Online sources and self-help books such as “The 7 habits of highly effective people and Good to great are considered business books for a reason. But today’s entrepreneur should seize more seasoned knowledge in books not often cited. Below are five articles every entrepreneur should consider bookmarking even in this time-challenged world.
Seeing What’s Next: Predicting Industry Change Using the the Theories of Innovation by Clayton Christensen
For him, he is popular for his book called “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” Here in this relatively unknown sequel, he collaborates with coauthors to offer directions on how disruptive innovations occur. For this reason, entrepreneurs are capable of foreseeing where the further disruption of an industry may occur, and thus learning about ideas, such as the “jobs-to-be-done” theory or the dimension of improvement, and its implications can be highly beneficial. It’s a good enough book on innovation that makes you think.
The Messy Middle: Mapping a Course Through the Toughest and Most Critical Phase of Any Audacious Concept by Scott Belsky
All the business people understand about origination and finishing strong. Yet, very few are ready for the so-called “messy middle” when the concepts turn into tangible solutions. Scott Belsky an early executive at Behance and Adobe gives tips different and systematic ways of handling the murky middle. To the practical minded business owners busy struggling at the coal face, this book offers a much-needed shot in the arm, structure and direction.
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman.
The most significant issue that most businesses face initially is how to grow the business from an early-stage business to mid-stage business. I read a book recently known as Traction by Gino Wickman which outlines the EOS model or Entrepreneurial Operating System for getting clear on vision, getting to traction, hiring talented people, setting focus and achieving accountability. Although filled with business terminology, this book provides practical guidance to aspiring business leaders on how to navigate business growth.
Business Biographies
Auto biographies and auto- biographies of other successful people such as Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos provide interesting reads. But more specific nuggets in this area explore how dominant logics such as those of Patagonia, LinkedIn, WordPress, Warby Parker and many others got going. People are capable of doing so much more than what they already do and these stories of the founders provide such motivation to the entrepreneurs.
Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman
Even those without an MBA can stay up-to-date with the latest business information. Josh Kaufman captures all the mental models, frameworks, theories, and concepts in an MBA education into one book. Thisiments anyone who seeks enhanced insight into the most effective practices in business with little time and/or capital. There are hundreds of testimonials from the audience where the Personal MBA empowered entrepreneurs who wanted to supplement their practical experience with the top concepts available in MBA courses.
Use for Entrepreneurs
Unlike Motivational books motivational books have their part played, but business owners require practical information not just motivation. They are often more specific and contain less theory, specific cases and practical strategies that may come in useful to an entrepreneur. Such books describe in minute detail and specifics the major issues and practical aspects of originating and managing a new entrepreneurial venture apart from theoretical notions. It is this on-hand understanding of business and interactions which help business owners to better navigate disparities and attain positive results.
Identifying Niche Specialization and other Uniqueness
While there are many such general titles, lots of less popular books cover narrow Subject Areas of business models, industries, demographics, and particular niches typically not well covered in other more popular books. Such specialized books enable an entrepreneur to gather expert knowledge around issues that are specific to the business and that affect the new entrant’s customers. For instance, books concerning funded search marketing, retail arbitrage, or enterprise SaaS sales can be highly valuable beyond generic marketing and sales advice. Hiring a professional to uncover industry-specific knowledge gives the entrepreneur definite and immediate returns with which to tailor her or his business.
The narratives of how various businesspeople begin their companies with rather small amounts of capital may motivate other owners who attempt to capitalise minimal resources and employees most of all. While, there are certainly things to learn from giant corporate successes detailed in classics, bootstrap stories are closer to life and actionable more often for people facing realistic situation. Here, watching the stories of founders pushing through the difficult journey to profitability, and beyond proactively gives me focus as well as best practices so other entrepreneurs could follow in the same path.
