Regardless of how far you’ve made it as an entrepreneur, you are always learning due to the unforeseen circumstances and challenges that are constantly coming your way. You have to be able to adapt and think quickly on your feet to solve anything that may appear.
A way to hone and sharpen these skills is by none other than the simple act of reading. Taking even just 5-minutes out of your day to read a page of any of the 12 recommended books below (listed in no particular order) can drastically improve your skills and make you an entrepreneur that is to be reckoned with.
1. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
Moore goes on about how to go about marketing and selling any unusual, out-of-the-norm products to any mainstream customers, focusing on the new service or product that requires them to change their behaviours in uncomfortable ways.
His theory mentioned in the book is called “The Technology Adoption Lifecycle”. It breaks down people into 5 groups and how they each adjust and alter themselves to the disruptive product/service:
The Innovators (2.5%):
Early Adopters (13.5%)
Early Majority (34%)
Late Majority (34%)
The Laggards (16%)
They’re all categorized due to the nature and actions they take upon themselves with the product. The innovator will typically buy the newest product to be up-to-date with the newest technology - they want the product for the sake of being the first one to own it. Early adopters look for new technology for strategic purposes. As for the early majority, when they see a product that becomes trending, they’ll start to use it as the new standard.
Moore goes more into detail about the other categories in his book, focusing more on “crossing the chasm” between the early adopters and the early & late majority of customers as they are crucial to keeping these kinds of customers loyal to the company.
2. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
As the title suggests, Carnegie gives you multiple tips and techniques on how to not only win your friends over but also how to influence those around you.
Carnegie starts off by telling you to give up on the idea of winning an argument. In fact, avoid any arguments in general since 90% of the time both opposing sides will still think they’re the ones in the right and even if you do win an argument? You still lose as the opposing party has felt inferior to you - which is never a great feeling.
Another lesson he gives is: never telling someone they’re wrong. Rather, discuss with them and ask them questions about why they think what they think.
These are just some examples of what Carnegie has to offer in his book in what makes a great and successful entrepreneur.
3. Start With Why by Simon Sinek
“People don’t buy what you do they buy why you do it.” - Simon Sinek
Sinek’s book takes a dive into his insights on how to attract loyal customers, a company culture and create a larger and much more positive impact on the world. He does so by mentioning the story behind the purpose of one’s business, answering the question: WHY?
His theory lies in two different ways to influence humans and their behaviour (including their buying decisions): Manipulation OR Inspiration.
When it comes to manipulation, this will allow a person to actually take action as it can be seen as pressure from others to buy the product, however, even if this method is a way to get sales going, it isn’t very effective in the long-term.
A better tactic is to inspire, by starting with why. He suggests that by communicating with your market audience and letting them know why it is that you do what you do is the key to capture customers and inspire them. This way, you create loyal customers who are actually interested in your business and what it is that you have to offer.
Sinek’s book helps improve on leadership skills, and the ability to inspire colleagues, peers and customers alike - everything a great entrepreneur needs.
4. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
Guillebeau brings about what it’s really like to start a business, mentioning its challenges while also laying out for the entrepreneur how to start a new and successful business with a small team of up to 5 people using real-life case studies.
He mentions 3 main lessons:
Lesson 1: Make use of any and all of your current skills
Don’t spend the entirety of your bank account on learning new skills, rather focus on the ones you already have and see what you can do to make use of them to help further your business.
Lesson 2: Starting small, focus on good marketing
Get creative. Find marketing strategies that won’t break the bank such as blogging, collaborate with other small businesses - anything really to get your name out there.
Lesson 3: Take action over planning
Basically, do something, as “overplanning can lead to a quick death for many small businesses.” And if anything comes up along the way, then deal with it then and adjust accordingly as taking no action can put your business at a much higher risk.
5. The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Tired of working a generic, boring 9 to 5 job? In this book, Ferriss gives you the nitty-gritty on how to create a business while doing what you’re passionate about and turn the profits you make into a life of luxury to live like The New Rich.
Rather than being effective, be efficient, Ferriss says, as he mentions the 80/20 rule - 80% of the results will come from 20% of the action. In doing so, you can live like a millionaire without actually being one.
This new lifestyle he proposes allows for you to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want - if you focus on flexibility and mobility. He gives you the tools such as delegating tasks to virtual assistants and simply redefining your mindset towards work.
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Covey states 7 habits for a much more effective and successful business and personality. Though your idea may be great, if you aren’t likeable, it’s just not as easy to gain customers.
Here are the 7 habits:
Be proactive - take initiative. Do what you think is best.
Keep in mind, there’s always an end to a beginning - start by visualizing what it is that you want, what your end goal is and create a plan accordingly.
Priorities - what brings you closer to your goal? Do those things.
“Win-win” strategies - allow for opportunities where you can create a growing relationship with others where you can both benefit off of.
Listen, understand then learn when to speak - always listen first, understand the other, then speak when the opportunity arises.
Harmonize - think and find ways to match the energy levels of yourself and those around you so you can achieve more.
Recharge - Don’t forget to take time to rest, this way you’re able to do more and be more effective in the long-term.
The habits all help develop your interpersonal skills, as well as other skills that require interacting with others, such as teamwork and communication while maintaining a balance each and every day.
7. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
Drucker shows how you can go about developing your own personal effectiveness. That, in a knowledge-driven world, people need to work on improving their effectiveness.
Here are 5 ways in how to begin doing them:
Manage your time
Build strengths
Set priorities, focus on what it is that will allow for you to achieve your goals
Focus on results and contributing yourself
Make decisions that get good outcomes
Drucker’s book, though written over 50 years ago is still relevant to this day as these insights still apply to become an effective executive and what one should apply throughout their daily life.
8. The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Horowitz gives it to you down and dirty. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything on how hard it is to actually start and run a business. He wrote this particular book and in all of its brutal honesty to let entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners know what really happens when your business begins to fail and how to go about fixing it.
He begins the book by telling a story of himself and how he became a business owner, starting as an engineer at another company to starting up a business with his new business partner Marc Andreesen. While the rest of the book is spent giving you, the reader tips on how to effectively run a business, taking the reality of things - the real problems and challenges it takes to run a business.
Horowitz even mentions the strong mentality he had to build as a CEO: “It’s like fight club management: the first rule of the CEO psychological meltdown is don’t talk about the psychological meltdown.”
9. The Lean Startup by Eric Reis
Have a great business idea? Reis’ book has a rather detailed approach in how to make that idea into one that is sustainable and will create paying customers for your product or service.
The book begins with 2 categorized assumptions:
Value Assumption: the belief of customers finding value in your growth, the assumption that you’re doing is going to work
Growth Assumption: how you’ll actually attract customers and make a profit with your business over time.
Ries then takes these two assumptions and converts them into a plan - a hypothesis if you will and then guides you into finding quick, cheap ways for you to be able to test any hypothesis that comes up such as building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or a promotional video with a website. Anything to get your business going. In doing so, it allows for the uncertainty of starting a new business to become more certain and going forward, to create a long-lasting company with increasing profits.
10. The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
This is the book for you if you’re a new startup company, introducing a new product or service to the existing market already out there. It’ll teach you strategies and tips on how to talk to new customers and gain any feedback that may be of actual value to you and your business.
It teaches you “How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you,” since you’re more likely to present your idea to a close family or friend and they will be more likely to be kind and encourage you rather than give you the hard and honest truth about whether or not your idea will really work in the real world.
Always begin by talking to customers about their lives, rather than immediately mentioning your idea. This way, you can actually see how their life and any problem they have may align with the context of your product and how to solve it.
11. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Kahneman’s book goes deep into the mind of the consumer, looking into the psychology behind one’s decision-making and judgment. A key read to better market your business and increase profits.
He does so by separating the psychology into 2 different systems:
System 1 - Fast Thinking
“Operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control.”
System 2 - Slow Thinking
“Allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with subjective experience of agency, choice and concentration.”
And analyzes each one, explaining to you so you can better understand how and why you make decisions as well as aid in identifying which system you, yourself are using and what you should actually be using.
12. Zero to One by Peter Thiel
“Focus on businesses that create something new.” - Peter Thiel
Thiel’s book addresses entrepreneurs, challenging them to take the world (as the title suggests) from 0 to 1 - as opposed to what it is in reality, the opposite. Basically, to create new solutions and products to also create something of value. But before jumping head first into it, he gives tips on the dos and donts of creating a new product or service.
He also mentions how, rather than creating new ideas, businesses strive to take existing products and improve them, even just by a little bit.
So, if you’re looking to take the risk of creating something new that no one’s ever heard of out on the market, then definitely give Thiel’s book a read.
CONCLUSION
If you’re starting your own business then definitely look into at least one or a couple of these books to gain some insight into what it takes to run a successful business and be a glowing CEO. Each book is set to guide you with crucial information, as well as tips and tricks to improve yourself, your skills and your business on your entrepreneurial journey in hopes that you do make it.
Did anyone of these books pique your interest? If so, which ones? Let us know!
Written by Tina Phong
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