To mark the 25th anniversary of World Book Day this Thursday, have a read of our edit of the best books for business owners.
Every day’s a lesson when it comes to running your own business, right? Negotiation, procurement, logistics, finding the end of the sellotape…the list goes on, and, winging it or not, you’ve got this. But we’re big fans of self improvement here at Sook, so we’ve hand-picked some of our favourite books packed with advice for small business owners that will help you raise your game.
So, grab yourself a cuppa and hunker on down with our Top 5…
P.S. We’ve only linked out to small sellers. Of course, all these brilliant books for small business owners are all available from ‘the big A’, but if any of these pique your interest, try and support smaller... and if it’s pre-loved or a library version, even better. eBay, Music Magpie and World of Books are all good places to search for second hand volumes. Let’s keep it sustainable!
1. Best for Sales Advice - The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer
Whether you’ve got selling experience or not, this ‘gem’ is short, sweet, and to the point. Packed with real-life tips from a natural business man that will give you a winning mindset and help you make the most of every customer engagement to nail the sale.
2. Best for Start-Up Branding - How To Style Your Brand by Fiona Humberstone
Defining and visualising your brand authentically is one of the most important things you can do upfront. Humberstone, also known as ‘The Brand Stylist’, breaks down the steps you should take to analyse your offering to come up with your logo, coherent visual identity, packaging and more.
3. Best for Marketing - Hype Yourself: A No-nonsense PR Toolkit for Small Businesses by Lucy Werner
Featured on the worth-a-look Extrordinary Business Book Club, Lucy Werner’s book story is quite simply extraordinary. Having entered the 10-day Business Book Proposal Challenge last January on a whim, she went on to win it. Packed with clarity, Lucy demystifies the world of PR to help you get the word out to the right people, at the right time.
4. Best for Everyday Problem Solving - Conquer The Chaos by Clate Mask and Scott Martineau
Do you find yourself running from problem to problem on a day-to-day basis? It can be easy to feel like your business runs you, rather than the other way around. Conquer The Chaos offers up techniques to help you make sense of the overwhelming demands of being a business owner, and allow you to find the joy.
5. The Best for Leadership - Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Another triumph from Simon Sinek, the bestselling author of Start with Why Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better and The Infinite Game (which we at Sook are disciples of!)
Start With Why shows us how to inspire others and lead inspiringly, using the examples of leaders such as Martin Luther King and Steve Jobs, who all begin with the same thing - their ‘why’.
“A deep, abiding understanding of what you want to inspire, and how you want to lead is the basis of this inspirational book” (Forbes)
6. Best For Perspective - Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson
Being able to not only deal with change, but to turn it to your advantage is a skill that doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people. Who Moved My Cheese? holds a mirror up to our reactivity to change, and reframes it so that we can move forward with awareness, and with the tools to embrace events brought about by things we can’t control.
And one brilliant small business podcast…
The Small Business Sessions by Enterprise Nation
If you don’t already know Enterprise Nation, get involved. Led by founder Emma Jones MBE, they help support small businesses with advice, events, access to e-learning, community activity, and they’re podcast is.
They say: “Every Wednesday we'll be releasing an interview of around 10 minutes with one of our amazing members. They'll be sharing their story and tips for business success as well as a few entertaining insights into their lives away from entrepreneurship.”
Happy reading (& listening)!