barefoot Executive by Carrie Wilkerson
The Barefoot Executive by Carrie Wilkerson gives a good jump start to folks with ideas and the will to become successful an entrepreneur
The author of this book explains through her experience how you can start a business from what is available.
The book talks about how you can find your target market, develop your first small business marketing strategies, and build your brand.
20. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman is a Nobel Memorial Prize winner in economics and has left a lot of insight in this book.
This book makes decision-making easy by breaking down the psychology behind it and talks about the differences between fast thinking and slow thinking and how to help you understand how and why you make the decisions you make.