Best business books to read for entrepreneur in 2020

Entrepreneur, as difficult as it is to spell this word, it is much more difficult to be one. Listening to the word entrepreneur all we can think of is fancy things all over like fancy cars, suites and luxurious life. Being an entrepreneur means doing what you want to do in your comfort zone. It can also be someone who sets up his own business while taking financial risks in hope of profit. But an entrepreneur doesn’t necessarily means starting your own business. It can be anything you do out of your own comfort zone. It can be a content writer, and artist, editor, freelancer or any other type of job you can be creative in your own way, even if it is a 9 to 5 job.

Given below will be some of top business books that you must read to be an entrepreneur to avoid making some of the mistakes made by the authors who themselves are successful entrepreneurs. These books are for beginners as well as experienced entrepreneurs and can be easily available on any platform like Z library, Amazon or apple books.

The Lean Start-Up (By Eric Ries)

This book gives you three steps to begin a lean start-up that are FINDING a business idea, EXECUTING the business idea, and last but not least is VALIDATING that idea. This book is for getting your mind set on building a top business that is long lasting because many businesses completely shut down under 10 years of their construction. It allows the reader to understand the importance of working efficiently by minimizing wasted resources. According to the publisher, the book “has sold over one million copies and has been translated into more than thirty languages”. It was also in The New York Time Best Sellers list.

Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity (By Hugh Macleod)

Communication is undoubtedly most important for a top business to even exist, but, it is how creative you are with your communication that sets you apart from others. Creativity is not only applicable to artists or writer, but creativity is required in each and every business. If you are not creative you will not stand a chance against all the odd of the worlds. The author himself was a cartoonist and reached his fame due to his own creativity and later became the famous blogger of gapingvoid.com. The chapters are short and just enough to give you some context and make you think about your life and job.

Profit First (By Mike Michalowicz)

The author has written five top business books including this one. He changes the typical formula of profit into something that has not been introduced before. The typical formula is sales-expenses=profit, but mike changes this into sales-profit= expenses. This logic presented by michalowicz is much psychologically pleasing highlighting the importance of approaching your business while thinking of profit first, not last.

The book shows you the steps to take so you can implement the profit first formula. First step, create smaller spending. Second, determine your CAPS and TAPS. Third is to try to frequently transfer your funds from income account into other accounts. Fourth step is to make payments using your profit accounts, keeping in mind that each account be used for designated purpose. The fifth and last step is to review all your previous actions. All of this is explained with the infamous sense of humor of Mike Michalowicz. The author offers simple ideas of cash management that will help small businesses to break out of the doom spiral and achieve profit.

Explosive Growth (By Cliff Lerner)

Most often people avoid talking about their failures focusing only on the successes they achieved. However, Cliff Lerner based his entire book on the failures of his life and how these “failures” was the reason he reached his current position. He started his first dating app and got his explosive growth after being mentioned by media. The big story here is about all his failures he experienced before and after his fame. He admits his mistakes and talks about how he should have done things differently. The ending for him was a happy one. So, he wants others to learn by him and make a great business plan and avoid what he did.

Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (By James C. Collin and Jerry I. Porras)

This book is a result of a six-year long research as to how great visionary business companies remain working. Visionary companies as defined by Collins and Porras is the primary institutes admired by knowledgeable and business people of the industry after making their impression in their respective fields in the world and has been in business for more than two decades. Some of the top business companies identified as visionary are 3M, American Express, Disney, Ford, IBM, Motorola, Altria, Sony, Wal-Mart etc. They have taken leading roles in their particular business by offering innovative products and services and constantly out-smarting their rivals.

The key ideas given by Built To Last for top business include:  say no to “or” and embrace “and”, core ideology is more important than profit, allow change but maintain your core, think big and aim high, try everything and keep what works, home grown management, and always strive for a better tomorrow.

How to Win Friends and Influence People (By Dale Carnegie)

Communication and networking is one of the most important parts of developing any type of business. If one wants to be at the top of business food chain he has to be good in communication so he can convey his ideas to the client.  This can be proven with the fact that more than 30 million copies of this book written by Dale Carnegie has been sold, whose sole focus is networking and improving communication skill. Carnegie had been conducting business education courses in New York since 1912. In 1934, Leon Shimkin of the publishing firm Simon & Schuster took one of Carnegie’s courses about human relation and public speaking. Impressed by Carnegie he wanted to publish his ideas about top businesses.

With this book’s influence you will notice the increase in your psychological condition, improvement in your ability to communicate, increase in your popularity, increase in your prestige, ability to win clients, increase in your salesmanship, your ability to comprehend problems, boost in your confidence, and much much more.

In here, you will not only learn how to make yourself better but also the people around you. The fundamental technique of doing this is to give honest appreciation and positive criticism, paying more attention and being courteous. This does not only apply for business but also for happy life of any individual.

Rework (by Jason fried and David Hansson)

The book is about author’s formula for success. What shocks him the most that it is different from conventional ways that he was taught. Most of top business books urge you to think of good business ideas and planning their execution while focusing little on taking action or experience. However, in this book author’s main focus is productive work ethics and exposure. The ideas given are straight forward and understandable to even common people with little experience. This book gets you thinking about you’re previously made decision and helps you in improving your business plan.

The New Freedom: Ordinary People Are Living Extraordinary lives & So Can You!  (By Rob Cubbon)

The book focuses on doing something out of the box, something other than your 9 to 5 job. It aims to free people of working under someone to being an entrepreneur. Rob adds in-depth interviews of various successful entrepreneurs who share their experience for the sake of helping others who are suffering the failures that they once suffered. Rob has his own way of telling people his ideas with utmost sincerity and a down-to-earth attitude. The new freedom discussed in this book is all about smart working i.e. working less but efficiently and earning while discovering new ideas. His ideas are indeed fresh and thought provoking.

Talent is overrated:  What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else (By Geoff Colvin)

People are not born with the ability to do great. Some might be much clever than others but greatness is not with you at the time of your birth. It is what you achieve after your birth that makes you great. Talent Is Overrated includes many practical scientific and real-world experiences. This book is not only appreciated by entrepreneurs but also by doctors, investors, parents, students, athletes, and musicians. After reading this the readers will understand that you do not need a one-in-million natural gift, all you need is to keep working on yourself so that nothing is impossible.

The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: It’s Your Turn To #jointheride (by Darren Hardy)

The book explains why many small businesses fail. The reason is much different from what was expected. The reason is seen more as internal than external. The failure or success of a business depends much more on the Emotional Roller-Coaster of an entrepreneur and how he handles this Roller Coaster. The ability of an executive to handle his failure and more importantly his success is often not seen important. However, the truth is that this can make or break a business. After reading this book you will know the best strategies to apply when you face certain situations and how to cope with your work and emotional pressure.