7 must-reads for entrepreneurs
If you’re an entrepreneur, odds are you’re insanely busy. You may welcome constructive suggestions to improve your business, but don’t really have time to hunt for answers. The good news is there are plenty of great books on the market that can help make a difference.
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey – A great model for setting the right priorities for yourself and your organization
- How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie–The title would benefit from an overhaul but this is a time-tested classic. Key point: to do well you need to genuinely like people and you can’t fake it. The rest of the book is about how to do that well.
- Good to Great, Jim Collins– If you want advice that is well researched, this is excellent on providing key principals for building lasting value. Favorite points: 1) get the right people on the bus and 2) figure out your hedgehog ratio.
- The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clay Christensen- Great insights on how disruptive change really happens. The great news for entrepreneurs is that disruptive change tends to be very capital efficient.
- The World Is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman – The fundamental change brought about by tapping overseas talent to start capital efficient companies is a long-term trend, creating enormous entrepreneurial opportunities. Another more recent lesson on this comes from “The 4 Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris
- Strategic Selling, Robert Miller – The lifeblood of a company is sales. Founders need to sell and manage sales well to be successful. Here are the best principals in sales strategy and execution I have seen used by the most successful companies.
- Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath – Entrepreneurs need to evangelize and spread their ideas.
Categories: Entrepreneurs corner
