Information is gold for entrepreneurs. Learning from others is a great way to understand best practices and learn from the successes and mistakes of others.
As seen in the recent post, Entrepreneur’s Startup Success Guide for 2019, advice and support are critical at every step along the business ownership journey.
To help you with your discovery research, here are some additional entrepreneurial tools found in the pages of the eight best books for entrepreneurs in 2019.
1. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell’s book helps you understand how you think about thinking by looking at those choices people make in the blink of an eye. He shows how great decision-makers filter information to get at the heart of an issue.
2. The Founder’s Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup, by Noam Wasserman
What are the crucial early decisions entrepreneurs need to make? Wasserman looks at when and from whom to seek advice, how to share equity, and balancing control of a startup with the need to secure resources.
3. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
This classic take by the etiquette expert helps you learn techniques to help people like you, persuade others to your way of thinking, and effect change in others. This timeless book offers time-tested, practical advice.
4. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, by Clayton Christensen
Disruptive innovation is the key to thriving and surviving in the fast-paced, technologically dominant business world. Christensen shows why so many companies miss out on innovation and why well-established companies are likely to be surpassed unless managers have the ability to change the old ways of doing business.
5. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, by Eric Ries
When capital is lean, startups need to rely on human creativity and ingenuity. Learn how to test your vision, adapt and adopt quickly, use metrics that accurately measure real progress, and maintain a keen focus on what your customers want and need.
6. Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition, by Guy Kawasaki
A successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Kawasaki offers tips for how to build a great organization without succumbing to the business fads and suspect theories that many latch onto too quickly.
7. Setting The Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, by Danny Meyer
Meyer, who helped develop the Union Square Café, Shake Shack, and Gramercy Tavern, illustrates the concept of enlightened hospitality, which focuses on building strong in-house relationships and customer relations. It is a philosophy that applies to any business.
8. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, by Peter Thiel
How should entrepreneurs think about innovation? Thiel argues it is by asking the questions that help you find value in unexpected places and what that means for America’s future.
Insights are critical for any new business. That is why Benetrends offers support and guidance for entrepreneurs at every stage. To learn more about our ROBs 401(k)/IRA funding strategies and business services, check out our Resource Center.