They say reading can take you anywhere, so how about a place and time where you're a wildly successful business owner?
Your knowledge of running a business can never be too extensive, and there will always be something for you to learn. Finding success with your small business is a path that changes with the seasons, and because of that you will have to constantly be up-to-date in order to maintain profitability. Small business owners, especially newer ones, should do everything they can in order to learn more about how they can ensure productivity. For some tips on what the most informative books are for small business owners, check out some of the titles listed below:
1. Groundswell by Josh Bernoff
Many business owners are still having trouble with social technologies, despite the fact that these networks are already ubiquitous. If customers are discussing your products and services within spheres which you have no understanding of or control over, then your business is vulnerable. This is why it is vital these days to understand social media, and develop a plan to address the digitization of interactions between businesses and consumers. Bernoff's book describes the emergence of social technologies, and explains how they can be utilized by small business owners.
2. The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
This book describes an approach to running a business that relies on human creativity and the efficient use of capital. This guide denounces the complex business plans developed by many entrepreneurs for something simpler and more succesful. The book, influenced by the idea of lean manufacturing, draws from a number of methods including validated learning and rapid scientific experimentation, as well as another of seemingly implausible tools that can speed up product development cycles, help measure progress without the hindrance of excess metrics and assist with understanding what customers are really looking for.
3. Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
This book will immerse you with the financial tips you need to acquire funding. Feld and Mendelson have been working on venture capital deals for two decades, and with this book they bring their deal-making skills to small business owners everywhere. This book will basically outline for you all the important details of venture capital deal making in order to ensure that if you come across a situation like this, you know what your doing. The first edition of this book was released in 2011, with an updated version in 2013.
4. No Jerks on the Job: Who They Are, The Harm They Do and Ridding Them from Your Workplace by Ron Newton
Have you ever had a jerk on your staff? Chances are you have, and this book tells you what to do about that unfortunate situation. Newton describes the knowledge he has gleaned from years on the job running a wilderness camp for troubled youth. He learned plenty of lessons about overcoming the setbacks of "value-challenged" individuals, and how to properly deal with these people. He describes why these people act the way that the do, and the best methods for disarming their jerk nature in order to create a productive work environment. This book is helpful for small business owners who need to deal with employees whose values have a little something to be desired.
Small business ownership isn't something you just know. Success takes a lot of learning, and using the above four books you can find out a whole lot about what it takes to run a small business.