Best Books to Read Before Starting a Business: Starting a business isn’t as easy as it sounds. You don’t just get an idea and find resources to make it a reality. It requires patience, hard work, vision and sweat and blood to make it a tangible reality. But there are books that can help you make your way through the tumultuous journey to starting your own company. Here is a list of the best books to refer to while on this journey. They will be your north stars, giving you direction and hope.
Best Books to Read Before Starting a Business
The $ 100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
Infused in this inspirational personal story of Guillebeau’s $100 startup based on his lifelong passion for travelling are practical, useful tips to create a multi-million dollar business with minimal investment. He also adds marketing principles that are both ethical and effective. Listening to him talk about his world tour on a bicycle gives the reader immense motivation about the realization of the perfect job, where passion meets the income.
The Outsiders by William Thorndike
This eye-opening book offers case studies of 8 super successful CEOs and an in-depth analysis of what led to their success. From greed when others are fearful and data-driven decisions to owner-led money allocation, there are lessons to be learnt from all of these illustrious entrepreneurs. For newbies just starting out on their business journeys, this book is a great beginning because the field of insight is great
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
In this almost psychological analysis of the mind, Dobelli breaks down the fallacies and biases of thinking we are prone to. This is not a business book per se but it is a valuable addition because it makes you think about decisions before you make them. Since an entrepreneur has to make several decisions, usually extremely difficult ones, it’s important to have a holistic understanding of the decision beforehand. This book helps you do that.
The Founder’s Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman
In this book, the renowned professor of Clinical Entrepreneurship, Wasserman, creates a compilation of his experiences. In these, he tackles important topics such as when to use insider capability and when to use outside resources which are crucial for a business. If you feel like you have no guidance or help to start off on your business journey, this is the book for you. It feels like an elder sibling guiding you through ambiguity.
Will It Fly by Thomas McKnight
Any entrepreneur, before investing in his or her ideas, needs to make sure they are feasible. And because our dreams and visions are biased and can blind us, sometimes we don’t think practically about their viability. This is where this book comes into the picture. In it, McKnight provides a checklist of sorts, for you to check if your business has strong foundations which can ‘make it fly’.
Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk
A very important part of any business is branding, especially in the digital age we live in. Creating a brand means distinguishing your product from its substitutes and giving it an identity of its own. And this is a very heavy job that falls on the entrepreneur’s shoulders because it is based on his vision. This book is both a how-to guide for the best branding plans and a why manual to explain the reason this is so important.
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
If you plan on starting a business, very likely, you are going to be in charge of leading and directing people under you. Not only is this a tremendous responsibility that will have crucial implications on the business but also a unique opportunity to take the business forward. In this leadership manual, Simon provides tips on how to create a cohesive community that works on trust, cooperation and mutuality, headed by a good leader.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
In today’s day and age where businesses are more volatile than ever, Ries discards all redundant business models for a new, practical one. In this, he offers plans on how to leverage human creativity the best while keeping costs to a minimum. Ries’s ideas are based on adaptability and adjustment – shifting and altering in order to keep up with the market. This requires, like humans, for startups to be lean – driven by minimalism.
Let’s Build a Company by Grover and Goyal
In this book, memoir meets self-help. Through the story of these two ambitious boys who meet by chance and instantly hit it off, we see them grow into business giants. This book is not only inspiring for people who want to start a company but also a very useful manual for business decisions. The best part about this book is that they include practical lessons they have learnt in their rags to riches story, and nothing can be more motivating.
