20 Books to Read B4 U Start or Launch a Business; You Pick !!!

Startup Quotes from these Books:

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

“Making a product is just an activity, making a profit on a product is the achievement.”

“The first one gets the Clam, the second only gets the Shell”.

“If you can dream it, you can do it !!!

“Luck is preparation meeting opportunity

“Finally, Feel the Fear & Do It Anyway”

BOOKS: 1. Will It Fly? (Qualifying your Idea), 2. Lucky Or Smart? (or Intelligent), 3. The Fire Starter Sessions [Launching], 4. Million Dollar Consulting (Consultant’s Biz Guide), 5. Start Run & Grow a Successful Small Business (Sm Biz Ref Book), 6. The Barefoot Executive [Working from Home], 7. The Business Start-Up Kit [BS Kit], 8. Start Your Own Business [Biz Startup book], 9. The Art of the Start (Startup Guy-d), 10. Escape from Cubicle Nation (fm Corp to FreeLance), 11. The Business Planning Guide [BP Guide-book], 12. Startup from the Ground Up (Startup Guide-book), 13. The $100 Startup [Hobby to Biz], 14. The Lean Startup (for Nerds), 15. The E-Myth Revisited [How to Grow your Biz], 16. The Startup Owner’s Manual [Encyclopedic guide approach], 17. Rework (S-ays from a Blog), 18. The 4-Hour Workweek [Web Biz], 19. Flying Without a Net (- Personality traits), 20. Founders at Work [#1] (I’views of the Successful)

If you dream of starting your own business, there is a way to go instead of enrolling to business school. Many successful CEOs have dropped out or never been to college and yet they are among the most knowledgeable individuals in their business & industry. You can turn to a more grassroots approach to learn everything you need to know about starting a business by reading the words of those who have been down the entrepreneurial path before.

While no single business “How-to” or “”How-I” book contains all the info you need to launch a successful business, a collection of quality books can help you glean vital wisdom and inspiration before you take the plunge. Here is a list of 20 books I would comfortably recommend to any serious would-be founder. You pick !!!

1. Will It Fly? by Thomas K. McKnight (Qualifying your Idea)

One of the biggest questions aspiring founders grapple with before they make the leap into entrepreneurship is how to know if their new business idea has wings. Will the business idea take off or crash? McKnight offers a 44-item Checklist drawn from his immense depth of experience in helping business launches to help you evaluate your new business ideas. His book will guide you through everything from evaluating your personal attitudes to your business to exist strategy. In the end, you should have a clear idea of what your chances of success are.

2. Lucky Or Smart? by Bo Peabody (or Intelligent)

He was an Internet multi-millionaire by his late twenties after co-founding five (5) different companies in different industries. Was Bo just plain lucky or smart to have achieved this feat at his age? He addresses this question in his book and helps us understand how luck & intelligence can work together. Bo notably observes that he was at least smart enough to know when he was getting lucky and goes in depth to teach us how we too can cultivate the same perception & advantage.

3. The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle LaPorte [Launching]

If you’ve been timid about taking the plunge into entrepreneurship, this book is designed to give you that little nudge you need to get right on with it and launch your biz from the right La Porte by the sea. This beautifully written book, chock-full of personal anecdotes & motivational goodies features 16 elaborate startup sessions that will shake action out of you. This is a pleasurable, self-help book, that is definitely one to consider if you are looking for something to get you fired up for the entrepreneurial journey ahead.

4. Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss (Consultant’s Biz Guide)

This book is what many people in business circles call the Consultant’s Biz Guide. The book has earned the Wuss (no Weiss) the enviable tag of “Rock Star of Consulting.” If you are selling yourself into the C-suite, this is your book. The book covers the fundamentals from setting up your office to writing proposals & delegating labor, as well as effective networking & pricing strategies.

5. Start Run & Grow a Successful Small Business by Toolkit Media Group (Sm Biz Ref Book)

If you are looking for the perfect all-in-one Small Biz reference book, this is one of the best references you will get. The book walks you thru the entire process of setting up a business from planning to accounting & staffing with handy Checklists, Case studies & model Biz plans to help you start & grow your business.

6. The Barefoot Executive by Carrie Wilkerson [Working from Home]

Her personal story of how life circumstances forced her to work from home is both inspiring & enlightening. If you are thinking of starting a home-based or online business, this book is for you. The book tackles topics like: “How to find your target market, develop effective marketing strategies & build your brand”, with easy-to-understand and follow charts & tables. This is a good read for all those in “soft” services like online marketers, consultants and other service providers.

7. The Business Start-Up Kit by Steven D. Strauss [BS Kit]

A small business columnist for USA Today and one of the nation’s foremost authorities on small businesses, he certainly knows his game. In this book, Strauss offers a compendium of valuable info to benefit every aspiring founder who wants to start & succeed in business. He explains “What works & what doesn’t work”, in start-ups and offers ample tips & guidance on – among other things, picking a business and why one’s passion is important.

8. Start Your Own Business by Rieva Lesonsky [Biz Startup book]

Who is better placed to understand what it takes to start a business than Rieva Leonsky and the other Editors of Entrepreneur magazine? This book that bears the tagline: “The only Start-up Book you’ll ever need” is thorough in its quest to live up to its high premise. Now in its fourth edition, the book has sold more than 200,000 copies and become widely regarded as the quintessential business Start-up Book for people starting their own businesses.

9. The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki (Startup Guy-d)

This startup classic is a great replacement for whatever textbook you would use in an Entrepreneurship class to prepare for business ownership. The book offers insider info on a wide range of topics, covering all stages of the start-up process from raising money to motivating staff. Kawasaki offers many golden nuggets of info like “How investors will view you”, which is helpful for those seeking external financing.

10. Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim (fm Corp to FreeLance)

If you are currently an employee for a corp and silently wishing you could start your own business & be your own boss, this book is for you. If you recently left your corporate job to start your own business, this book is for you too. Slim Pam lucidly explains everything you need to know about starting a business before and also soon after you take the plunge. She offers valuable guidance & motivation that will re-energize & reinforce your commitment to escape the corporate cubicle horde for good.

11. The Business Planning Guide by David Bangs Jr. [BP Guide-book]

This is one of those sobering Guide Books that offer a reassuring voice of experience when venturing into the unknown waters of business startups. Bangs, a former Banker & Entrepreneur, draws on his vast experience, then provides expert guidance on different aspects of launching a new business venture – including – how to analyze your business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats (a SWOT Analysis) for the current market conditions. Some people consider this book an essential “compass” and “map” for anyone embarking on the entrepreneurial journey for the first time to get more “Bangs for your Bucks”.

12. Startup from the Ground Up by Cynthia Kocialski (Startup Guide-book)

She is a talented writer and her book a handy resource for anyone with a new business idea, but isn’t sure where to begin. The book provides useful info to help you transform your idea into a business. You will learn how to take your service or product concept and translate it into a viable business model – as well as how to seek funding, then recruit & hire an effective team.

13. The $100 Startup by Chris Guille-beau [Hobby to Biz]

This is a book I enjoyed reading both for the pleasure of it and the value it provides. Beau gives a rousing case for creative thinking and how you can (& should) leverage your natural talent or long-loved hobby – to build a thriving business. He gives compelling case studies of somewhat-accidental, but passionate entrepreneurs who built businesses earning more than $50,000 from very modest budgets (often $100 or less). If you’re looking to build a small business that allows you to lead a independent lifestyle of adventure, meaning & purpose, this is the book that will point you in that direction.

14. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries (for Nerds)

This is a book you will find handy if you are looking to start a SW or technology-based business. Eric shares insightful stories & case studies from his experience with SW startups and other companies during the dot com boom – 1995-2001. He teaches the principles of Lean manufacturing and advocates continuous innovation to create a radically successful businesses. You will find this book especially valuable if you lack experience in creating & measuring the success of business processes.

He is credited for popularizing the important distinction between working “on” & working “in” your business. If you don’t know what the distinction is, you need to grab this underground bestseller and find out. The book will walk you through the entire steps in the life of a business from idea infancy, thru to the challenging pains of business adolescence and the sweet stage of business maturity, as well as dispel any myths surrounding starting a business that you may have. You will also learn how common place advice & assumptions can get in the way of establishing a successful business.

16. The Startup Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank [Encyclopedic guide approach]

If you are thinking of starting a Silicon Valley style scalable startup, this bestselling classic by a Silicon Valley serial-entrepreneur & academician is a near-encyclopedic guide you ought to get. The book offers a scientific approach to entrepreneurship that emphasizes on the need for “rigorous & repeated testing” to unlock the secret to startup success. The author draws from The Four Steps to the Epiphany, one of the most influential & practical customer development business book available. You wont draw a Blank !!!

17. Rework by Jason Fried & David Hansson (S-ays from a Blog)

This is a collection of essays drawn from the authors’ Design & Usability Blog, Signal vs. Noise by 37signals.com. The authors lay bare the philosophies & strategies that have helped propel 37signals to its enviable success – with the aim to inspire us to put the strategies into practice. If you would like to hear an alternative voice and learn how to make money as a primary goal in the early part of your startup, this is a quick-read book you should definitely get. Your mind wont feel Fried. In fact, you may feel Handsom !!!

18. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss [Web Biz]

It’s difficult to read The 4-Hour Workweek without feeling fired up & ready to go. The book is fun, inspirational + quite motivational. It teaches the intricacies of “How to create an automated income-generato”, that leaves you free to pursue your other passions, such as traveling. If you’ve heard of the Pareto Principle (otherwise known as the 80/20 rule), this book explores surprising applications of the principle and offers some useful info about building a successful Web business. Jump on this Ferris Wheel. You’ll enjoy the ride !!!

19. Flying Without a Net by Thomas DeLong (- Personality traits)

It isn’t exactly about how to start a business, but it explores a series of personality traits & anxieties among would-be entrepreneurs that often sabotage the very success high achievers seek when starting a venture. The book teaches how to draw strength from your vulnerability and adopt practices that give you the courage to “do the right things poorly” before “doing the right things well.” If you like a little psycho-analysis and would like to realign your entrepreneurial sensibilities, this is a book that should be at the top of your reading list. Dats de Long n de Short of it !!!

20. Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston [#1] (I’views of the Successful)

It’s a brilliant collection of interviews with successful entrepreneurs from the 80s & 90s sprinkled with an adequate dose of newer blood. The book is weighted more toward inspiration than technical instruction, but there is nothing quite like hearing the stories of the world’s most celebrated founders like Steve Wozniak (Apple) & Max Levchin (PayPal) tell us straight – “How it was for them in the very early days. You will hear how these entrepreneurs got the ideas that made them rich, launched their businesses, overcame start-up challenges and the lessons they learned along the way. If I could recommend only one book to a new entrepreneur, this would be it by Jest Living Stoned, no Livingston.

Conclusion: Now that you’ve seen the list and read the Intros of the ones that interested you the most, do a List by priority. Now go to the Internet and read the Summary of the book to decide whether you want to buy it. On some minor books, all you may need are the key points in the summary. Now go for it and become Successful !!! Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz

fm LifeHack.org 10-20 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz

For more Info, click on Best Books.