Author: Insider94 Staff
The pandemic upended many lives, but it didn’t kill the entrepreneurial dream. A record number of people launched new startups last year and that momentum hasn’t faded in 2022.
More than 5 million new business applications were filed last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — that’s up from the 4.4 million filed in 2020. Many of these businesses are sole proprietorships or single entrepreneurs without employees.
These new entrepreneurs are tapping into the power of the internet, and the wisdom of great business books.
Business books can introduce readers to psychological business concepts to make them better leaders, personal anecdotes to avoid repeating mistakes, or self-help tips to improve their productivity.
We turned to Goodreads, the world’s largest platform to rate and review books, to rank readers’ favorite business books.
Here are the top 10 business books, according to Goodreads reviewers.
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10 . “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T . Kiyoskai
Robert T. Kiyosaki is a millionaire businessman who grew up with two dads — his own, and his best friend’s father, his “rich dad.” In this business and finance book, Kiyosaki explains how his two dads shaped his view of money and investing and gives the readers advice on how to invest and grow your money.
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9 . “The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers” by Ben Horowitz
Filled with personal anecdotes and advice “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” analyzes some of the most challenging issues entrepreneurs may face while building a business such as firing a friend, managing bad employees, deciding whether or not to sell your company, and managing your own mind as a leader.
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8 . “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” by Malcolm Gladwell
With over 735,000 ratings, “The Tipping Point” is a business favorite of Goodreads members, helping readers understand when a good idea crosses the threshold to becoming a business or a product. Beloved for Malcolm Gladwell’s concise and digestible writing style, this book uses sociology to analyze the personality types of business leaders, indicators that past trends would become massive, and interviews with great business leaders to find the traits of the next great idea.
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7 . “Rework” by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
“Rework” strives to be different from any other business book on the market by taking traditional business advice and analyzing how to work smarter for faster results. It approaches standard business principles from a new angle, highlighting the typical challenges and helping readers stay one step ahead.
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6 . “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” by Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek is an inspirational speaker whose book encourages leaders to articulate why their business exists, their idea is great, and their movement is necessary. When people lead with “why,” it is easier to lead and inspire.
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5 . “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change” by Stephen R . Covey
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is a self-help book that uses seven principles to help readers streamline their personal and professional lives toward success. Inspirational and practical, these habits use psychological reasoning to determine our goals, focus on reaching them, and maintain positive thinking throughout the process.
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4 . “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
Based on a series of lectures given at Princeton University on entrepreneurship, Timothy Ferriss’ business book is essentially about how to life-hack your business and when it is the appropriate time to make these moves, from outsourcing certain tasks to implementing new management principles. He also encourages entrepreneurs to break out of the 9-5 mold in order to become more well-rounded individuals.
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3. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie
This 1936 psychology book has become a business staple, necessary in understanding how to lead or manage a team. With principles on how to get people to like you, win people to your way of thinking, and change people without making them hate you, this popular book has sold over 15 million copies.
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2 . “The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses” by Eric Ries
Written to help more budding entrepreneurs create successful start-ups, “The Lean Startup” introduces a clear and dynamic approach for businesses to test, analyze, and continually adapt their vision and goals rather than fail by sticking to an original business plan. The books is both inspirational and validating for readers and demonstrates why conventional business plans can cause start-ups to fail and then offers advice and wisdom that can be applied to nearly any new business.
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<br>1 . “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future” by Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel is a celebrated billionaire investor and entrepreneur, a co-founder of PayPal and Founders Fund. In “Zero to One,” he aims to help readers find unique opportunities for progress in an already advanced business space. Thiel incorporates his optimistic view of future entrepreneurs’ ideas.
