Reading is an essential part of growing your business. Not only can you learn faster than you would without it, but you can also expand your horizons and enhance your business thinking.
To get a head start, check out our all-time favorite business books reading list:
The Reading List
“Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t” by Jim Collins
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey.
“Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” by Simon Sinek
“The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses” by Eric Ries
“The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail” by Clayton M. Christensen
“The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It” by Michael E. Gerber
“The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win” by Steve Blank
“The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success” by William N. Thorndike
“The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!” by Al Ries and Jack Trout
“Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
All Time Best Business Books – Ranking
- Value Proposition Design – Osterwalder and Pigneur’s Business Model Canvasing is an valuable resource for developing propositions and services based on customer insights. It’s incredibly helpful and easy to understand. Highly recommended!
- The Lean Startup. Ries – Think different on startup process. Work Agile.
- Marketing – Kotler. – Our favorite. Get the full range and depth of marketing elements.
- Rework – Fried, Hansson. Not just work hard, but work smarter. Leverage your time. (=hire staff, delegate, combine work options, remove unnecessary/unproductive work parts)
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. – Live differently. Be more mindful of your own path.
- The 4 Hour Workweek – Think different on running your business. Get leveraged.
- Good to Great – Jim Collins. – A bit harsh, but very performance-driven.
- Scaling Up! – Verne Harnish. – Sound methodology for growing your business and removing growth pitfalls in your own thinking. Was referred by other entrepreneurs, and yes, it definitely is helpful.
- Cradle to Cradle – Mc Donough. – Sustainability as a cycle. Easy to read.
- Thinking Fast and Slow – Kahneman
Reading books is an essential part of a successful entrepreneur’s journey. Not only does it sharpen your mind, but it also equips you with the knowledge and skills necessary for success. You can start ‘cooking what’s in the fridge’.
If you’re looking for book recommendations, don’t hesitate to reach out to other entrepreneurs for their input. Most are willing to share their tips.
Speed reading
Short on time? Try speed reading—you might finish a book in a week or less! You can also use an AI summary tool, but we recommend reading the full book for a deeper understanding. The concepts tend to stick better that way!