4 Business Books to Give to The Budding Entrepreneur in Your Life
Most successful business owners tend to be avid readers. The thing is, there’s a lot out there you can read. So today I thought I would go ahead and share with you the business books I’ve been reading and that are on my “to read” list. I’ll share what I love about each book. As well as what I don’t love and why think it’s worth the investment to buy or at least borrow from the library.
Remember you don’t have to spend a ton of money on business books, libraries can be good friends of yours. If a physical library is located really inconveniently for you, a lot of libraries now have all e-books and audiobooks that you can check out for free. I use the OverDrive app connected to my libraries and that way I’m able to check out books.
Just so you know, this post may contain affiliate links. Meaning I receive commissions for purchases made through those links, at no cost to you. Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. You can read my disclosure policy for more info.
4 Hour Work Week
So one of the very first books that help change my mindset and to move me towards becoming self-employed and an entrepreneur was the 4 Hour Work Week. Now I’ve got to be honest, I don’t love everything in the book. But there is enough in the book to make it on this list.
4 Hour Work Week makes you reevaluate how you spend your time and what you spend it on. The book helps you think of different ways you could automate or find shortcuts. It really lets you know of different ways that you can build a business and a life for yourself that works for you, so you don’t have to stick with that 9-to-5 grind.
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#Girlboss
Another early business read of mine, long before I became self-employed, was the fantastic book turned Netflix series, #Girlboss. Now since I read the book, the business in which the author built and wrote about has since gone bankrupt. You maybe wondering why should I read this book? Here is the thing, the author, Sofia Amarouso started this business when she was in her early 20s and built it into a multimillion dollar business.
Yes it went bust, but as she said herself, it was her first business and she got pretty far. So I think it’s really inspiring to see that anyone can be successful and everyone starts somewhere. Sure, the business may not last forever, but it’s somewhere to start and you’re gonna learn a lot along the way. I think her attitude towards business is fantastic and her book, #GirlBoss, is just really entertaining. So I do recommend reading all of it despite the fact that NastyGal went bankrupt.
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The War of Art
Another great book, ESPECIALLY if you are a creative entrepreneur is The War of Art. Now, you’ve likely heard of the book The Art of War, this book is completely different. The War of Art is really just a big old kick in the pants.
You’re going to read it and every couple pages be like, “oh my gosh that’s me” and you’re going to earmark an underline so many paragraphs and pages. For me it’s become what I turn to when I’m struggling and need that kick in the pants. It’ll get you back up after you’ve fallen. The War of Art helps me to keep going and keep working and to not stop working even when I don’t feel like working.
I continue to go pull out this book when I need a boost of motivation. I just flip to one of the many pages I’ve marked and read whatever I’ve underlined and immediately I’m more motivated.
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12 Week Year
Now when writing this, I’ve just finished the book and barely started implementing The 12 Week Year. The reason I decided to read it and give it a shot was I’d heard so many good things about this book.
The premise is that setting annual goals is really hard. It’s difficult because maintaining the momentum for something for a whole year is just hard and usually results in lackluster results. So the idea with this book that you focus on 12 weeks at a time. You set your “long goal” to be accomplished in 12 weeks. Then you plan out the most important things you need to do to accomplish your goal. You only focus on what’s important for the 12 weeks to get to that goal. Keep in mind, the fact that 80% of results comes from 20% to work you do, it’s the 80/20 rule.
As for me, I’ve managed to read the book over a weekend and am currently in the second week of implementing. While it’s still early days, I can say that I’ve already seen some results and I really do think that I’ll hit my 12 Week Year goal, or at least I’ll come really close. I’m really making myself focus on what’s most important. And you might be thinking yeah, but I already know to focus on. What’s most important is remembering that knowing and implementing are two very different things and this book helps you to figure out how you’re going to implement whatever plan you put in place.
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Bottom Line
Those are the four books I’m going to cover today, and there’s tons and tons more. Below is a list of books I have on my to read list. One of those is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, I’m not even halfway through the book and I love it. It’s just realistic about how people think and act and take action and what you should really be focusing your time worrying about. There’s a saying, that if it’s not gonna matter in five years don’t waste five minutes on it. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is kind of the living embodiment of that thing.