Are you one of those people who want to run a successful business, but aren’t really sure how to do it? Don’t worry, we have got you covered! You can increase your profits and reduce your sales by reading the best business books of all times so that you can learn about the “Do’s and Don’ts” in the world of business.
If you are starting your business from scratch and want to learn about the strategies that can help you in handling your business, then these books are really going to help you out. I’m a fellow author of a book called “Amplifying Average,” which became an Amazon best seller in 2019, and I can say that I was inspired to write a book, by reading books. That may sound crazy, but I felt I had a message to convey and reading other people’s passages inspired me to do so.
Here is our list of the best business books of all time that will teach you about vision, marketing, self-improvement, strategies, persuasion, productivity, leadership, creativity as well as biographies. Without further ado, let’s get started on the books.
The Ultimate List of Books About Business
- Built to Last; successful habits of visionary companies
“Built to Last” written by Jim Collins (Bestselling author of Good to Great) and Jerry I. Porras, has portrayed the harsh truth about life that you won’t necessarily succeed by following the success stories of others. Instead, to win at marketing, selling, and going farther in business, you have to attain specific characteristics of certain companies and businessmen/women. However, it is important to note that doing that would still not give you a full guarantee. You can look at your failures as lessons and try to focus on learning from them instead of letting your losses consume you negatively. This book is unlike any other business book as it talks about failure more than success.
- The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business; Josh Kaufman
We listed this book on the top because of how amazingly written it is. A lot of people have said that this book is equivalent to getting an expensive business degree. So, the choice is yours; you can either read this book and learn about the art of business or you can just get into business school, pay heavy tuition, and still not know what to do.
It is a very comprehensive book, especially for those who have just started getting into marketing and negotiating. This book will not only tell you how to make an achievable goal, but it also explains how you can just stick to this one goal until you succeed in it completely.
- The Hard Thing About The Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
“The Hard Thing About The Hard Things” is written by Ben Horowitz. This book is a must-have for all those people who want to build a successful business as it covers up all you need to know about building a business in detail. It has shed light on Horowitz’s success story and personal experiences in Silicon Valley. It also covers the most important aspect of business which is how hard it actually is to run a business. It discusses all the brutal experiences, mental efforts, and brainstorming that one has to deal with in order to build a successful business.
- Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is written by Cal Newport, who also wrote the book “So Good They Can’t Ignore Your”. According to the author, this book is ideal for those who get distracted easily. The author believes that you can produce good work when you are able to focus on one thing instead of getting distracted by the constantly changing and evolving scenarios around you. This book will teach you how to stay focused on your goals and not get swayed away by multiple things going on around you.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie has written this book. Carnegie gives you methods to improve your friendships and relationships in order to win at life; both privately and publicly. All the communication and influencing traits and skills you need are embedded in this book.
This book is perfect for those entrepreneurs who are socially awkward and introverts. This guide will teach you how to be a better listener and also speak when necessary so that you are able to convey your message to others. Therefore, the purpose of this is to make people believe in themselves and gain confidence by being able to communicate with others.
- Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Phil Knight has written this book who is the co-founder of Nike, the world’s biggest shoe company. There are many books that have been written on Phil, but you will get to hear about Phil’s advice directly from this book. He discusses in this book how his life changed that really helps in inspiring others to pursue their dreams.
- Traction: How any Start-up Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
Gabriel Weinberg along with Justin Mares have written this book in which they discuss the reasons why most of the startups fail. Wondering what those reasons might be? The lack of product and customers is the reason why startups tend to fail according to the authors of this book who have provided solutions to these problems in their book. They have come up with one of the best strategies for gaining traction. This book includes the strategies to find more customers, along with other tips for business that startup owners must know about.
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Written by Greg McKeown, this book provides information on how one can simplify his or her life. Greg is a public speaker, business consultant, and author who teaches his readers how to focus on what is important in life and eliminate the rest. It is a must-read book for young entrepreneurs as it will teach them management, and how to be more productive.
- The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, And Live an Extraordinary Life
John Assaraf and Murray Smith have co-authored this book in which they discuss how to understand your subconscious mind that might be undermining all your efforts. They have provided solutions through which one can overcome the power of the subconscious mind in order to avoid the nonsense going on there.
- Zero to One: Notes on Start-up, or How to Build the Future
Written by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters, this book talks about how many businesses fall apart quickly due to the lack of creativity in problem-solving. They discuss how a new trend of copying each other’s business ideas has started due to which not many businesses can succeed. Thiel discusses how important it is to focus on innovation and how one can benefit from monopolies instead of focusing on competing for market share.
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
If you want to start a business, then you need to read this book written by Cal Newport who talks about how one can build a satisfying career. He believes that the infamous advice to “follow your dreams” isn’t the right approach. According to him, just having a passion to do something is not enough. Passion comes later. First, you will have to work hard to excel in your chosen field by building skills.
- Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s
Want to know how Ray Kroc’s life changed at the age of 52 when he got into the food industry? If yes, then you should definitely read this book as Ray has shared his secrets in this book. He talks about resilience and persistence and also discusses the mistakes that he made both in his life and business. This book is both motivational and a call to action for all those people who want to begin their own business.
- Psycho-Cybernetics
‘Psycho-Cybernetics’, written by Maxwell Maltz talks about a different approach through which one can succeed. The author of this book believes that those people who are not making any mistakes are not taking risks, thus they can never become successful. The author tries to prepare his readers by changing their mental attitude through his book. He thinks that it is crucial to not always think about the outcome when making moves.
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Do you want to be confident in yourself and not worry about what others think about your decisions? If yes, then you should definitely check out this book written by Mark Manson who believes that it is important to accept the reality and acknowledge all your negative feelings as it will help you in achieving happiness and success. This book focuses on scientific research to discuss how one should focus on the important things in life, and not give a f*ck about anything else.
- Breakthrough Advertising
‘Breakthrough Advertising’ is written by Eugene Schwartz who is an expert in business sales. In this book, Eugene discusses the steps to create an ad and write a catchy headline. The author goes into the emotional factors that persuade and influence people to buy a product after watching an ad. Therefore, this is one of the most beneficial marketing books out there.
- Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Dan Ariely will make you rethink all the social norms, emotions, and expectations that bring a reaction out of you. Unlike other books, this one doesn’t focus on statistics, instead the author discusses everyday life experiences of people to show how our environment, emotions, and thinking can play a big role in determining the choices or decisions we make in our lives. He focuses on how one can let go of all these forces, and make a rational decision.
- 10x Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating Competition Free Content that Stands out and Gets Results
Garrett Moon has written this book on marketing techniques. The author focuses on the strategy that will help you in making unique content for your business that will draw more traffic. Mood discusses the strategies that he used when he was starting his own business. According to him, it is important to have traffic on your website; thus he discusses the different ways through which you can gain traction for your content in no time. He also disregards the myth that one needs to have a big budget to make his content highly engaging.
- The Magic of Thinking Big: Acquire the Secrets of Success and Achieve Everything You’ve Always Wanted
Dr. Shwartz has written this book in which he talks about a precise method that will help you succeed in every aspect of your life. This book will help you in adopting different habits that can bring success in your life. It will help you in identifying the reasons behind your failures, and the right attitude that will motivate you to overcome any hurdles in life to rediscover your potential.
- Master Content Marketing: A Simple Strategy to Cure the Blank Page Blues and Attract a Profitable Audience
This strategy book for master content marketing is written by Pamela Wilson who discusses the steps that can help you in creating online content, which is a highly effective marketing tool. She focuses on her 30+ years of experience in marketing and content creation to teach people how to create useful content that can allow you to engage with your audience. Her strategies will provide you with quick results.
- Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
This book written by Simon Sinek is an excellent leadership book as it compares different successful people and identifies the common thing between them. According to the author, leaders like Steve Jobs and the Wright brothers didn’t focus on the profit much, instead it was their abilities and motivation that helped them in achieving big goals. You can definitely get inspired by reading about some influential leaders in this book.
- Outrageous Advertising That’s Outrageously Successful: Created for the 99% of Small Business Owners Who Are Dissatisfied With the Results They Get From Their Current Advertising
Bill Glazer wrote this book in which he challenges the different advertising methods and brought forward a new and bold method. He focuses on real-life examples of how one can independently transform his or her business. According to the author, it is important to boost your profits through the audience hooked to the hidden messages behind your ads. This book is a complete advertising guideline that will help you whenever you can’t find a way to make your sales grow.
- Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations
If you are in a tough situation where you find yourself to be up against a negotiating partner, then you should read this book written by William Ury. This book discusses the strategies that can help you in such situations by teaching you how to stay calm and get past any hostile behavior. The author teaches you how you can determine what the opposing parties want, and come to a middle ground with them.
- Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
If you want to get better at negotiating, then you should read this engaging book written by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz, where they share different techniques that can help you during high-level business negotiations.
- How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life
Check out this entertaining business book by Scott Adams in which he provides comic relief to all those who went through failure while giving them some solid advice on how one can acquire new skills and focus on achieving goals. He explains how a person can fail at almost everything he wants to do but still learns some great life-changing lessons.
- Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
Written by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, this thoroughly researched guide on decision making is an excellent read for people who want to succeed in their business ventures. The authors believe that humans tend to make the wrong decisions as it is a part of human nature, however this book will help you in getting rid of all your irrational thoughts when you have to make a decision.
- Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter
‘Win Bigly’ is another great book written by Scott Adams. In this book, Scott discusses some of the universal concepts by applying them to marketing. He believes that one can use his power of persuasion and get more sales through advertisement. The author focuses on some methods that worked in politics and applies them in business as they would help people in getting their desired outcome.
- No B.S. Direct Marketing: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing for Non-Direct Marketing Businesses
Written by Dan Kennedy, this book has made people build multiple businesses through direct response marketing. The author has talked about applying mail-order, infomercial, and direct mail sales campaigns for the progress of any business. As you can guess by the title of this book, it talks about direct marketing for non-direct marketing businesses. The book also revolves around how to create and sell online courses, which is incredibly crucial if you’ve made a mark in the business world and want to inspire people.
- No B.S Sales Success in the New Economy: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing for Non-Direct Marketing Businesses
Dan Kennedy has written this book and has discussed how to completely transform and change your sales strategies to get more customers in a globally crowded marketplace. Kennedy has explained all the strategies involved in getting your business up and running in detail. His experience with sales and marketing tactics are quite unique and different. Not just this, but this spectacular book prepares you for the reality of life. As evident by the title of the book, it talks about no b.s, but only the hardcore realities and adverse outcomes of your countless efforts.
- Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
In this book, Robert T. Kiyosaki explains how some people become wealthy while others remain poor by focusing on the story of two people in his early life. He discusses the thoughts and beliefs that can lead you to success. He mentions how a lack of knowledge regarding investment can be bad for your business. He encourages people to start learning about business from a very young age. Kiyosaki also sheds light on how people can invest in real estate and start their own businesses.
- The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure
Want to read a motivational book that can get you out of your comfort zone so that you can start working? Check out “The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure” by Grant Cardone. Cardone teaches how one can go beyond no action, retreat, and common action. He discusses that the 10X rule of massive action can really help you in getting successful.
- Outliers: The Story of Success
If you wish to get successful, then you should read this book written by Malcolm Gladwell where he sheds light upon the myths of success and mentions various successful people by going over the factors that helped in making them who they are today. He uses different stories in this book to describe the factors that are behind a lot of people’s success. In many cases, constant hard work and practice helped people in becoming masters of their skills.
- Crushing It: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Businesses and Influence and How You Can Too
Gary Vaynerchuk discusses in this book that a business can remain stable only if its own can adjust and evolve with the changes in the business world. As we are in a digital world right now, there it is important for entrepreneurs to move their business marketing to different digital platforms. Gary focuses on the current social media platforms from which entrepreneurs can benefit and increase their profits.
- Dotcom Secrets; The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online
“Dotcom Secrets” is an amazing book for online businesses and companies written by Russel Brunson. In this book, the author has talked about how one can turn his online followers into loyal customers and ultimately grow the business from one person to tens and hundreds of customers. He has mentioned in his book that the common belief of people that online success can be achieved by generating more traffic on the website doesn’t have a lot of standing. According to Brunson, engagement on a page is more important than traffic for the success of a business for which he has described various tactics that can be used for engaging with the audience. Brunson has done an excellent job in digital marketing by comparing and putting together the real-life and the internet life all in this one book. He has given tips for making your business stand out among others and the ways through which you can make your page look more efficient and worthwhile.
- Invisible Selling Machine; 5 Steps to Crafting an Automated Evergreen Email Campaign by Ryan Deiss
If you’re looking for a book that teaches you how to use the most powerful tool out there known as “marketing”, then this book is perfect for you! It is available not just on Amazon but Kindle as well. Ryan Deiss in his book, “Invisible Selling Machine” talks about the automation of the sales process and how to accelerate the process of your business’s growth. This book is ideal for beginners as it also talks about the 5 most important fundamentals of crafting an automated evergreen email campaign. This involves practical techniques and simple frameworks in order to generate excellent ideas online.
- The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Work or Just Making Noise?
“The Impact Equation: Are you making things work or just making noise” is co-authored by the incredible writers Chris Brogan and Julien Smith who discuss how difficult it is to make an impact through your content online since almost everyone is posting every few seconds. They discuss the importance of creating unique and impactful content as it will help you in building powerful connections with the public.
- Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy More Time, Become More Productive, and Build Your Dream Business
We all know that the one main problem of online business marketing is dealing with people with fake accounts. Considering the increase in fraudulent activities and fishy steps by real people hiding behind their computer screens is one of the major turn-offs for new businessmen and women. But there’s no need to worry, this book is a gift to you by Chris Ducker.
Ducker explains how to get affordable alternatives through outsourcing and contracts. This book not only tells you how to deal with virtual staff and assistants but also how to get back the time and freedom that you lost while building up your business. Managing your online stores/ business is a hectic work, but this book covers how to deal with it all. It also gives you ideas to handle your hired marketing specialist, project manager, or virtual assistant, all in one amazing book.
- Idea to Execution: How to Optimize, Automate, and Outsource Everything in Your Business
Ari Meisel and Nick Sonnenberg have discussed how people can achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams. This is such a simple book that is mainly focusing on how to be optimistic in your business ideas. It tells you to never think of any small idea as insignificant. It tells you how to automate, outsource everything in your business, especially if it is online. Meisel and Sonnenberg are of the same view that you do not need a big budget in order to make your business succeed. No great company (as far as the world has known) has started with a big amount rather the most successful companies and people started in either their basements or a desk in their room.
This book includes the story of Ari Meisal and Nick Sonnenberg of how they turned an idea into an actual, running, and fully functional business. And all of that in just one day! The cherry on top is that they spent zero bucks in order to do this. This is such an inspirational book especially for youngsters looking to start a business, but can’t find the courage in them to do so.
- Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less
Sam Carpenter acknowledges the fact that most people wish they could work less, but earn more money in his book. Through this book, Sam has come up with a way that can ensure that this wish of everyone comes true. He knows how frustrating it can be to work late hours, but still not earn enough money for which the system for everything needs to be improved. He discusses in this book how several interlinked systems can help in eliminating the problems that exist in the world.
- The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
In this book, Richard Koch discusses that 80 percent of the output that you produce depends on 20 percent of the hard work you do, therefore it is crucial for anyone to spend their time and energy in the right place. Instead of putting your efforts somewhere worthless, you should really invest yourself in something that would actually matter. Always remember quality over quantity. You need to stop chasing after customers as it won’t help you get the results you want, instead try to bring organic traffic on your website that would turn into loyal customers.
- The Secret of Selling Anything
In “The Secret of Selling Anything”, Harry Brown tries to set aside all the myths related to becoming a good salesperson. He mentions that selling is not a trait that someone is born with, it is something that a person can improve and get better at with time. Browne discusses how important it is for a salesperson to pay attention to the requirements of the customers and how to make an effective sales pitch to them.
- How to Get Rich: One of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets
Felix Dennis shares the secrets behind running a successful business and having wealth that would last for a long time. He knows the difference between these two things and tries his best to explain it in his book. He believes that failures must not be regarded as a sign of humiliation, instead it is what is going to help you grow eventually. He has a firm belief that everyone can learn how to make money regardless of what situation they are in.
- The One Sentence Persuasion Course – 27 Words to Make the World Do your Bidding
Written by Blair Warren, this book talks about how mastering the art of persuasion can provide you with incredible results. One can ensure the success of his business if he learns the skill of persuasion. In this book, Blair shares the tips and highly effective methods that can enable anyone to be able to use persuasive language.
- Meditations
“Meditations” written by Marcus Aurelius is an incredible book consisting of a collection of thoughts that can help in making one’s life much easier. It teaches how to live your life by focusing on the practical ways, instead of dwelling in your negative thoughts. Marcus believes that whatever happens in our lives, happens for a reason – something that was always meant to happen and we cannot change it. Therefore, we must let go of all the unnecessary emotions and focus on the true meaning of life.
- Tested Advertising Methods
The book named “Tested Advertising Methods” is written by John Caples who mentions how small businesses can get help from affordable advertising methods for getting positive results. The book focuses on how important headlines in an advertisement are for leaving an impact on the audience. The book is full of tips that can help you make your ads more attention-grabbing that can persuade the audience into purchasing your products or services.
- Cashvertising: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone
Drew Eric Richman believes that small businesses should use the same tools and methods that businesses with big-budget use for their ad campaigns. He thinks that headlines and captions can really help in changing the game of your business. He discusses how and why headlines can help in making your business successful and also provides some useful tips. The author tries to use some real-life examples to help his readers understand the importance of headlines and captions in both print and online advertising.
- The Boron Letters
“The Boron Letter” is a book written by Gary Halbert for his son. In this book, the author describes the correct approach to writing an effective sales copy. He also provides general life advice in his book. According to Gary, a copywriter should always do market research before writing down anything. He believes that the content isn’t the most important part of a sales message, instead it is the research that the copywriter does before penning down anything.
- MAKE: a bootstrapper’s handbook to building startups the indie way
Pieter Levels is a serial bootstrapper and the author of this book. He’s also a founder of Nomad List, Hoodmaps, and Remote OK. This book is for software engineers and for those who want to initiate their business on their own. Pieter Levels briefly explains how to launch and monetize your products in order to start to give a kick start to your business. The first thing that one must do is to brainstorm ideas so that you can reach a final decision regarding what you want to do with your business.
- The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies
Written by Chet Holmes, this book discusses how one should not be changing strategies and focusing on too many things at the same time as it would affect your sales. He focuses on 12 areas that can bring a positive impact on your business. Once you are able to improve in each of these areas, then you will notice a great transformation of your business.
- Getting Everything You Can out of All You’ve Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform and Out-Earn the Competition
This book is written by Jay Abraham who is a marketing guru. He has put together 21 ways through which you can improve your marketing and sales. The author has written this book in a step-by-step format. He explains these steps well by discussing various real-life examples. He informs his readers how one can get happy clients if his passion for the business is evident in his marketing campaigns. This book will teach you how to get loyal customers and make your business stay unique.
- Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional’s Guide to Growing a Practice
Alan Weiss has provided his time-tested model to make your consulting business flourish in this book. Alan is a consultant himself and he talks about his own story in this book of how he became a highly sought-after consultant. Therefore, if you’re trying to get in the consulting business, then Million Dollar Consulting is your go-to book.
In this book, the author gives step by step advice on certain aspects of consulting which include, how to harness today’s global opportunities, how to develop brands globally, how to avoid pitfalls of social media as well as how to organize, manage and take time in your control. This book also talks about succeeding and the ways to succeed even where there are turbulence and unsolicited referrals. Not just this, but the book is awesome for beginners in the consultancy business as well as other sorts of business (in other editions of this book).
- Getting Started in Consulting
Alan Weiss is aware of how difficult it gets to set out in the consulting business. He knows that there is so much to learn about – from convincing clients to finalizing how much you are going to charge. This led him to write a book on consulting where he provides practical solutions to his readers who want to get started in consulting. The author has covered everything that you need to know about starting a consulting career in this book.
- Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! : 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential
It can be difficult to know about the financial health of your business if you don’t have any financial background, which is why Greg Crabtree focuses on how small businesses can benefit from their profits in this guide. He discusses financial knowledge in simple language so that people who have started their business but have no financial background can benefit from it.
- Managing Oneself: The Key to Success
Peter F. Drucker emphasizes in this book how we can become anything we want to be if we are self-aware about the things we are good at. The author has enlisted a few questions in this book that will help you in understanding yourself better and discovering your own values. He explains how his readers can use this knowledge to achieve success in their business. Once you learn how to communicate your needs and create the best work environment, then you will be able to produce positive results.
- The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
In another book, Peter F. Drucker describes that any person can be productive only if he or she can focus well on the important things, and ignore the things that don’t require any attention. This step-by-step guide discusses the habits that can make you more efficient. You will also learn how to manage your time in the best way to achieve all your goals when running a business.
- The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
In this book, Alice Schroeder discusses the life of Warren Buffet who is an investor and philanthropist. She describes the lessons one can learn through Buffett’s career in business and philanthropy. This biography would encourage you to give back to society after you have gained success. The author provides insight into the life of Buffet and how you can attain success through hard work and productivity.
- The 48 Laws of Power
If you are looking for a book that pushes you towards an ambitious state, then you need to read “The 48 Laws of Power” written by Robert Greene. The authors explain human nature and individual power in this book, and how one can benefit from his own personality traits. This book will change the way you think about powerful people, and how you can benefit from their secrets.
- To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
“To Sell is Human” is written by Dan Pink in which he focuses on the concepts of persuasion. He thinks that in a way everyone is in the business of selling regardless of having products to sell or not. In the book, he demonstrates how we can persuade others to purchase our products. He describes the science psychology behind selling products or ideas and tips for clarifying your message so that you can become more persuasive.
- Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Written by Steve Krug, this book provides tips and practical guidelines to make your website more effective and functional. If you are running your own business or you are a web designer, then this book is ideal for you as it will teach you how you can design a website from the customer’s perspective that can persuade them to purchase your products.
- I Am Keats: Escape Your Mind and Free Yourself
In this book, Tom Asacker provides his take on self-improvement and discusses how we tend to look at reality, build our boundaries, and talk ourselves down. He uses simple language to emphasize the impact our experiences and thinking can have on us, and that we should start thinking independently and stop following the directions of others. This book is full of inspirational quotes that can motivate you to go beyond your limits.
- Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble
Dan Lyon shares his own story of getting fired from his job of writing about tech companies in this book. He talks about how he had to start new at the age of 50 where everything was new to him. Not only did he encounter exploitation and poor management, but he had to do everything from scratch. This short book is very eye-opening and you must read it if you are starting fresh.
- When Coffee and Kale Compete: Become Great at Making Products People Will Buy
Alan Klement has written this book in which he elaborates that customers feel more inclined towards purchasing products that tend to solve their problems, therefore he explores ways that can help businesses in identifying their customers’ needs. This book will help you understand the problems of your customers and how you can solve those problems with the help of your products.
- What I wish I knew when I was 20: A Crash Course On Making Your Place In The World
“What I wish I knew when I was 20” is a book written by Tina Seelig that provides guidance to all those 20-year-olds who are transitioning from school to college and have to choose a career that they would have to pursue in the future. A lot of children feel uncertain when they have to choose a degree that they know nothing about, and often they end up making the wrong decision for themselves. This book will tell you all about how to become successful and deal with your failures.
- The Secret to Success: When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe
“The Secret to Success” is written by Eric Thomas in which he talks about his story of dropping out of high school and living on the streets. He discusses how he dealt with all the challenges that life threw at him while being homeless, and building a successful business for himself. This book is ideal for youngsters as it teaches them to surround themselves with people who have a positive mindset as they will help in motivating you to become a better person.
- Choose Yourself! Be happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream
James Altucher has written this motivating book in which he talks about his personal story. He focuses on how his life was completely disrupted and how self-care and self-reliance helped his growth. The book explains how we are living in a world where no one can be guaranteed with stable employment and income, which is why one must learn how to create his own opportunities. James stresses the importance of always putting yourself first so that you can remain healthy and happy regardless of whatever happens in your life.
- Extreme Ownershipownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win
“Extreme Ownershipownership” is a success manual written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, who were both former US Navy SEALs. They talk about their life experiences in this book when they were a part of an elite combat task force and how it helped them in developing leadership. Both the authors provide the principles and mindsets that can help a team in winning in any aspect of their life.
- The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Written by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, “The Goal” is a novel that describes the story of a manager who faces trouble in protecting his factory from disaster. It took him 90 days to completely turn around his business by identifying all those factors that were limiting his production and then getting rid of them. He focuses on how one can determine the factors that are limiting the production of your business and how to fix those problems.
- Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain
“Faster Than Normal” is a book written by Peter Shankman in which he explains how having a hyperactive brain is regarded as being bad for people as it can hinder one’s ability to focus on one thing and be productive. Peter tries his best to focus on the advantages of a hyperactive brain and how to use it for good in both life and business.
- The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change the Way You Lead Forever
The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier discusses the strategies that can help you in becoming a leader. The author encourages managers to ask questions from the people working under them to get to know about their opinion as well instead of always giving advice. This book focuses on training managers with the help of scientific research and real-life experiences.
- The Possible Dream: A Candid Look At Amway
“The Possible Dream” is written by Charles Paul Conn who shares the story of Rich Devos and Jay Van Andel to discuss how Amway grew bigger. He emphasizes the hard work of the company and the continuing effort for 30 years that led them to success. Thus, if you are lacking motivation and inspiration in your life to start something that seems impossible to you right now, then you should read this book.
- It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be: The World’s Best Selling Book
This book written by Paul Arden discusses how one needs to set his mind in order to achieve anything. He has spent years being a top advertising executive, therefore you can expect a lot of marketing tips in this book. If you want to feel motivated to start your own business, then you should give this book a read for sure.
- Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite
In this book, Paul Arden discusses how powerful thinking positively can be as it saves you from making bad decisions that you would regret later on. He believes that our lives are a result of our own mindset, thus we should step out of our comfort zones and start taking risks. This book will prove to be perfect for you if you made any bad decisions in your business recently.
- The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth: Entrepreneurship for Weirdos, Misfits, and World Dominators
Chris Brogan has written this book in which he disregards that success can be achieved in one way only. In this book, Chris focuses on how anyone can have a successful business with the help of their unique traits. He asks his readers to turn their passion into a valuable business without having any expectations from it.
- The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack The Code To Wealth and Live Rich for A Lifetime
Written by MJ DeMarco, this book is all about how DeMarco starting earning at a young age by starting his own business. This led him to believe that everyone is capable of achieving success and wealth – you just have to dream big. The author has given practical advice throughout this book for anyone who wants to start out a business.
- Difficult Conversations: How To Discuss What Matters Most
“Difficult Conversations” is written by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Roger Fisher. The authors have shed light on the practical ways that can help people indulging in hard conversations that they would choose to avoid otherwise. They discuss how one can have such hard discussions without being defensive. Therefore, if you want to know more about conflict resolution, then you should read this book.
- Sick In The Head: Conversations About Life And Comedy
Judd Apatow is a well-known comedian and writer who has collected all his conversations with the best comedians in this book. He got the chance to interview many comedians in his thirty-year long career, which helped him in writing this book. The comedians mostly talked about their motivation, hard work, and success. Therefore, if you are interested in reading about comedians and their life stories, then you should give this book a read.
- What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
Both Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter discuss the different ways of how one can get rid of stagnation and achieve success. This book deals with carious habits and ways of thinking that can improve your growth. It also discusses how remaining positive can help you in moving forward in life.
- You, Inc.: The Art Of Selling Yourself
Harry Beckwith and Christine Clifford Beckwith have co-authored this book in which they discuss different ways that can help in improving yourself. The authors discuss how your success depends on how you sell yourself, your ideas, and your business. This book lays down stress on how important first impressions are, and how they can leave big impacts on your relationships.
- Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
This book written by Harry Beckwith on marketing is different than any other book as the author talks about different aspects of marketing service products such as doing market research and getting to know about your customers. This book will teach you how to create a brand and get loyal customers who will refer your products to other people also.
- 10% Happier: How I Tamed The Voice In My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, And Found Self-Help That Works — A True Story
“10% Happier” by Dan Harris is a book about how Dan’s panic attack on live television completely changed his life as it made him start meditation. He was desperate to get rid of his stress, which led him to his self-discovery journey. He researched both spiritual and scientific solutions and decided that meditation is what is going to help him in getting better. Thus, if you are interested in meditation and want to become happier, then you should definitely check out this book.
- Anything You Want: 40 Lessons For A New Kind Of Entrepreneur
By sharing his life story in this book, Derek Sivers discusses how he created CD Baby, which provided a platform for young independent artists to showcase their talent. He shares both his successes and failures in the book. He also provides some tips that can help people in starting and running their own business.
- Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X and the Quest For A Fantastic Future
Ashlee Vance has focused on the life of Elon Musk in this book who is a self-created multi-billionaire. Elon changed the world through his technological innovations. By focusing on Elon’s life the author wants to teach everyone that one must remain consistent and take big risks without having to worry too much about the failures.
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
This book written by Carol Dweck looks at how one person’s thinking can help in determining what they can accomplish, regardless of they being talented or not. It is your mindset that can really have an impact on your success. Dweck provides advice to everyone in the book that we should not limit our beliefs and keep on embracing new challenges without fearing to lose.
- Crossing The Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products To Mainstream Customers
Geoffrey A. Moore, the marketing guru explains in his book how products can help in capturing the attention of a huge audience base. He focuses on some examples from real life where the products themselves helped in making the businesses flourish. This book will help in increasing your sales by improving your business marketing.
- Tough Sh*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good
This is a classic, sarcastic, humorous, and a harsh book of reality spitting straight facts. Kevin Smith has shared his story in this book which is full of inspiration to make you overcome your fear of failure. This book is full of Kevin’s flaws, mistakes, and the wrong decisions that he took in his life. Kevin admits in this book that he’s thankful for all the wrong choices he made in his life because he truly believes that those faults and flaws brought him success. Smith’s sarcasm in this book will leave you wanting to pursue your dreams irrespective of your failures in life.
- The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Tim Ferris, the author of this book, reveals the secrets and tricks to completely shun your 9-5 work routine, ‘unfollow’ the sheep crowd and get into the 4-hour workweek mindset so you can live your life to the fullest. The New York Times bestselling author of “The 4-Hour Body”, Tim Ferris has tried his best to show everyone, not just business people and entrepreneurs, how to live fully and work less. This amazing read is the key to a more healthy, productive, and wealthy lifestyle.
- The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
The author of this book is Michael Gerber. He shares a very deep yet a small secret of his in the field of entrepreneurship. Gerber says that new entrepreneurs need to work on their business. This instant classic book of the phenomenal bestseller dispels the myths about small and new businesses. He also alarms the new business people how a small interference from others can prove to be a big loss in your business. Through his enormous knowledge gained through various experiences and falls, Gerber in The E-Myth Revisited, blatantly points out the mythical assumptions, expectations as well as technical expertise that you’re doing wrong in your business. Gerber believes that you need to focus on your small mistakes to excel in your business.
- Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School
One of the most famous entrepreneurs, Richard Branson has written this autobiography where he tells the secrets behind becoming as successful as him. He is the brand owner of Virgin, which has diverse sectors currently. From telecommunication to health and banking to leisure and music, this brand has really outdone others. Branson’s wisdom, knowledge, and experience with business drip from this book as you start reading it. “Like a Virgin” is a very successful and interesting book that is full of important information.
- The Flinch
The author of this book is Julien Smith. This book is very different from the rest of the books in the sense that it tells you to face your fears, and take them as an opportunity and challenge. The author thinks that our subconscious mind has unsolicited, preconceived opinions that make us fear the unseen, even though the unseen can be pretty great too at times.
It’s your job to recognize the “Flinch” in you and grope it by the forehead, face it, accept its challenge, and take it as a sign and an opportunity, instead of avoiding it as a failure. It is YOU who has to decide what to do with The Flinch. This book will give you the tools and instruments that you need to overcome the “Flinch” inside you.
- Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
This book is written by Elizabeth Gilbert, who makes everyone reading this book feel special. According to her, the key to figuring out where your creativity lies is in the fearless living of life, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re making art, only writing, and simply designing your life; you can be creative in either way.
This book is such a great catch as it will push you to make your creative self come out and let go of the trash in your head holding you back from doing so. This book will give you confidence, happiness, and make you figure out your creativeness by the time you’re done reading it. Nonetheless, this is such an inspiring book by Elizabeth Gilbert that will have you be even more productive than before.
- The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
Written by the great Seth Godin, this 76 paged book talks about what most authors fear to discuss; the downfall. BUT! Seth Godin is of the view that Failure doesn’t come from quitting. Just like persistence doesn’t necessarily mean success, quitting isn’t a synonym of the word failure. Sometimes it’s the best decision you’ll ever make if you hit a dip.
Godin talks about the process of learning in this book. He says when you’re hasting for success, there can be a steep curve and that’s when you hit a dip! Ultimately, your progress either slows down a little too much, or it becomes totally stalled and that’s when you need your heart more than your brains to tell you to stop, but sometimes you don’t even know about the lesson. If that’s your case right now, then this book is ideal for you!
- Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
Ron Chernow, the writer of this book, has turned his full potential and attention towards John D. Rockefeller; the man of wealth and his great oil empire! This book starts from the humble beginnings, overwhelming downfalls, philanthropy of Rockefeller and goes all the way to the very empire of his oil company. The life of the American icon Rockefeller has been discussed throughout the book for no other reason but to give entrepreneurs, business people, and anyone looking to start from the rock bottom to hit the valley of gold by following his footsteps.
From hilarious jokes and quotes of Rockefeller to the uneasy, uncomfortable, and bitter truths of the reality of his life – this book talks about it all. Not just this, but the book also covers the topic of management, philosophy, philanthropy, art, and religion of this iconic figure of American history.
- Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity
The author of this book, Hugh MacLeod, thinks that the first and foremost key to creativity is to ignore everyone! He’s truly of the opinion that the moment you free yourself from people’s judgment, ideas, and opinions, is the moment you start progressing in your creative field of business either online or in person. Huge MacLeod is a writer and cartoonist and has taught so many good lessons in this book that you might not be able to learn in a classroom.
MacLeod is of the view that no matter how weird and funny your ideas may seem to others, you’ve got to trust yourself and have some confidence to not be a sheep and follow the crowd rather be a free man of a free spirit no matter how overwhelming it may seem at times. You can find the amazing other 39 keys of Huge MacLeod over at Amazon! Remember! It’s all about a mindset, the more you read, the more your thoughts will expand and your business and marketing will flourish.
- The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield looks at the creative blocks in this book. He says that the greatest block is none other but resistance. He calls it the enemy you simply just can’t ignore. He also tells in this book that the biggest factors causing resistance a.k.a your enemy is your own procrastination, laziness, self-doubt, and fear. All these relating to one ‘negative goal’ which is ‘failure’! He says that discipline and work ethic are the two major factors for you to succeed.
- Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
“Linchpin: Are you indispensable” is by Seth Godin. This book is by far the best one out there that focuses on the employees rather than the bosses. So, if you’re an employee and are scared of being dispensable, then you need to get this book right away as it will tell you the mistakes you’re making that’s turning you into dispensable in front of your boss as compared to other employees. To stay relevant in your workplace, you have to do certain things such as be visible and unique. One way to achieve this is to consider each day as a new opportunity to prove yourself. Godin states “Think of each day as a new beginning and your worries of being dispensable will wither away soon.”
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Initially published in 1937, this book is the mother of all business and marketing books because of how popular it still is. It talks about not the people, but the mindsets of those who made it big in life through money. Napoleon Hill tries to give you an authentic idea and the harsh reality of life. He says that the only way to succeed is through persuasion and a powerful desire to achieve your goal no matter what it is.
Since this book was written and published so many years ago, it doesn’t cover the aspects of online marketing but there are actually some tactics and strong points made by Hill that can be applied even today in the online business. Self-improvement, which was very much needed not just a couple of years ago when the internet world wasn’t in existence, but it’s also pretty mandatory in today’s era too. So this book covers it all! It will motivate you and push you to do better than you’ve been doing already. You definitely need to check this one out!
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing; Violate Them at Your Own Risk
As you can clearly tell by the title, this book comprises 22 rules that are very well written by the biggest marketers out there; Al Ries and Jack Trout. They believe that if both nature and humans can make laws that must be followed, then there must be laws of marketing as well. The laws of marketing are absolutely immutable and important. These laws must be read and observed by entrepreneurs whether they’re of a big or a small company. In order to get your brand internationally recognized, you have to follow these 22 laws that are very comprehensible and easy to follow. However, it might get difficult for you to follow these laws if you are not persistent.
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
The author of this book is Robert B. Cialdini who researched for 35 years and came to a conclusion about people’s psychology on behavior changing. In business, this book is very useful for the fact that it teaches you how to use your influence on other people and how to guard yourself. Marketing concepts and tips, tricks, and techniques; the three T’s are the main topic of this book. Other things discussed are scarcity, social proof, and reciprocity and the ideas involving them. This book is available on Amazon, Kindle, and Mass Market Paperback as well.
- 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More
This guide to ‘working less and making more through sales and marketing’ is written by Perry Marshall. 80/20 sale is also known as the Pareto Principle according to which 80% of sales are made by 20% of sales reps. According to Marshall, in order to get huge profits and make a visible difference, a bigger approach in your business is to focus on the top 20 percent of your customers. Marshall is of the view that your high value can be analyzed less by your customer base, but more by your skillset and your internet staff.
- The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
Written by Gary Keller, this book gives you ideas on how to actually ‘work it.’ Keller believes that time management and productivity systems are a failure unless you focus on one thing or passion in your life, and then you put your heart and mind fully into it. The reason why this book is slightly different from the rest of the books is that it focuses on your reasons for failure more than the reasons for your success. It discusses the various ways that can help you in quitting the habits that tend to lead you towards failures.
- Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
“Crush It!” is written by Gary Vaynerchuk who has built a $60 million business by reinventing the rules on his own according to Tim Ferriss. This book is really famous in India and has reached 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon. In this book, Gary shows you how to turn your passion for doing anything into business in no time. Gary is of the view that you can live a life of fulfillment by processing your entrepreneurship dreams into reality which is only done through some secrets.that is shared in this book. No wonder why this book has gained its own fan base in the internet world of young entrepreneurs. Gary has made it easy for young entrepreneurs to understand how to use powerful digital marketing tools which lead to turning your passion, no matter how small it is, into a successful business.
- Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed
Did you know the writer of this amazing book is also the co-founder of one of the most famous online communities; Reddit? It is none other than Alexis Ohanian who knows how to make an online community work properly. So, you can only guess how amazing his book would be with countless tips and tricks. Ohanian’s book “Without Their Permission” discusses the techniques of launching and operating tech-related startups. It’s one of the most common books that you’ll find in a young entrepreneur’s hands in the 21st century. According to the author, even though there is a lot of competition out there, that doesn’t mean that your struggle won’t be appreciated.
