INTRODUCTION
In this article, we will look at the top 16 books every aspiring and established entrepreneur must read in 2023. To become successful as an entrepreneur, it is important you study the success stories of very accomplished entrepreneurs and read more books and other materials about entrepreneurship.
This will give you knowledge about their journey, business strategies, challenges, and lessons you can learn and apply to your own life and business to help you attain the level of success you desire in your business.
To save you from the trouble of trying to figure out which books on business to read from the 1000s of them out there, we have compiled the best 16 books on business and entrepreneurship you can start reading today and change your life as an entrepreneur.
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16 BOOKS FOR ENTREPRENUERS
Below are our top picks for you:
“The Power of Habits” by Charles Duhigg
The Power of Habit provides an in-depth explanation of what habits are, how they work, and how to change them for the better. Charles Duhigg demonstrated how to developing good habits can bring you a lot of success both in your life and business through the practical examples he gave about great leaders, successful people, athletes, etc.
In this book, Charles Duhigg argues that the key to becoming very productive and achieving success is understanding how habits work. Therefore, Duhigg did a series of lab experiments, brain research, and case studies to further expand your understanding of habits, how they work, and how they can impart your life. Duhigg provides practical strategies on how to harness the habits to your advantage after demonstrating their importance.
Why Should You Read It?
Reading “The Power of Habits” will help you to better understand how habits affect your life and everything you do. The book contains great experiments and lessons that will help you understand what is needed to rebuild new habits and change the bad and weak ones that can hinder your success making it a perfect book for entrepreneurs.
“Good to Great” by Jim Collins
Good to Great was written by Jim Collins, an author, and researcher. In Good to Great, Jim Collins analyses what makes a company great and how good companies transitioned from mediocre companies into great and sustainable companies.
Collins and his research team researched and identified eleven big companies like Gillette, to find out the underlying factors behind their long-lasting success and also why most companies fail to transition into great companies.
Why Should You Read It?
Good to Great is perfect for entrepreneurs and those looking to own a business someday. Reading ‘Good to Great’ will help you understand the factors that help small businesses transition into great businesses.
Also, reading “Good to Great” will give you practical advice on the strategies to improve and transition an ordinary business into a great and sustainable one.
“The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries
The Lean Startup, a New York Times best-seller was written by Eric Ries, a successful entrepreneur, and creator of the lean startup method. Eric Ries wrote The Lean Startup to help entrepreneurs create successful startups with a more efficient and creative approach.
Eric Ries uses real-life case studies from various businesses to illustrate the lean startup method’s principles. He then draws on his experience as a startup entrepreneur to help people establish an effective startup.
Eric Ries demonstrates a dynamic approach to running a business to help entrepreneurs know how to analyze, test, and evaluate their business ideas, visions, and goals. These lessons teach entrepreneurs how to continually adapt to change to prevent their businesses from failing. In “The Lean Startup” Eric Ries also analyses why most startups fail and give advice on how to avoid them as an entrepreneur.
Why Should You Read It?
The business lessons in “The Lean Startup” make it a great business book for entrepreneurs. Besides the practical business lessons and ideas you get from reading “The Lean Startup”, it also helps you to better understand the common mistakes that cause the failure of most startups and how to avoid them.
Zero to One” by Peter Thiel
Zero to One was written by Peter Thiel, a billionaire investor, and entrepreneur who is a co-founder of PayPal, Founder Fund, and Palantir. In Zero to One, Peter Thiel offers suggestions and advice to startups based on his experience at PayPal and Palantir. The main objective of “Zero to One” is to harness the power of innovation in entrepreneurship.
Thiel explained how to become successful as an entrepreneur by challenging traditional knowledge, embracing dominance, and exploring new business ideas. He also discusses the significance of strong fundamentals, team dynamics, and perseverance in running a startup.
In Zero to One, Peter Thiel gave an impressive perspective on how to think outside the box and explore new ideas in the business space as many virgin ideas and inventions are ready to be explored.
Thiel argues that the best companies go from nothing and then gradually evolve into something great. He also explained how great businesses don’t just suddenly evolve into something big but move in progressive stages into greatness with unique innovations. Therefore, to have a long-lasting impact as a company, you must think outside the box to create a new paradigm rather than just copying others.
Why Should You Read It?
Zero to One is an excellent book on business which makes it a must-read book for every entrepreneur who wants to succeed. The lessons in Zero to One will teach you to think outside the box and look beyond the norm to explore new and unique ideas in the business field.
Finally, reading Zero to One will enlighten you on how to start from nothing and innovate it into something great in a progressive manner.
“The E Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber
The E-Myth Revisited was written by Michael E. Gerber, the founder of Michael E. Gerber companies based in California. In this book, Michael Gerber analyzes the myth around small businesses and why most of them fail within the first 5 years and gives practical advice and insights into entrepreneurship.
Michael E. Gerber wrote “The E Myth Revisited” mainly to enlighten entrepreneurs on how to build a successful business by having good systems in place to produce great results because he argues that creating a successful business is not only dependent on the skills you have as an entrepreneur. He further explains most businesses fail because they lack understanding of how running a business and having technical skills are two different things.
Why Should You Read It?
The E Myth Revisited is an awesome book for entrepreneurs as it contains great lessons on what is needed to succeed as an entrepreneur. Also, reading this book will educate you on the mistakes that make small businesses fail and how you can avoid them in order to succeed as an entrepreneur.
“Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
This book covers a comprehensive biography of Steve Jobs, a co-founder of Apple. The book was written based on interviews with Steve Jobs and interviews with his family, friends, colleagues, and competitors.
The book covers Steve Jobs’ experiences, values, aspirations, and innovative approach to technology and business, which made him a worldwide admired icon. The book also covers his strengths and the challenges he faced in his journey as a businessman.
Why Should You Read It?
Steve Jobs is a great book for anyone interested in learning about the life of Steve Jobs, the man behind Apple’s success, and how Apple achieved the success it has today. As an entrepreneur, reading Steve Jobs you will learn a lot from his values, innovative skills, his personality, experience and innovative approach to business which you adapt and implement in your life and your business.
“The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz
Ben Horowitz, is an entrepreneur, investor, and author who is the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz. Ben Horowitz one of Silicon Valley’s most respected and experienced entrepreneurs wrote “Hard Things about Hard Things” to enlighten aspiring entrepreneurs on the challenges all CEOs face every day as business owners and how entrepreneurs make tough decisions in order to build a great organization or business.
Horowitz gives practical advice for managing the issues and challenges you might face as an entrepreneur like managing bad employees and firing a friend. He also gave great lessons on how to deal with failures and push through tough times by sharing his experience of being a CEO and the hard decisions he has had to make as an entrepreneur.
Why Should You Read It?
Hard Things about Hard Things is a perfect book for entrepreneurs as it offers great lessons and insights on what to expect as a leader or CEO. These lessons will help you prepare for the hard things to come and also make you aware of the problems and challenges you might face in your journey as an entrepreneur or leader. Also, reading this book will give you tips on the best way to handle these challenges and problems when they come.
“Rework” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier
Rework was written by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson, Jason Fried, is the co-founder of Basecamp which was originally created by co-author David Heinemeier Hansson. They also are the founders of 37 Signals and co-authors of Signals v. Noise, one of the most popular blogs out there. They wrote Rework to educate entrepreneurs on how to improve their businesses, relationships, productivity, and work environment in a better way to achieve success.
Rework teaches a new approach to the standard business principles and replaces it with strategies that are more straightforward to improve your productivity and the business as a whole.
Why Should You Read It?
Rework is a perfect book for entrepreneurs who wants a straightforward approach to succeeding in their business. The book contains great lessons and strategies which will help you build a healthy and efficient business by creating a more productive work environment as an entrepreneur.
“Start with Why” by Simon Sinek
Start with Why was written based on Simon Sinek’s first TEDx talk How “Great Leaders Inspire Action” in 2009. Which has now become the third most-watched TED talk of all time, with over 25 million views. Sinek is an author and motivational speaker who is now the author of five bestselling books, including Start with Why and The Infinite Game. Start with Why teaches how the way of thinking and communications of great leaders and organizations who focus on the WHY of what they do can inspire others by giving them a sense of purpose which can be a driving force for success.
Sinek argues that successful organizations and people fundamentally focus on the WHY of what they do, instead of just focusing on what they do and how they do it. He also demonstrates why organizations that use this principle become more successful than those that don’t.
Why Should You Read It?
Start with Why is a great book that teaches how you can create a successful and sustainable business by focusing on the WHY of the business or idea. These lessons will help you identify the purpose or the WHY behind your idea. Knowing the purpose behind what you do makes it easy for you to succeed in it whiles inspiring others too.
“Build to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
“Built to Last” was written by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras who worked on a six-year research project at Stanford University Graduate Business School. They wrote “Built to Last” after they studied the habits of 18 visionary and long-lasting companies like Marriott, Proctor & Gamble and Walt Disney. In their study, they compared these successful companies with their less successful competitors in order to analyze their differences and why their competitors could not create long-lasting success in their business.
Build to Last analyses a lot of practical concepts, strategies, ideas, and examples from these 18 visionary companies and how they managed to stay successful for a long time.
Why Should You Read It?
Build to Last is a perfect book for every entrepreneur and from CEOs to regular employees, as it provides great lessons and advice on building a profitable organization and business that will stand the test of time.
“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill as a step-by-step guide on how to be successful in life. Napoleon Hill wrote this book based on a 20year research he conducted on 500 successful business people in America, after which he deduced from their insights 13 principles for achieving success and generating wealth.
In this book, Napoleon Hill teaches how your thoughts and desire can help you achieve whatever you want and become successful. He also teaches the importance of learning through failures by sharing real-life examples, which is one of the major factors that make most people quit too early.
Why Should You Read It?
The journey to becoming successful as an entrepreneur can be very difficult, which is why most entrepreneurs quit along the way. This is why you need a book like Think and Grow Rich which will help build a success-conscious mind. Think and Grow Rich will also teach you how to strive till you achieve your goals and the success you desire, despite all the failures and challenges you might encounter as an entrepreneur.
“Deep Work” by Cal Newport
“Deep Work” was written by Cal Newport, a professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. Deep Work offers its readers personal training with four rules for practicing deep focus, which can transform your mind into developing good and productive habits.
In “Deep Work” Newport teaches how to focus deeply on cognitively demanding tasks without being distracted. These effort improves your skills and creates a new value that is hard to replicate. Deep work will optimize your performance and let you execute at your maximum capacity.
Newport, also argued that being able to deeply focus on a task without losing focus is a skill that must be learned and mastered. However, when you are able to develop and master this skill, you can easily take on complicated tasks and produce better results in less time.
Why Should You Read It?
Reading “Deep Work” will help you develop the skills of deep focus amid distraction, which will help you work on tasks and complete them in a short time. The lessons in Deep Work will boost your productivity which is an important factor for every entrepreneur if you want to achieve success in your business or company.
“Atomic Habits” by James Clear
“Atomic Habits” was written by James Clear who is known to be one of the world’s leading experts in habit formation and is one of the bestselling books that is highly recommended for everybody. Atomic Habits is a comprehensive guide that contains lessons on how to create good habits and break bad or weak ones.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear analyzed why bad habits exist, why people struggle to change their bad or weak habits and the psychology behind the formation of good habits. James Clear also provides a proven system to help you start new habits and break the bad or weak ones and how to maintain consistency long enough to create powerful results and see its impart in your life.
Why Should You Read It?
Atomic Habits is one of the great books on self-improvement that is recommended for everybody. This is because having a good and powerful habit is one of the main ingredients that create success in the life of people. Therefore, reading Atomic Habits will help develop these powerful habits that are needed for your success and break the old and weak ones that can hinder you from improving yourself and become and successful.
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is one of the best-selling books on self-improvement. The book has helped many people to change and develop their attitudes toward success.
In “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Covey argued that to change ourselves we have to change our perception. He therefore stated and explained the 7 habits you can adopt to set your life up for success. The book also teaches you how to develop personal and interpersonal effectiveness by changing how you perceive the world and how it works.
This book became a widely read book because of the great lessons Stephen R. Covey gave on how to take on timeless and universal values to help conceive habits that can be used in any situation and be successful.
Why Should You Read It?
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” one of the greatest books have empowered and transformed the lives of many people over the years. This makes it a must-read book for everybody across all age groups and professions to transform your mindset and also conceive habits that will help you succeed.
Reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effectively People” will not only teach you to how to develop a good mindset, but how to become proactive in handling important tasks and any situation at hand.
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” was written by Robert Kiyosaki who is a successful entrepreneur and founder of Rich Global LLC. This book talks about the understanding of money and how it works.
Robert Kiyosaki wrote this book based on his observations on his two dads, his real father (the poor dad) a Stanford-educated PhD holder who was financially illiterate and only followed the traditional career pathway to success, and his best friend’s father (the Rich Dad), a high school dropout who built a successful business.
In “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, Robert Kiyosaki explained how these two dads shaped his mindset about money and investing. He argued that the poor only works for more money while the rich make their money work for them. In this book, Robert Kiyosaki gave six lessons on making money and also money mistakes to avoid to be successful.
Why Should You Read It?
This is a must-read book for anyone who desires to become financially independent. Because Robert Kiyosaki gave great insights and lessons on financial literacy which will change your mindset about money, how it works, and the clever ways to grow your wealth while not working for money.
“The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham
The Intelligent Investor was written in 1949 by Benjamin Graham a professor, economist, and investor. Graham was known as the father of value investing because of his unique approach and understanding of investing.
Benjamin Graham wrote, “The Intelligent Investor” to educate people on value investing and how to invest in the stock market. This insightful book has helped many to become successful investors including Investment guru Warren Buffet, who called The Intelligent Investor “By far the best book on investing ever written”.
In Intelligent Investor, Graham teaches how to invest and protect your investment from risks whiles generating decent stock market returns.
Why Should You Read It?
This is a great book to read if you are an Investor or looking to start your investment journey. Venturing into investing without understanding how investment works will not risk you losing your money but also create a gambling mentality that will make you fail as an investor.
That’s why “The Intelligent Investor” is a must-read for all investors. The book contains insightful information and strategies on investment, which will equip you with an investor mindset to help you invest intelligently and also to not panic at market fluctuations.
