I never used to read books that much. However, once you meet a lot of people that have made it big time, you start seeing a great pattern – they read a lot.
So, I started reading a lot. And this article is just the top books that I have found really helpful in guiding my thoughts.
This list consists of ten books that will expand your view on how to invest with topics spanning from idea generation, marketing, expectations, and more.
So, maybe before you put your money into a project, read these first.
“Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything” (2015) Guy Kawasaki
This is a must-read book for any entrepreneur.
It tops the list because it is action-oriented.
The background of the author is Silicon Valley but almost all lessons given are transferrable to any business anywhere in the world.
Guy Kawasaki has been an employee, a manager, a company owner, a venture capitalist, and probably many other positions. He thus knows what a business looks like from different perspectives.
The book, in a literal sense, tells you what to do when starting. It covers topics like idea solidification, pitching, partnering, funding, marketing, setting long-term vision, etc.
You have to read the book to understand why it is an all-in-one startup resource.
“The 10% Entrepreneur: Live Your Startup Dream Without Quitting Your Day Job” (2016) Patrick J. McGinnis.
After reading this book you will move from being a perpetual wanna-preneur to a practical entrepreneur.
The book offers an insightful look at how you can start, manage and grow your own business without sacrificing the comfort of your monthly paychecks.
The author gave practical examples of people who built multi-million-dollar investments all while working their traditional jobs.
There are great lessons in the book on how to identify your first project, and allocating resources to the business including a balance of time and money with your day job.
“The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money” (2015) Carl Richards.
A lot of people will get excited about investing in something but a few google searches later they will be confused, discouraged, and quit.
This book helps you prioritize your finances when investing by answering the why question.
It basically shows you how to set financial goals that ultimately become the backbone of how you react to money and the mistakes around it.
I really recommend it if you cannot decide what to invest in or the details of the investment.
“The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd” (2016) Allan Dib
This is another very action-oriented book for marketing your business.
It contains very articulate and intertwined thoughts on sales and marketing. It will show you why return on investment (ROI) for your marketing efforts is as easy as ABC and how to create marketing plans to run month after month and year after year.
Most importantly, after this book, you will stop doing random marketing actions and focus on a reliable plan to grow your business.
The book goes into detail on how to get customers, make money from them and be the king in your own niche.
It also teaches you to avoid marketing like big businesses to avoid collapsing under massive marketing budgets.
“Invest Local: A Guide to Superior Investment Returns in Your Own Community” (2017) David C Barnett.
This book will open you up to what you can do with your local community.
It gets rid of the idea that successful investment can only happen at a large scale in a far-off community or land.
The author, Barnett, is experienced in business brokerage, small business financing, and private finance and has insightful guides on which common financial planning advice you should ignore.
“Your First 100: How to Get Your First 100 Repeat Customers (and Loyal, Raving Fans) Buying Your Digital Products Without Sleazy Marketing or Selling Your Soul” (2018) Meera Kothand.
I recommend that you read this book after you have already read ‘The 1-page marketing plan’. The author here addresses people investing in online businesses in particular.
She lays out a plan that you can use to build your own audience from the ground up and how to convert the audience into paying customers that keep coming back.
A great thing about the book is that it simplifies the complex and abstract view of branding.
The author gives direct advice on what to do at different stages of branding and the exact frameworks that will guide your branded content.
“One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market” (2000) Peter Lynch.
Before writing this book, Lynch had a successful history of winning in the stock market.
The book is his wisdom on how to navigate the complicated world of choosing which shares are worth buying.
The main point he’s making is that financial statements and stock prices of companies do not tell the whole story and that understanding a company and whether it is a good business can help determine which stocks will double your investment.
He even suggests that an average person is better poised to choose the right stock as opposed to a professional trader because the former has a day-to-day outlook of companies.
While it is an old book, it is a great starting point for investors interested in the stock market.
“SEO 2022: Learn search engine optimization with smart internet marketing strategies (2022)” Adam Clarke
I had to throw this into the list because it covers what most people ignore about doing business online – SEO.
The book is well suited to business owners and admittedly even if you are not nerdy enough to implement SEO strategies, it equips you with information that can sharpen strategic decisions on your business.
The gist of the book is on how to rank high on the Google search engine and how this translates to more customers for your business.
The great thing is that it sums up everything that you need to know enough to guarantee that you do not need to read a hundred other blog posts to be proficient in SEO and related marketing.
“The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future” (2012) Chris Guillebeau
Just like the title suggests, this book is teaching you how to create a business around your talent and on your own terms.
I have to warn that this book may feel superficial to most people as it dumbs down ideas too much. The author uses a case study of 50 people who built businesses worth of $50,000 from investments of around $100.
The book covers specific details of how much money these entrepreneurs put in, what it cost to get everything running, the mistakes they make, the critical lessons, and how to generate cash in a business.
I believe this book will serve as motivation to push you to identify the intersection of things that you are good at and what people are willing to pay for these things.
