Are you thinking about becoming an entrepreneur? If so, the journey to having a successful business isn’t easy. In 2019, around 90% of startups failed. Research also suggests that 21.5% of startups flop in the first year, 30% fail in the second year, 50% crumble in the fifth year, and 70% close up shop in the tenth year.
Entrepreneurs typically attribute failure to a lack of financial resources, bad partnerships, poor research, ineffective marketing strategies, little expertise in their industry, and entering the wrong market. Some of these obstacles are normal—starting and running a business always comes with challenges.
But if you want to set yourself up for success, you should take advice from entrepreneurs and business owners who’ve come out on top, despite their challenges. And what better way to get that advice than with books on how to start a business?
Many startup leaders have created resources to help others build and run successful companies. If you want tips on which ones to read, here are ten books on how to start a business.
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Atomic Habits
As an entrepreneur, your time is your most valuable resource. Running a startup requires you to complete numerous tasks, making every second count, which is why you should read Atomic Habits by James Clear to learn how to supercharge your productivity.
In this book, Clear explains how people form habits and why it’s important to understand this process if you want to replace old habits with new ones. His overall argument is to make small changes and maintain those changes over time to see significant results.
Atomic Habits will make you reconsider your routine and behavior so that you achieve more and get things done. So if you need help boosting your productivity, this book is a must-read.
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The 4-Hour Work Week
It’s normal to see entrepreneurs hustle 24/7. In fact, some entrepreneurs enjoy the grind and believe it’ll guarantee success. However, while working hard is necessary, you can still achieve more by doing less.
At least, that’s what Tim Ferriss shares in The 4-Hour Work Week. This book explains how entrepreneurs can work less but make more money to build the life they seek. It offers tools and hacks that’ll help you:
- Automate your business to ensure things continue when you’re gone
- Outsource different tasks to free up your time
- Understand what really matters to move your business forward
- Eliminate unnecessary busywork
- Cut meetings, achieve work-life balance, and negotiate successfully
- Take breaks instead of waiting until retirement to recharge
The 4-Hour Work Week is a book you won’t regret reading. It’s full of insight and knowledge that’ll help you grow a successful company while still maintaining a great quality of life.
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Crushing It!
If people don’t remember your brand, you won’t have one for long. Creating a memorable company is a task you should work on before your startup launch—that way, you can start building relationships with your target audience, making sales significantly easier.
Gary Vaynerchuk explains how to do this effectively in his book Crushing It!. He argues why it’s imperative to have a recognizable business and offers the building blocks of exceptional branding.
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Think Like a Monk
The way you think impacts not only your life but also your entrepreneurial success, which is why you should read Think Like a Monk. Author Jay Shetty uses the book to provide wisdom he gained from being a monk, but the insight he offers isn’t a sneaky way to get readers to convert to Buddhism.
Instead, Think Like a Monk teaches you how to reduce anxiety to live a fulfilling life and enjoy a great career. Shetty even recommends tips that will help you find your purpose, eliminate negativity, learn from the people you meet, and stop overthinking.
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Will It Fly?
Another great book on how to start a business is Will It Fly? by Pat Flynn. This best-seller explains how to test different business ideas to prevent yourself from going down an unrealistic, unfeasible, and unprofitable path. In the book, Flynn recommends five specific strategies to guarantee success:
- Make sure your idea aligns with your business goals
- Examine your idea to see if there are holes in it
- Assess your market to determine if your idea will work
- Test your business idea before implementing it fully
- Decide whether your idea is worth moving forward with or if you should brainstorm something else
This book is a staple for entrepreneurs, so give it a read if you want to make sure your business idea will swim instead of sink.
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Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
A great read for men and women is Lean In, a book that explains why women deserve to be in executive-level positions and what steps they can take to get there. In the book, Sheryl Sandberg argues that women, specifically women with children, don’t need to leave their families to pursue a career.
Sandberg believes moms can experience professional success and maintain excellent relationships with their children and families at the same time. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The world needs more women in leadership positions, and this book explains how that dream can become a reality.
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Profit First
Successfully managing the financial side of your business is crucial, but it’s something new entrepreneurs struggle with the most. If you want to start a business, you can’t just focus on making money. You also need to understand how to invest in your business’s growth and what steps you should take after you start earning money.
Thankfully, Profit First by Mike Michalowicz explains how to do these things correctly. The book offers guidance on how to increase profits and maintain a positive cash flow to avoid the financial struggles that entrepreneurs commonly face.
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The Lean Startup
One of the most popular books on how to start a business is The Lean Startup. This must-read by Eric Reis will teach you how to successfully use human creativity and capital to create a company that lasts. Some specific lessons you’ll learn include the following:
- How to maintain a nimble and agile startup
- How to be flexible and adapt before it’s too late
- How to measure progress without relying on vanity metrics
- How to know what your customers truly want
- How to test and validate ideas quickly
These are topics you can’t overlook if you want to build a great company, so reading The Lean Startup should be a priority in the early stages of your business.
Be a student of entrepreneurship
If you dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur, you must be a student first. Don’t jump right in without learning from the best and taking the necessary steps to prepare. Doing that will only increase your chances of failing, so spend time reading books on how to start a business. Then, you’ll set yourself up for success and allow your company to go the distance.