As an aspiring entrepreneur, you must have certain qualities that will make you successful in your venture. Apart from the known qualities of hard work, intelligent planning, and others, you must be willing to learn. Reading business books will give you immense knowledge of different areas of business. This knowledge acts as a guiding force in growing your business in the right direction.
Business books are mostly written by successful business persons. The story of their struggles and rise to success will inspire you to look ahead with greater confidence. Apart from the encouragement and success stories, the best business books also make you aware of the possible threats to the business.
Many business books are written and published every year. Some of them are truly worth reading.
List of 26 Best Books for Business Success
1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Written during the Great Depression, this book is one of the greatest resources for a self-help group and is relevant even today. The author Napoleon Hill interviewed many eminent business persons including Thomas Edison and Henry Ford and found the common trends that made them successful. He also formulated six-step guidelines for you to apply in your business endeavors. Buy from Here.
2. Business Adventures by John Brooks
Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure. Furthermore, it also reveals the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance. This bestseller business book is authored by Longtime New Yorker contributor John Brooks.
His insightful reportage is so full of personality and critical detail that whether he is looking at the astounding market crash of 1962, the collapse of a well-known brokerage firm, or the bold attempt by American bankers to save the British pound, one gets the sense that history repeats itself.
It is worth mentioning here that this was recommended by Warren Buffet to Bill Gates. Even after so many years as mentioned in gatesnotes, this book is still their favorite book ever read by Bill Gates. Buy from Here.
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
This bestseller book is a significant guide to improving the productivity of the business and developing sustainable results written by Stephen R. Covey. The 7 habits include setting priorities, developing initiative, highlighting the mission, vision, and objective of an organization, improving creative collaboration, and interpersonal communication and balance in personal and professional life. Buy from Here.
4. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
This is a classic written by Dale Carnegie that deals with interactions with people. It guides a new entrepreneur in the ideal ways to deal with people, influence them, and motivate them. This book is a valuable account of successful public relations and developing effective working relationships. Buy from Here.
5. The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen
This book by the Professor of Harvard Business School Clayton M. Christensen focuses on how companies can lose the market despite doing everything right. It emphasizes the importance of listening to the customers to know where one should invest. He also discussed the concepts of sustainable and disruptive technologies that improve and degrade product performance respectively. Steve Jobs also used this book. Buy from Here.
6. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
This award-winning book written by John Carreyrou is on Theranos, a start-up founded by Elizabeth Holmes. It promised to modernize blood testing by making it faster and easier. She was funded by eminent investors and the amount was $9 billion. However, the venture failed due to the failure of the technology. Buy from Here.
7. Tribes by Seth Godin
This book by the marketing guru Seth Godin discusses the importance of communities in the success of any product, service, or brand. It guides how to cultivate the feeling of unity or tribe among the communities and use it as a business strategy. Buy from Here.
8. Traction: How Any Start-up Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
This book written by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares highlights the reasons for the failure of start-ups, the main reason being the dearth of customer base. Along with that the book also guides start-ups regarding the strategies to follow to get more customers. There are lists of both online and offline marketing channels for start-ups with the guidance of the right channel for each type of business. Buy from Here.
9. The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, And Live an Extraordinary Life by John Assaraf & Murray Smith
This book deals with the subconscious mind and how it may weaken the efforts of an entrepreneur. The authors of the book John Assaraf and Murray Smith have shared their experience and prudence and suggested how one can overcome the undermining factors of the subconscious mind and achieve their desired success. Buy from Here.
10. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
This book written by Al Ries and Jack Trout is a perfect marketing companion. It deals with the significance of building a strong impression of the brand in the minds of the customers. The book gives plenty of real-life illustrations along with analyses. The book is recommended by none other than marketing Guru Philip Kotler. Buy from Here.
11. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
The author Ben Horowitz gives detailed guidelines about how to build a start-up and run it successfully. It gives detailed instructions on how to face competitors, fire employees, and grow up to be a successful CEO. Buy from Here.
12. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
It is a research paper dealing with 18 companies that are successful and sustained in the market for a long time. Along with that, the authors Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras have compared each company with their close competitors and established why they are the leaders or ‘Visionary’. Buy from Here.
13. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Just stay cool and get things done easily. This is the keyword of this book by David Allen. It was first published in 2001 and the new edition was reprinted in 2015. It has created a sea change in the principles of productivity with ease. Buy from Here.
14. The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling
The book is written by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling and deals with 4 principles that should be applied for the success of any business organization. The principle is focussing on the very important goals, creating the ways and methods to achieve the goals, keeping a record of the progress, and creating accountability for each person regarding their achievement and success. Buy from Here.
15. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
This book is about emotional intelligence and how it affects your physical and mental well-being along with your professional success. According to author Daniel Goleman, you can learn as well as cultivate emotional importance and it is immensely important for the all-around growth of a person. Buy from Here.
16. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
It is an inspiring memoir by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. The story of rags to riches describes the journey of Phil to the pinnacle of success. It narrates how he started with $50 which he borrowed from his father and eventually created this magnum-opus business. Buy from Here.
17. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
This is a valuable book for new-generation entrepreneurs as it gives practical instructions and exercises for building up a new business. The author Peter Thiel is a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir. He is also an investor in hundreds of startups, including Facebook and SpaceX.
This book encourages disruptive innovations and also guides you to formulate your strategies in various areas of business like sales, marketing, management, etc. The book is full of practical examples and makes you aware of whether you are making any mistakes in your business strategies. Buy from Here.
18. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
The Intelligent Investor, authored by renowned economist Benjamin Graham is lauded as a top guru of finance and investment. Known as the father of value investing, the author in this book provides inspiring as well as resourceful insights and gives you a great deal of understanding of value investing.
The writings are relevant even today. It must be mentioned here, that this book is recommended by legendary investor Warren Buffet. Buy from Here.
19. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson
A man of high achievement and innovation, Steve Jobs is not just a business person; he was an institution by himself. The book by Walter Isaacson is based on several interviews with his family and associates, the author has been able to enlighten readers with the different aspects of the personality of Steve Jobs, with strengths and weaknesses. Buy from Here.
20. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
This book written by Eric Ries focuses on the failure of many start-ups and argues that many such failures could have been prevented. The author gives direction on the change in the method of forming companies as well as a new approach toward business policy including the selection of products and marketing strategies. Buy from Here.
21. How to Get Rich: One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets
In this book, the author Felix Dennis explains the difference between running a successful business and amassing wealth. He has cited the experience of his life mentioning the stories of success as well as those of failure. According to him, gathering wealth or making money is a skill that one can learn at any stage of life, irrespective of circumstances. Buy from Here.
22. The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded, and Updated by Timothy Ferris
This book by Timothy Ferriss highlights the need for streamlining professional life and working hours. The main intention is to avoid overstressing yourself and enjoy your personal life and space working efficiently and achieving success. The book is divided into four parts defining the goal, getting rid of distractions, deciding on the cash flow, and making yourself free from conventional expectations. Buy from Here.
23. Rework by Jason Fried
Rework stresses the need to be realistic and practical. The book by Jason Fried narrates the need for objective analysis of business initiatives and remaining grounded in executing business policies. There is no general rule or verdict for any particular business, everything is relative. Buy from Here.
24. The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
The book authored by Brian Tracy focuses on the importance of sales in the growth of the business. It also narrates the different methods and techniques the salespersons should follow for increased sales. It is a must-read for salespersons as well as entrepreneurs to formulate an effective sales strategy. Buy from Here.
25. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space
It is a book based on exhaustive research on 30 industries over more than 100 years. According to the authors, W. Chan Kim and Renée A. Mauborgne, sharp competition among the rival companies narrow down the opportunities of each company creating a pool of blood or ‘red ocean’. Therefore long-lasting success comes from exploring virgin markets or the ‘blue ocean’. Buy from Here.
26. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
This book describes how an entrepreneur can get things done with a proper method. The author Cal Newport stresses the importance of focusing on the goal and working with concentration instead of multitasking. Buy from Here.
Also Check:
Some books give you guidelines on business strategies, while some show you case studies. Some books narrate the success stories of eminent business persons that inspire you. Overall, business books enhance your competence and teach you survival strategies.
About the Author: 99businessideas.com led by Rupak Chakrabarty is committed to helping beginners, entrepreneurs, and small business owners in starting, managing, and growing their businesses.
