Entrepreneurship is an exciting path to take, but it’s not always easy. There are ups and downs, highs and lows, and moments of triumph mixed with challenges that can feel insurmountable.
Fortunately, there are a plethora of resources available to help guide aspiring entrepreneurs on their journey.
One such resource is books – timeless reads that offer invaluable insights into the world of entrepreneurship. In this blog post, we’ve compiled a list of the 20 must-read entrepreneur books of all time – each one filled with practical advice, inspiring success stories, and guidance from some of the most successful business leaders in history.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking for fresh inspiration to reignite your entrepreneurial spirit – these books are guaranteed to provide valuable insight and perspective on what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.
How to Win Friends & Influence People
The only book you need to lead you to success
How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie is an entrepreneulial classic. The book teaches us how to live and lead in a non-greedy manner replacing personal gain, competition and heated arguments with positive, influential relationships.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Continuous Innovation Creates Successful Businesses
Although The Lean Startup aims toward high-value companies, it offers essential building blocks for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the startup phase. Eric Pies brings to light any beginner mistakes. Additionally he reveals the innovative process that brought his own startup to the top.
Building a Story Brand
Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
Before pitching your brand message or product to the audience, you must read Building A StoryBrand. In this classic book, Donald Miller teaches you how to craft a clear and compelling company sales pitch, a marketing strategy if you will, that your dream clients will understand and appreciate.
The 4-Hour Workweek
Escape the 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich
While most of us measure productivity by the time spent working, Tim Farriss teaches you how to build your biz effectively following the 80/20 rule. This simple yet clever blueprint explained in the Four-Hour Workweek implements more life in the work-life balance far from the shackles of a corporate job.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
If you are a CEO or aspire to start a business, you need to read this book. In Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers, Ben Horowitz dives deep into the psychology of being a boss, managing a team, and giving feedback. Besides his own success story lies practical business advice for managing a company during challenging times.
The Day That Turns Your Life Around
Success ideas that can change your life in an instant
Jim Rohn’s The Day That Turns Your Life Around feels like an in-person living room conversation with your wise grandparent. It’s one of my favorite business and personal development books. He not only shares his philosophy on life, and running a successful business, but he also provides practical advice on finances and inspirational leadership.
The Compound Effect
Jumpstart your income, your life, your success
Increasing your productivity and effectiveness does not require making massive changes. In The Compound Effect, Darren explains how small but consistent habits can help more effectively in building a successful business overtime.
The 5 Second Rule
The Fastest Way To Change Your Life
According to Mel Robbins, you are only five seconds away from a different life. The writer uses a science-based and effective rule to overcome your old patterns. Are you looking for a foolproof step by step guide of approaching uncomfortable tasks and taking uncomfortable action? The 5-Second Rule has got your back!
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Winner of the Nobel prize in economics
Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow breaks down two systems found in our mind. Our whole mind operates with either the fast, intuitive system or the slow, more rational system. In this must-read book for entrepreneurs, he explains how we can strip back our thought processes so we can achieve more mental freedom, confidence, and overall success.
Shoe Dog
A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Shoe Dog is the best business memoir you’ll read. Phil Knight tells the story with resounding humor and complete honesty. It unveils the journey of how one of the world’s most successful companies came into existence.
Atomic Habits
Proven way to build good habits & break bad ones
With Atomic Habits, James Clear lays down a framework of how habits get formed, broken, and reconstructed for the better. At the end of the day, who we are and what habits we implement, move us closer or further away from achieving our dreams and goals. It’s about shifting your wishful thinking into clarity and a to-the-point action plan. Exactly what a successful business requires.
Rich dad, Poor dad
What the rich teach their kids, that you can learn too
Unlike what the title describes, Rich Dad, Poor dad is not just about money. Robert T. Kiyosaki stresses the importance of increasing your financial intelligence to build wealth and cultivate financial independence.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Powerful lessons in Personal change
With The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey offers you 7 habits to apply, which, if adopted well, will yield immense success and fulfillment. He teaches you how to identify your goals, and how to execute them in an entrepreneurial setting.
Think and Grow Rich
Achieve personal and professional success
Think and Grow Rich cumulates the daily habits of the rich and the famous, distilled from 500 top entrepreneurs. Although Napoleon Hill shares practical advice on thriving in life and business, he mainly keeps focused on the psychological motivation behind successful entrepreneurship.
Rework
A better, faster, easier way to succeed in business
Rework by Jason Fried is a quick read chock-full of anecdotes and helpful advice for business owners and those interested in a successful startup. The book teaches you how to simplify things and speed up your momentum to get your business rolling.
Start with Why
How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Simon Sinek discovered that words greatest leaders all represent themself alike. More specifically he studied why some are more impactful and persuasive than others. As the title suggests, Start with Why exposes their reasons for innovation that eventually resulted in great success.
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or how to build the future
Zero to one peeks inside the brains of entrepreneur Peter Thiel, who founded and sold PayPal, took over Facebook, and became a billionaire. It shares incredible tips on start-ups, and new and existing businesses, all within Thiel’s convincing methodology.
Crushing It
Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
Media guru Gary Vaynerchuk wrote Crushing It! specifically for those trying to turn their hobby or passion into a well-paid day job. It’s a straightforward guide to leveraging social media and building a sustainable business by connecting with others.
Deep Work
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
With Deep Work professor Cal Newport sheds light on the ability to maintain a state of distraction-free concentration. This book is helpful for those struggling to achieve an optimum level of productivity.
Predictably Irrational
The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Ever wondered how you can turn your audience into a paid customer? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely explains how you can easily achieve that in the engagingly written Predictably Irrational. Understanding why people get tangled up in behavior patterns will inevitably change your outlook on scoring loyal clients.
Like this list of books for entrepreneurs and want to read more? Check out my book list on personal development.
