Congratulations! You have already succeeded at something that most people fail miserably at. Most people have countless ideas about starting a business and making their first million, but only a few actually end-up taking a concrete decision. I’m glad you’re here….
Here’s a funny fact – Running a business is harder that starting a business. Honestly, you can start a legitimate business within 24 hours if you have enough money. But, turning the same business profitable is a completely different challenge. Nearly 95% of businesses go broke in ten years. What could be the reason behind this insane numbers? Well, that’s what these 10 books will teach you.
In this post, I have listed down the 10 MUST READ books before you start a business. Some of these books don’t have any direct relation with starting or running a business, rather they will teach you business psychology.
(1) Never Split The Difference – Chris Voss
Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator who has seen and experienced nearly everything that happens during a hostage crisis. This book Never Split the Difference is Chris’ offering to people who want to learn the secrets of a successful negotiation.
I suppose you already know why this book is important? Negotiation is a daily part of any business, not matter what industry it is… If you’re running a business you clients WILL negotiate for a cheaper price, and you’ll have to negotiate with someone else. It’s a part of every business existing in this world.
I read Never Split the Difference few years ago when it was gaining popularity, and I still read the book before going for a group party or something similar. I don’t know why but reading this book fills me with confidence. I’m sure you’ll love this book if you want a spice of psychology in your business and personal life.
(2) Ego Is The Enemy – Ryan Holiday
I can vouch for Ryan. He is one of the best new-age authors I have come across. While most his books have a philosophical inclination, his ideas are valid in any moment of your life. His latest book Ego is the Enemy is one such book. A big fat ego can destroy anything, be it personal or professional life. Why, even a billion-dollar company can file for bankruptcy if it’s headed by an ego-maniac CEO.
When I was a kid, my grandpa used to say that there are two kinds of life lesson everyone goes through – (a) Life experience through eyes, (b) Life experience through life. What he exactly meant is that we can either learn something from other’s suffering, or we must go through the same suffering to get a taste of it.
Ego clouds your mind. It creates an illusion of ME. I read somewhere that people don’t leave a company, they leave their managers. And, it’s totally right. You can still afford to be egoistic if you’re an employee of a company, but if you’re the owner, ego can bring you down faster than anything. Even good finances won’t help your company afloat if you don’t get rid of your ego.
I will recommend you to read Ego is the Enemy once every month. Reading this book will keep your toxic ego at check. Use your eyes and let not life-suffering enter your life.
(3) The E-Myth Revisited – Michael Gerber
THIS. I have no words for how important The E-Myth Revisited has been for me in my business journey. Michael is an expert who knows what he is talking about. If you’re way too egoistic about your business, then this book is going to make you cry. Trust me. That’s why I recommend you to read Ryan Holiday’s book beforehand. Because, unlike Ego is the Enemy, The E-Myth Revisited is not merciful.
If you’re an infant in the business world who thinks that starting and running a successful business is all about ordering people around and printing money out of their sweat, then after reading this book any two things will happen to you: (a) You’ll come out more matured and calculative, and will know the ins-and-outs of any business, (b) You’ll never think of starting a business ever again (because it’s too much of a hard work.
If you don’t believe me, read the book and challenge me with your argument. The ideas you’ll learn from The E-Myth Revisited will not only help you with your small business, but also if you dream of running a billion-dollar business empire. This book is a “system” that fits everywhere in the industry.
(4) Principles – Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio is the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. In his book Principles he describes how you can lead a balanced life full of good health and money. In fact, he has written this book based on his personal experience.
In the first section Ray talks about Life Principles and how truth and transparency is an integral part of a good life. Later he moves on to present the value of having a well-defined system in life. His emphasis on having a system is evident not on in having a balance life, but also for managing a business.
Honestly, this is not the post to describe the book in detail because it’s a thick book. In short, the first section of the book Ray talks about having Life Principles, and then he moves on to having a well-defined Work Principles. I have read this book and still read it whenever I’m stuck at a decision for too long.
(5) The Psychology Of Money – Morgan Housel
Among all the books I have read till now, The Psychology of Money is THE BEST book on knowing the value of money. It’s a small book filled with real-life stories of people who created their life from nothing, and also about people who ruined it. I have learned many things Morgan Housel, but this one thing will be stuck in my mind forever: Never misuse money.
Nobody has gained anything by misusing money. This may have an esoteric meaning, but in most cases it’s about not investing in the right places and treating money as an unlimited commodity. If you’re a complete beginner at investing and want to avoid pitfalls beforehand, then The Psychology of Money will help your a lot.
At the end of the book you’ll learn that staying rich is harder than becoming rich. And, that’s exactly true. You can see this trait with lottery winners. No matter how much they win, after few years they are back to where they were… Why? Because they don’t have the psychology to manage and grow money. If staying rich was so easy then Forbes Billionaire list would get a new billionaire every week.
(6) The Lean Startup – Eric Ries
I’m sure reading The E-Myth Revisited will change how you look at businesses. Once you dive deeper, The Lean Startup will help you even more and align you with your goal of creating a profitable startup. By reading The Lean Startup, you’ll learn how not waste time and resources (common among entrepreneurs) and actually make things happen.
One thing I’ll let you know though… This book is a little technical. Not that it has complex mathematics, but if you have no knowledge about terms like MVP (Minimum Viable Product), business metrics, building sustainable business model, then you should avoid this book for now.
Learn the basics of business and then pick this book. If you read The E-Myth Revisited and The Lean Startup together, you’ll automatically be better than most people in starting and managing a business. Also, one thing that is common among beginner is choosing a wrong industry. Reading these two books will protect you from taking such decisions…
(7) Good To Great – Jim Collins
I don’t think this book needs any introduction! Good To Great has been one of my favorite book for years now. Even the name of the book gives hope of becoming better at everything, not just business. In his book Jim takes real-life examples of companies that has successfully become good to great. He explores the real reasons why those companies have existed for years and just refuse to go broke…
Among all the concepts explained in this book, I loved the First Who, Then What strategy. It’s about how great companies focus more on getting the right people on the team before deciding on the What. Once the right team is in place, the Who automatically transforms to What…
Some of the concepts are pretty similar to an another well-known book Value Migration. Value Migration is not the kind of book you will see anyone recommend, because it’s not marketed well… The core concept of Value Migration is that things change from time to time. Businesses that adapt with time survive and businesses that don’t simply die off and are forgotten. It’s sort of “survival of the fittest.”
(8) The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People needs no introduction either. This book is still among the most read book by individuals who want to do something with their life. This book is read by people who want a huge dose of encouragement, by someone who has lost everything in life and want to restart, and also by someone who already has everything they want by only wants to polish their skills further. In short, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is an allrounder book that helps you with everything.
Similar to the book Principles, Stephen Covey talks about the 7 most common habits of achievers. While doing his research, these are the 7 habits he have found to be the most common, and habits that are actually highly effective.
Believe me or not, if you embrace just one habit among the seven, you’ll start seeing positive changes in your life within a month. I won’t ask you to start following all the seven habits at once. Start with just one habit and see how you feel. Good habits WILL have positive impact in your personal life and business. By embracing a good habit you’ll feel better, which in turn will help you take great decisions in life…
(9) How To Win Friends And Influence People – Dale Carnegie
Among all the books I have listed till now How to Win Friends and Influence People is the oldest one. This book was written by Dale Carnegie nearly a century ago (1936) and the recommendations of this book still works like charm. This book is the classical example of an evergreen book that never goes out of trend. Do you know why?
Because Dale Carnegie talks about the human psychology. Something that hasn’t changed for millions of years. No matter how advanced technology becomes, humans will still carry the same caveman genes and will still be ruled by emotions.
A person who has mastered their emotions can master anything in life. At the beginning of this post I wrote about the value of negotiation in business. Following the rules in this book will make you an avid speaker, and someone who is loved by many. No, you’re not hiding anything, but only telling what people want to hear at the right moment.
(10) Company Of One – Paul Jarvis
Would you like your business to grow into multi-million dollar business? Do you want your business to spread into many other countries and have 100s of employee? Then I’m afraid this is not the book for you. As the name suggests Company of One is the book about why you should purposefully keep your business small. The first reason is that a small business is always efficient.
Moreover, Paul also recommends the value of increasing profits rather than increasing revenue, which is the core of any business… A business with $500k revenue and 30% profit margin is always better than a business that makes millions in revenue but only has 5% profit margin.
Growth is not always a good thing. You’re running a business to make profits. If your present business model generates good profit why change? Also, getting clients and converting them into regular customers is the hardest part of a business… With a customer-centric small business you’ll have more chance in retaining customers than having a hit or miss business model…
Finally, in the end I would say that there are way too many books about business education. The more you search, the more you’ll discover. At the core level all the ideas are pretty much the same. So, other than following a bunch of book and ending up with a fuzzy brain, follow only a few great books and apply the techniques…
