An entrepreneur needs to be a jack of all trades. Sourcing stock; marketing, handling finances, and dealing with customers. Staying sharp on such a wide range of skills, means constantly building on your own knowledge.
Bill Gates may have Warren Buffet on speed dial, but we can’t all have our own personal billionaire business guru. But fortunately for us, any of the world’s top business people do write books to share their knowledge though, and so we have put a list together of a few we consider pretty essential, to help you improve your business in 2017.
1. Why sell tacos in Africa
Author: Paul Oberschneider – started with $400 and over 18 years built a portfolio of business worth over 200 million dollars across five countries.
Oberschneider debunks any idea that there’s a secret path or code you need to crack in order to follow in his footsteps. He sets out the simple and logical steps he took (and still takes now) to create the success that he did. It’s an easy read masterclass in success, written by the guy that did it.
2. The Willpower Instinct
Author: Jane McGonigal
Willpower presents a great challenge for all of us. It’s not an unlimited resource and when we’re tired, we make bad decisions, or feel unable to make decisions at all. Jane’s book recommendation, The Willpower Instinct, uses the latest research to help readers optimize their willpower for maximum output.
3. Ogilvy on Advertising
Author: David Ogilvy. – One of the world’s most sought after advertisers.
This candid primer on all aspects of advertising is a must-read for anyone who wants to write more persuasive ads.
4. Tools of the Titans
Tim has interviewed tons successful people from a huge variety of fields on his podcast, the Tim Ferriss Show. Whether he’s speaking with a retired US Army general, a stand-up comedian, a tech company founder, or an Olympic coach, Tim delves into the secrets of their success that anyone can apply to their own lives and work.
Tim has distilled all the key points from those interviews into a book you can easily reference any time. Want to know how Seth Godin thinks about money? Flip to page 238. Want Tracy DiNunzio’s advice on how to complain less? Flip to page 314.
5. Delivering Happiness
Subtitle: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Author: Tony Hsieh
The CEO of Zappos explains how he created a corporate culture based upon the concept that there is value to happiness, both for employees and customers.
6. Judo Strategy
Subtitle: Turning Your Competitors’ Strength to Your Advantage
Authors: David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak
This book applies martial arts strategy to business situations, building the case that, rather than oppose strength to strength, successful challengers use their opponents’ size and power to bring them down.
If you have any suggestions of essential reading for e commerce entrepreneurs, please comment below.
