Entrepreneurship is just like riding a roller coaster. Many entrepreneurs experience an exciting journey as well as a daunting one. To prepare for this adventure entrepreneurs and business leaders invest their time in reading. Warren Buffet is rumoured to spend 80% of his time reading. Bill Gates, a co-founder of the Microsoft Company, aims to read a book weekly.
Why do they read so much? Books and information are the first steps to self-education, self-improvement, and success. Books help entrepreneurs to develop the necessary skills to discover new business ideas and motivation. With countless reading materials, here are the best titles for entrepreneurs and small business owners to consider when embarking on this journey.
Book 1: The E-Myth Revisited
In his book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It?, Michael E Greber tells readers about the entrepreneurial myth as a reminder to people who start small businesses. Greber points out how common assumptions, expectations, and technical expertise can get in the way of running a successful business based on his years of experience as a small business consultant.
Greber provides his readers with a guiding light on the road to a good business venture. In the book, he advises readers to apply the lessons of franchising any business regardless of its type, stating that the methodology has positive applications. Gerber also clearly explains the distinctions between working on your business and working in your business.
Book 2: Business Model Generation
Executives find that business model generation is a complex but necessary activity. Business Model Generation, by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, provides a simple yet holistic view of business using Business Model Canvas. This book guides readers on creating a business model canvas while considering all aspects of their business, from Key Activities to Revenue Streams.
Instead of giving a motivational story of a successful business, Business Model Generation, written and collaborated on by a team of over 470 practitioners, contains technical guides and common patterns for creating powerful business case canvases.
Book 3: Tools of Titans
“Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers” written by Timothy Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the 4-Hour Workweek. He has interviewed 200 top-class performers for his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which later inspired him to create a book with the distilled tools, tactics, and the ‘inside baseball’. It also includes business tips from past guests and life lessons from successful entrepreneurs you might never see before.
There you go, three options of reading material essential to the budding entrepreneur. However, as an entrepreneur, it’s important to be open-minded while thinking about the current situation. Some lessons may be timeless, while case studies and insights might have an expiry date. Ensure that the lesson learned is something that enhances your business. You might be alone in your business journey anyway. However, you are not the first and won’t be the last, bank on the wisdom of these great authors who came before you and look to others who resonate with you and your journey.