If you’re reading this, then you’re interested in starting your business, or you’ve already started one, but found you built a job, not a business.
You may have read books and articles about genius entrepreneurs building multi-million dollar businesses, going public with an IPO, and escaping into the twilight.
You are reading: How to run a small business books
but that’s not you.
Instead, he wants to build a business so his wife can stop working.
Maybe you want a business that allows you to spend time with your kids.
maybe you are tired of your daily work and want to build something additional that will give you more satisfaction.
You’re in luck.
The books in this article will teach you to think like an mba, even if you’ve never taken a business class in your life. You’ll learn how to start, market, and scale a business, even if you still have a day job. and most importantly, you will learn about different types of businesses that others have already created so that you have a roadmap for your own journey.
let’s get to it.
the foundation of a successful small business
1. steve blank’s four steps to epiphany
This is the best step-by-step starter book you can read. The book organizes the beginning stages of building a business. talks about knowing your values, being market-driven, focusing on customer development versus product development, and going mainstream by building products first for early adopters.
2. great by choice by jim collins
This book addresses the question of “are successful companies lucky or do they follow replicable patterns?”
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Focused on the principles of discipline, calibrated creativity, and a healthy sense of paranoia, the book teaches you how to create a foundation for your business that allows you to thrive amidst uncertain environments.
3. good to excellent by jim collins
If you’ve ever wondered what separates the good companies from the really great ones, this book has the answers. Concepts in the book, like the concept of the hedgehog and the steering wheel, show you the qualities and mindset you need to cultivate in yourself and your employees to build a company that lasts.
4. purple cow by seth godin
This book is about how you and your company can stand out…and how to manage the risk that comes with being different. You’ll learn how to create remarkable products and services, and identify the very first customer evangelists who will enthusiastically tell the world about your business
how to start a successful small business
5. josh kaufman’s personal mba
You should read this book if you think you need an MBA to build a successful business (spoiler alert: you don’t). You’ll learn how to ask the tough questions that will help you make the right decisions to make your business successful. it will create a framework for business decisions, such as obtaining external financing, vision, marketing, negotiation and collaboration.
6. the electronic myth revisited by michael gerber
Along with the personal mba, this book is for anyone who is great at what they do and now wants to build a business around that experience. You’ll learn about the essential operations side of the business: how to plan for growth from day one, what to implement to build a business and not a job for yourself, and how to (eventually) find and train people to run your business for yourself. you.
7. the 4-hour workweek by tim ferriss
If you want to build a business and not another job for yourself, you have to be intentional about it from the start. This book will teach you how to redefine why and how you work, help you take as much of the heavy lifting off your plate as possible, and prepare you for entrepreneurship, even if you’re still in your day job.
8. eric ries’ lean start-up
Building a successful business is simple but difficult. It’s not about how fast you grow. it’s not even about how much income you get. instead, it’s about finding a profitable business model that can stand the test of time.
In this book, you’ll learn the right and wrong reasons for starting a business. You’ll learn how to test to make sure your business idea is profitable before launching your product. and you’ll also learn how to incorporate marketing into your product so it sells itself.
9. zero to one by peter thiel
The hardest stage of building a business is taking it from 0 sales and customers to 1. That’s much harder than going from 1 to 2. In this book, you’ll learn why successful founders tend to be weirdos, the sequence you need to follow if you want to be successful in the mass market, and the 7 crucial questions to ask. yourself before starting your business.
how to find your first customers for your small business
10. this is marketing by seth godin
This is the best high-end marketing book you can read. good marketing is about painting a story about how your business can help your customer improve their life. and this is marketing gives you a framework for the marketing strategies and tactics you’ll learn in other books.
11. blue ocean strategy by w. chan kim and renee mauborgne
Stop trying to be better. just try to be different. This is the main premise of this book, and it is the most important positioning concept to learn in a world of products and options. the book teaches you to be different, to carve out a category or a niche (blue ocean) and to stop looking for crowded markets (red oceans).
12. tribes by seth godin
The health of your business depends on the audience or tribe you’ve built around the change you’re trying to make. tribes is a short book detailing how communities start and thrive, and how you can start, nurture, and build a tribe around your work.
13. show your work! by austin kleon
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If you subscribe to the “build it and they’ll come” marketing model, you’re in for a rude awakening. These days, your marketing should start as soon as (or even before) you create your product. This book shows you how you can start documenting the process of building your business…so that when you finally launch it, you’re not thrown in the shackles; you will have people eager to buy.
14. traction by gabriel weinberg and justin mares
If you want a systematic way to increase customer demand as quickly as possible, you should read this book. It guides you through the 20 possible channels you can take to find customers and, with the “bull’s-eye method”, teaches you how to systematically test each of them until you find the ones that give you the most bang for your buck. /p>
how to grow and scale your small business
15. company of one by paul jarvis
This book is about perspective and priorities: how “successful” doesn’t have to mean big, and how “staying small” might be a better definition of success for your business. you’ll learn how to focus on the people who work in the business (for a small business, it’s probably just you) and the two things you need to emphasize to build a successful small business.
16. little giants by bo burlingham
This book is for entrepreneurs who want to stay in control of their business. You’ll learn why maintaining privacy can be a good idea in this time of high growth, IPOs, and unicorns. You’ll also learn what it means to be community-focused as a business, both internally and externally, to grow without outside funding.
17. work the system by sam carpenter
If you’re reading this, you probably have issues with perfectionism and control, two common traits that entrepreneurs share. More than learning how to build systems, this book will teach you how to set aside perfection and focus on controlling the parts of your business that you can change.
If you want to learn how to scale a business without working for yourself, then this book is for you.
18. the effective executive by peter drucker
As a business owner, you have to wear many hats and that can be overwhelming. In this book, one of the greatest thinkers in business and management history helps you take your effectiveness and efficiency to the next level by asking, “Is this decision worth making?”
You’ll learn why and how to delegate based on strengths rather than weaknesses, how to make decisions when necessary, and why holding longer decision-making meetings could save you more time in the future.
19. richard koch’s 80/20 principle
Whether it’s toxic customers, having too many business ideas, or simply having too much on the plate, entrepreneurs are constantly on edge. The main premise of this book, that most of your results are produced with only a small fraction of the work, helps you simplify your professional (and personal) life.
By focusing only on the 20% of products and customers that really drive your business, you’ll spend more time on the most important tasks, instead of managing your time.
20. startups made simple by matt knee
From his experience running an Inc5000 company, Matt helps entrepreneurs start and run their businesses. In this book, he takes lessons from the best business thinkers and books (including the ones on this list) and organizes them into a step-by-step system you can follow to start and grow your own business.
next steps
Did we miss one? tell us in the comments!
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 20th, 2020 at 3:39 PM. m. and is filed under starting a business, small business management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the rss 2.0 feed. you can skip to the end and leave a reply. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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