Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read Before Starting A Business

Becoming an entrepreneur needs a lot of business acumen. Starting and running a business is not an easy task. It pays to do extensive research and prepare to handle any problem that may arise. Right from inception of the idea, planning, fund raising. Down to staffing and finally making the venture profitable – it is a journey fraught with risks.

Related: 8 Books An Entrepreneur Must Read

Reading books related to business and management can help you avoid the potholes that you may encounter as an entrepreneur. Here are some books that can help an entrepreneur succeed.

2. ‘Business Adventures’ By John Brooks

This book is a study of leaders, their strengths and weaknesses when they confront challenges and also about the particulars of different businesses. It is said to be Bill Gates’s favorite book on business.

3. ‘The Founder’s Dilemmas’ By Noam Wasserman

Based on the author’s research at Princeton University of studying and collecting information about founders of several industries. He details their experiences which will be invaluable for anyone who wishes to start his own company. We can relate to the prominent companies like Twitter that are mentioned in the study.

The aim of The Founder’s Dilemmas is to help budding entrepreneurs to take proactive measures so that they can avoid making any common mistake that can impact their business negatively. This book also offers valuable lessons in managing your business.

4. ‘Benjamin Franklin’ By Walter Isaacson

The multi-millionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk confessed that this was his favorite book of all-time. He is all in awe of Benjamin Franklin who was a runaway kid with no prospects. He is regarded the ultimate entrepreneur because he too started with nothing.

5. ‘The Lean Startup’ By Eric Ries

This book addresses the biggest problems that any entrepreneur will face when he builds his own business – manage his cash flow. As the saying rightly goes, cash is everything. Managing cash flow is an important skill for a new business entrepreneur. This book will instruct you on effectively managing your budget in such a way that allows you to innovate and make a mark in the world of business.

6. ‘Think And Grow Rich’ By Napolean Hill

This book changed the life of Raymond John, cofounder of successful clothing business FUBU, as reported in Business Insider. The main message of the book was goal-setting. It is vital for entrepreneurs to set a precise goal and aim to achieve it.

7. ‘The Disney Way: Harnessing The Management Secrets Of Disney In Your Company’ By Bill Capodagli And Lynn Jackson

Walt Disney created the most endearing and culturally-rich company in the world. Disney had a mantra that helped, not only his business but transformed businesses throughout the world – “dream, believe, dare, do“. Through Disney’s example, many have understood the essence of having a warm and fun culture to their businesses. This book tells you how to create a positive and productive environment for your customers and employees, thus making an impact on the industry.

8. ‘The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong’ By Laurence J. Peter And Raymond Hull

This book addresses the one big question that plagues the mind of every business founder and owner – ‘Why do things always go wrong?’ This is an amazing book for entrepreneurs to understand and identify when they hit that ‘point of incompetence’, and when they should actively recruit great staff to assist them. The author discusses the major issue of incompetence in the industry these days and stresses the importance of employing the right staff. It is the key factor of developing a business.

9. ‘Conscious Capitalism’ By John Mackey And Raj Sisodia

This book is recommended as a must-read for entrepreneurs and leaders in business by Kip Tindell, cofounder and CEO of The Container Store and John Mackey, cofounder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. They believe strongly in what Business schools have discovered and advocated – a ‘win-win’ situation is the most profitable and companies that follow this principle are the most successful.