Did you know that even a well-established entrepreneur Bill Gates reads around 50 books every year?

Mark Cuban, another business mogul, reads for at least three hours each day! If they can, we are certain that you can always find some time to read, especially if it helps you set up your business better and run it profitably.

Believe it or not, reading is a skill that is crucial to becoming an entrepreneur and building successful businesses. However, knowing which business books to start reading first can be quite overwhelming!

Don’t sweat it as we have your back. In this extensive guide, we have shortlisted 13 of the most inspiring and informative books about starting a business. Each book mentioned in this guide will help you take giant strides towards your goal — starting a successful business. Let’s discuss the books in detail and make your entrepreneurial dreams come true!

1. Zero to One by Peter Thiel

Overthinking ruins small businesses. That’s what the legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel wants budding entrepreneurs to understand. ‘Zero to One’ is a perfect book to read especially if you are new to running a business. The author wants readers to think small and focus on the step ahead. The concept is quite useful in producing products and new solutions that aren’t just a new iteration of existing products but are solutions that create more value. The actionable tips shared throughout the book are well worth adding ‘Zero to One’ to your reading list.

2. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

No list of business books is complete without Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why.’ This book shares an A to Z approach to leadership — inspiring readers to take action and start a business that attracts loyal customers. We highly recommend this book to people that are new to creating a team or company culture. The insights in the book are quite fascinating as they help readers discover the two main ways of influencing human behavior — manipulation and inspiration. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” is a famous quote from this book that is making rounds on social media. The book will push you to think about the ‘why’ of starting a business, which will help clarify and simplify your messaging.

3. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Starting a business requires entrepreneurs to break down the entire process and make better decisions throughout the journey. ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ is a must-read for entrepreneurs that find it challenging to nail the psychology behind running a profitable business. Daniel Kahneman helps entrepreneurs improve their psychology by dividing the book into two systems. The first system focuses on fast thinking, where decision-making happens automatically and quickly or without any effort. The second system mentioned in the book focuses on the effortful mental activities that require complex computations. Kahneman categorized this system as slow thinking. The differences between the two systems are well explained — allowing entrepreneurs to tap into the right system at the right time to make the right decisions.

4. The 4-hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

Every 9-to-5 working employee wishes to break free once and for all. But, to do that requires proper planning — something Tim Ferriss is an expert of. ‘The 4-hour Workweek’ is a masterpiece that provides the blueprint to starting a business and becoming a millionaire. The key concept shared in the book is to be effective using the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle. Moreover, Ferriss focuses on values like flexibility and mobility to achieve whatever you want out of life. The book comes with practical tools and ideas that can help entrepreneurs manage time and tasks better and quit their 9-to-5 to start a business.

5. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Starting a profitable business isn’t always fun and games. Entrepreneurs have to make hard decisions, take hard actions, and sometimes, even live a hard life. ‘The Hard Thing About Hard Things’ is a brutally honest perspective on running a successful business. Ben Horowitz’s masterpiece helps entrepreneurs maneuver through their entrepreneurial journey, especially when everything goes wrong and you are to blame. The book revolves around Horowitz’s journey and imparts interesting actionable advice on how to start a business. Ben shares groundbreaking solutions to the real problems and challenges entrepreneurs face regularly. The anecdotes shared in the book are completely worth a read!

Check out our article on How Many Hours Do Entrepreneurs Need to Work.

6. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

Are you looking for a no-nonsense book on starting a small business? Then we have one for you in ‘The $100 Startup’ — a book that helps budding entrepreneurs gain awareness of the potential challenges of starting a business. The book shares excellent perspectives and allows readers to build successful small businesses to escape the 9-to-5 rat race. Chris Guillebeau shares three important lessons related to starting immediately, starting small, and taking quick action. We highly recommend you ‘The $100 Startup’ if you possess a skill and wish to build a business on it. One of the most interesting lessons shared in the book is about taking action now and adjusting your course along the way.

7. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Entrepreneurs always need to be on top of their game. You never know where the next opportunity will pop. Stephen R. Covey wrote this book to introduce a series of behaviors that will make entrepreneurs get better at running businesses. ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ is a must-read for people that wish to improve their personal and interpersonal development. The habits mentioned in the book are stacked in a way that each habit will prepare you for the next and bolster the previous. This book is an excellent choice for creating a solid foundation for starting a new business.

8. Unapologetically Ambitious by Shellye Archambeau

Making the list is 2020’s Best Business Book by Fortune — Unapologetically Ambitious by Shellye Archambeau — one of the first Silicon Valley female African American entrepreneurs. Phew! That was a long intro. Well, the book is a perfect read for upcoming entrepreneurs as Archambeau shares how she overcame entrepreneurial, personal, and professional challenges. The book is loaded with practical strategies and tools that will help readers improve their success rate, gain massive financial literacy, build a professional network, and focus on self-care. 

9. Rework by Jason Fried David and Heinemeier Hansson

Building startups is always fascinating, especially if you are doing it for the first time. ‘Rework’ is an exceptional business book that explores several personal experiences of building successful startups. The book shares disruptive themes to starting a business, which takes the readers away from the traditional approach to entrepreneurship. The ideas about growth and size are so well described in the book that it will be extremely hard for you to make any bad decisions related to growing a small business. The book pushes the readers to focus on flexibility and improvisation instead of doubling down on plans. This simple-to-read book will make you stop talking and start working!

10. Purple Cow by Seth Godin

No small business is successful without solid marketing strategies. And who else to learn marketing from other than Seth Godin himself! Learn how to market a product or service as Godin shares his secrets to successful marketing strategies. The idea behind the book is simple — in a field of brown cows, the purple cow stands out. Godin uses the marketing strategies of popular brands like Krispy Kreme, Apple, and Starbucks to share how big companies let go of the traditional marketing norms and become wildly imaginative, creative, and reinventive in their approach.

11. Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

Who doesn’t know about Gary Vaynerchuk, the granddaddy of hustle culture? He’s popular for pushing people towards greatness through kindness and gratitude. Most importantly, Vaynerchuk wants the readers to realize how easy they have today given how powerful the internet has become in recent times. The book focuses on helping readers create vibrant personal brands by providing practical tips on building successful businesses. Crushing It is a must-read for people that are new to online marketing and want to use social media to build their brand. The book revolves around Gary Vaynerchuk’s life and journey towards building a multi-million dollar company out of nothing.

12. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Here’s a book you should read to fight your assumptions about starting a business. Eric Ries has done an excellent job of letting readers understand the importance of time and action. The book explains how industries keep changing and what it takes to build a sustainable business. He believes that almost every company works towards a common mission of charting a successful path towards grand success. In this quest, the author suggests readers to stop wasting time overthinking about every minute detail of the startup and just go for it. Instead, ‘The Lean Startup’ shows how entrepreneurs should rely on continuous innovation to adapt before it’s too late.

13. Passive Income Streams by Kristi Patrice Carter J.D.

Passive income is real, but it doesn’t come without significant effort. Kristi Patrice Carter J.D. wrote this masterpiece to present passive income ideas that can improve readers’ lifestyles and help them break free of traditional work models. The book is a testament to how the author achieved her dream lifestyle without working 40 hours a week. ‘Passive Income Streams’ is a book that simply points out some of the most compelling alternatives of making money that, if worked on sincerely, can be turned into a business. Check out this book to create and profit from passive income ideas.

Final remarks!

Don’t think much. Just pull one or two of the books mentioned in the guide above and give them a read. That will give you some momentum to read the rest of the books on the list. The more you read, the easier it will be to make reading a life-long habit. And there’s nothing better than a habit that can help you make money! We have shared some of the best books on how to start a business. Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments. Also, don’t forget to check out other informative posts on the blog!