My Favorite Books About Entrepreneurship
In my continued celebration of National Entrepreneurship Month, today I’m sharing my favorite books about entrepreneurship. I’m of the belief that both current and aspiring entrepreneurs alike will find these five books to be very useful resources. Of course, there are other great books on the subject, but let’s start here.
“ENTREPRENEUR” IS NOT A JOB, IT IS AN IDENTITY.
Do you feel that you have a great business but are struggling to thrive? …that the world is on your shoulders? …that you are energized and overwhelmed at the same time? …that no one understands or cares as much as you do?
In The Lonely Entrepreneur, author and entrepreneur Michael Dermer shows you how to thrive in the entrepreneurial struggle by changing your perspective. What took a decade to build was destroyed in ten days! Michael faced “the perfect storm” of struggles when the business he spent ten years building was almost wiped out in ten days by the financial crisis of 2008. Bankrupt customers. Enraged investors. Angry creditors. It would take years of working 24 hours a day to save his company. How did he do it? THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Michael changed his perspective. He realized that with the right perspective, solutions were everywhere. With the wrong perspective, the simplest of tasks seemed impossible. Not only did Michael successfully sell his company and become an industry pioneer, he discovered a methodology that helps all entrepreneurs with the issue we face — the struggle.
In The Lonely Entrepreneur you will learn how to:
- Identify the flawed perspectives you develop under the influence of the four Ps — pressure, passion, pleasure, and pain.
- Change your perspectives from those that stifle progress to those that empower you to thrive.
Be a Disruptor: Streetwise Lessons for Entrepreneurs―from the Mob to Mandates by Stratis Morfogen
Lessons in innovation and entrepreneurship from building a New York City restaurant empire.
Stratis Morfogen has been one of the most innovative names in New York City’s hospitality scene for decades. From bringing the famed Fulton Fish Market online in 1997 to pioneering the automat movement with Brooklyn Dumpling Shop to opening a 25,000 square foot venue in Times Square during the pandemic, Morfogen continues to disrupt the status quo.
In Be a Disruptor, Morfogen provides an unconventional, real-world education for any entrepreneur by sharing how he beat the odds in the cutthroat, mob-influenced New York City restaurant world. Morfogen teaches readers what he has learned about finding business opportunity in any situation, starting new ventures in times of adversity, and succeeding against all odds in one of the most challenging environments in the world. It’s a playbook for entrepreneurs with the page-turning qualities of a memoir.
With lessons for navigating pressures from powerful entities like the New York mob and local government, restarting mentally and financially after failed ventures, being aggressive when competitors are being conservative, and managing business and personal relationships, Be a Disruptor is a can’t miss, street-smart education for any entrepreneur, restauranteur, or anyone interested in how the NYC hospitality world really works.
100 Cities. 100 Entrepreneurs. 9 Keys for Success.
Main Street Entrepreneur offers a unique look at what it takes to create a successful and thriving business. Lifelong entrepreneur, business consultant and university professor Michael Glauser rode 4,005 miles in 45 days, spent 246 hours on a bike seat, climbed 165,748 vertical feet, and interviewed more than 100 entrepreneurs in 100 cities along the way to discover the secrets to entrepreneurial success.
Glauser has distilled hours of interviews and research to present the nine keys for:
- Building a purpose-driven business
- Meeting important community needs
- Developing a supporting cast
- Working with a zealous tenacity
- Giving mind-boggling customer service
- Diversifying revenue streams
- Giving back to the broader community
- And ultimately, creating the lifestyle of your dreams
Readers will learn how to achieve their own dreams and won’t need a 30-page business plan, venture capital, or an exit strategy. All they need to do is implement nine keys for success. Not everyone can build a Facebook, Google or eBay, but anyone with passion and tenacity can do what these entrepreneurs all across America are doing.
The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: Why Now Is the Time to #JoinTheRide by Darren Hardy
66 PERCENT OF SMALL BUSINESSES FAIL — AND IT’S NOT FOR THE REASONS YOU THINK. WHY DO THEY FAIL?
That is what SUCCESS Publisher Darren Hardy set out on a mission to discover.
What he found was startling. All the previously reported reasons and assumptions for the failure rate (capital, location, credit, inventory management, and competition) were wrong.
Failure was not due to outside factors — they were internal. They weren’t economic — they were emotional. The unexpected and terrifying emotional roller coaster an entrepreneur experiences is the greatest factor in why most quit and ultimately fail.
BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY.
The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: Why Now Is The Time To #JoinTheRide, will prepare you for the wild ride of entrepreneurship. It will warn you (of forthcoming fears, doubts, and the self-defeating conditioning of your upbringing and past), inoculate you (from the naysayers, dream-stealers, and pains of rejection and failure), and guide you (as you build those under-developed skills of independence, self-motivation, and self-accountability) safely past the landmines that blow up and cause the failure of 66 percent of all new businesses.
You will learn the best strategies Darren has ever collected from the most successful people on the planet, covering the four essential skills necessary for entrepreneurial success: Sales, Recruiting, Leadership, and Productivity.
This book is for you if:
You’ve dreamed of having your own business but have a fear of the unknown.
You’ve stayed on the sidelines of entrepreneurship, not knowing what to expect or what to do.
You’re already on board as an entrepreneur, but you want to ensure you re a success and not a statistic.
BUY THIS BOOK… AND ENJOY THE MOST THRILLING RIDE OF YOUR LIFE!
And, one of my favorites… The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur: 366 Daily Meditations to Feed Your Soul and Grow Your Business which previously appeared at Acceler8Success Cafe (September 2022)
The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur: 366 Daily Meditations to Feed Your Soul and Grow Your Business
As many that know me are aware, I am an avid reader. Mostly, I read about franchising, small business, entrepreneurship, business & restaurant ownership, self-help and just about any related topics. I’m a sponge for information and resources that I can use in my life as well as in my business, and also for my team and clients.
I typically arise by 4 AM on the weekends and spend 4–6 hours reading through the 300+ digital publications, newsletters and blogs to which I subscribe and that I’ve bookmarked throughout the week. Some I file away for future reference. Others I save to share across social media. And a few I share with friends, colleagues and clients as may be appropriate and relevant based upon a recent conversation or as information, motivation or inspiration I believe will help them.
Over the course of a year, I will read between 35–50 books relating to the same topics I’ve listed above. Some I read and they’re one and done. Others I refer to as needed for reference or as a resource for a particular project. I also have a few go-to books that I refer to quite often for my own inspiration and motivation.
I do love biographies and autobiographies about entrepreneurs, successful business people and leaders. I marvel at these recounts of both success and failure. I’m intrigued by the journey of these individuals. I’m motivated by their passion. I’m amazed by the obstacles and challenges they’ve faced and overcome. And I’m inspired by the possibilities that come to mind as I relate their stories to present day times.
Why do I have such hunger for the written word? Well, my formal education is limited. I never graduated from college as quite frankly, I found it boring. I was not interested in the typical basic courses and although I always looked ahead to the courses I knew I would really enjoy, I fretted about the prerequisite courses that were required before being able to take the courses of which I had the most interest.
To compensate for not having a formal education, I knew I had to work my ass off to get ahead. Marrying and raising a family at an early age was a choice, and a great motivator. It was an experience of which I take great pride, especially as my wife and I have been married for 45 years. We have four great children, their wonderful spouses, and four — and soon to be five — extraordinary grandchildren.
Sure, I regret not completing college and although I have given significant thought on numerous occasions about going back to school, life always got in the way. So, early on when I read Lee Iacocca’s autobiography, Iacocca, I was inspired to learn more about this great man and leader. I read his second book and sought out to read all I could about other successful people.
My motivation to read all that I could was driven by an explanation by Iacocca that still resonates with me to this day. To paraphrase… A man is not as smart by what is in his head as he is by the information he could put his hands on, and that information is in books. And so began my quest for information to educate myself as much as humanly possible.
Oh, I do wish I had complemented it all with a formal education but there’s no use crying over spilt milk, right? There’s no reason to look back. Although, the “what if” questions do haunt me at times, yet they inspire and motivate me just the same.
No doubt I was self-reliant, so when I first heard about the book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, I knew I had to read it. When my daughter, Jennifer asked me what I wanted for Christmas two years ago, I asked her for this book. Maybe the method to my madness was to start out making this book special as it was a gift and one that I knew I would treasure.
Well, as you can see in the image at the top of this article, the book sits at the top of a handful of books that sit on my desk at all times. These books are rotated quite often from the one I’m currently reading to others that I may be referring to for a special project I may be working on. Yet, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur always sits atop the pile. Why? Because the book is meant to be read each and every day.
But what really makes the book very special is the author’s commitment to helping others. You can just tell he put a great deal of thought into the book. But to me, it’s even more than that as evident by an experience I had yesterday on LinkedIn when I posted the following:
This is my second year reading through the book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur by John Jantsch (author of Duct Tape Marketing). The book is comprised of 366 Daily Meditations to Feed Your Soul and Grow Your Business.
Today’s meditation is very spot-on in light of current challenges and economic uncertainty and especially the following sentence:
“As entrepreneurs pushing through fear and trying so many new things, we feel so intoxicated by the sensation of new that we are tempted to hold on and loiter — breathe it in, remember it, then turn the page and grind on.”
I highly recommend entrepreneurs everywhere purchase this book AND diligently follow the daily meditations. The book is great for aspiring entrepreneurs, as well.
Well, the author, John Jantsch personally responded, asking me to share my experience. I mean, who does that? Who takes the time to genuinely ask for your input? Well, it spoke volumes to me, as does this fantastic book.
John asked me, How are you finding you have changed this go around? I responded:
The first time I felt I was just reading. Sure, I always took away something from the various passages but I never seemed to give them much thought afterwards. This time around, I’ve found myself applying what I’ve read, or even like today, I found that it actually reinforced the message I shared in my daily LinkedIn newsletter, Acceler8Success Cafe.
More so, as I often write about what’s going on in my own mind, many of the passages either reinforce my own confidence or motivate me in my own writing as well as in my business. To summarize, first time around I’ve read to read. The second time, I’ve read to apply.
One more thing… For anyone that wants to learn about entrepreneurship or expand skills as an entrepreneur, this book is perfect because so many feel they don’t have time to read a book, but with The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur that’s all they have to read is one page each day. It’s the best 5–10 minutes I spend each and every day!
Interestingly, this morning’s meditation is titled, Original Giftedness. Well, I was already given a gift of John’s response yesterday, so today’s meditation is an appreciated extension of the same. Thank you, John.
If you’re interested in purchasing, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, you may do so on Amazon. I highly recommend you do so today. Also, I also believe it’s a great Christmas or Graduation gift that’ll make a difference in someone’s life. I know it’s made a difference in mine.
Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!
