Entrepreneurship is the new cool. More and more people are feeling the itch to become an entrepreneur. Whether it’s because you currently dislike your day job and you want more flexibility and freedom, or you just know deep inside that you’re meant to be an entrepreneur. If you’re serious about starting your own business and want it bad enough for the long term and really want to make a difference in your life, here are 5 essential books to prepare you for the “battle” ahead.
5 Essential Must Read Books for Entrepreneurs Starting A Business
#1. The Entrepreneur Mind.
In this book by Kevin D. Johnson, he challenges the myth that “Entrepreneurs are born and not made”, he says that entrepreneurship can be taught and learned. This book will equip you with the knowledge and information needed to think like an entrepreneur because to be an entrepreneur is to think different. To achieve unimaginable business success and financial wealth—to reach the upper echelons of entrepreneurs, where you’ll find the likes of Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Evan Speigel of Snapchat, Richard Branson of Virgin, Kevin Plank of Under Armour, and many others—you have to change the way you think. In other words, you must develop the Entrepreneur Mind, a way of thinking that comes from learning the vital lessons of the best entrepreneurs. In this book, you will be exposed to and learn the essential beliefs, characteristics, and habits of elite entrepreneurs. In this outstanding book written for new age entrepreneurs, Kevin identifies one hundred (100) key lessons that every entrepreneur must learn in seven areas: Strategy, Education, People, Finance, Marketing and Sales, Leadership, and Motivation. An entrepreneur’s goal isn’t to think outside the box but rather to own the box.
#2. Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion.
Gary Vaynerchuk a.k.a the sneaker wearing corporate entrepreneur is a very successful entrepreneur and speaker and in this outstanding book, you will learn how you can turn your passion into a source of income. Yes, that’s right! What you already do and love, you will learn and know how to use the power of the internet (which you already use anyways) to cash in on your passion and hobby. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national whine industry leader. One day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed in this book, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, you will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make your entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business. If you want it bad, as bad as you getting sleepless nights thinking of your dreams and ideas and you are willing to do whatever it takes for a chance to live entirely on your own terms, then this book is for you – you will be exposed to how you can use your hustle, patience and big dreams to build a happy life for yourself. Gary’s three rules in life is Love your family, Work superhard and Live your passion, in this book, you will learn exactly how you can live by those 3 rules and build a life that you are super happy about.
#3. Contagious: Why Things Catch On.
What makes things and products popular? If you said advertising, think again. In this book, Jonah Berger explains why certain products and ideas become popular. People don’t listen to advertisements, they listen to their peers. But why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral? Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He has studied why New York Times articles make the paper’s own Most E-mailed list, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children. In Contagious, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheesesteak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the most seemingly boring products there is: a blender.
#4. Thinking Fast and Slow.
#5. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t.
In this book by Jim Collins, you are going to learn the defining management study of the nineties, which shows how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. Collins talked about how “Good is the enemy of Great”, and how people, organizations and companies fail to become great because they have become comfortable with being “good”. The basis of the entire book according to him is “Can a good company become great and if so, how? or is the disease of “just being good” incurable” and if you read and follow carefully, you will learn and see how good companies can become great and the underlying variables to make it happen. Jim can be quoted saying “Some of the key concepts discerned in the study, fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
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