You have to read these five entrepreneur books now!

So you have a great idea for a business.  You decided to take a leap of faith and start your own business. You get it started and dub yourself an honorary entrepreneur.  The problem with that is that most people that start businesses shouldn’t start businesses. Why? Because they don’t plan they just start.  These five entrepreneur books are a must read before you start your journey.

As a first time entrepreneur, you don’t know what you are good at.  

If you’ve been at it for a while you are just starting to figure out what you may be good at. Now, if this is not your first joyride then you definitely know what you are good at and what you are not.  However, no one shares the higher level of knowledge that is needed to really succeed as an entrepreneur.

What do you do when you feel like quitting.  Better yet, you are running around in circles with so much to do and have a task list of all the dirty work that needs to get done and you are completely and utterly unmotivated.  Then, there are the days where you sell yourself short and leave money on the table all because you didn’t know your worth. Oh and don’t forget the days you need to organize those darn recipes to do your taxes and wonder what the heck did I get myself into. Is this really worth it? Am I really making money?

The problem is that no one shares these things with you.

Your friends and family are on the opposite side of the tracks wondering why you would ever start your own business.  It’s just too much work.  Well, I’ve literally had 4 entrepreneurial journeys in my lifetime and this time I started off right.

I started with these five books that have really been fundamental to building my entrepreneurial foundation.  

Top 5 Entrepreneur Books you have to read today!

Crushing it

At this point, if you haven’t heard about Gary Vee then you must be living under a rock.  By now it sounds so cliche for people like me to say you have to read this book! Here’s the thing maybe you don’t know who Gary Vee is yet.  I’m sure there are still those out there that have no clue. I ran across Gary Vee during grad school at USC when Jab Jab Jab, Right Hook was assigned reading.  

In Crushing It, Gary Vee’s sequel to his personal manifesto.  He highlights some of my favorite influencers that are crushing it.  Three takeaways are that you don’t need a product to monetize your personal brand, social media presence is built on 7 principles such as intent, authenticity, passion, and patience to name a few and the one thing that’s been bugging me is …. don’t over think creating content just start documenting the journey.  I’m still struggling with that one. Partly, because I want to produce quality over content but then you get stuck in fear of not producing quality.  A never-ending fear cycle.

Badass your brand

I read this book in the first quarter of the year and was mind blown.  How I wish I had read it before I started all of my businesses.  One reason why was the profit to freedom rule (P2F). The first two years in business I was spending 90 to 100% of my time on client work.  I had no time for myself, my family, and I also had a full-time corporate job. The P2F rule states you should spend 50% on client work, 25% on building your brand, and 25% of your time doing whatever you like.  That was my problem I was so focused on client work that I never had time for branding and marketing my business. Now I make marketing Franco Innovative and my personal brand a priority.

Entrepreneurial you

I’m such a fan of Dorie Clark.  I read this as part of an entrepreneur book club I am a part of.  Truly the most foundational book that you should read. Not only is it dubbed one of the most important business books, this book is literally a guide to building a portfolio of revenue streams so that you can liberate your finances and control your destiny. Now that you have decided to launch your business think of this question?  When you start your business, unlike Badass Your Brand, what other ways can you add additional revenue streams other than your signature offer?

Profit First

After four different startups, I finally got my finances in order.  Did that catch your attention? I was young and dumb and that was my excuse for my past.  This time when I started Franco Innovative, I had a better grasp of my finances. I had a profit account or what we call the savings, and operating account, and a third account where all money goes through first.  After reading Profit First I made adjustments and started experiencing a true financial security that I had never felt before.

That’s why this book is of utmost importance when launching your business!  Profit first is a backward thinking approach to taking control of your business financials so that you don’t look good on paper.  You actually look good in the bank because let’s face it who doesn’t like money in the bank and start profiting from launch.

Start With Why

Finally, my recommendation for all business owners to read now is from my boyfriend in my head Simon Sinek.  I secretly have a schoolgirl crush on Simon Sinek. My girlfriend from Florida Winter Marketing Sophie Newman thinks I’m crazy, especially when I text her pictures of Simon Sinek and hearts on them. In his book Start with why you will learn what’s most fundamental to your business.  

That…  “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” – Simon Sinek

It all starts with why.  The reason why you are in business should be solely to inspire others.  I know what you are thinking I can’t pay bills that way. The truth is you can.  If you go back to Badass your brand you only need the right target audience that is the most paying and profitable.  How do you do that? With your why! Inspire your audience with your why to build a tribe that will follow you and what you do everywhere.

Start with why also shows you the importance of how to communicate your why.  Conversely, when you start with why you don’t need slimy sales tactics to sell your products or services.

If you are interested in more entrepreneur books, sign up for the monthly newsletter where I share my current read.  What book have you read that you would recommend to someone starting their business? Leave me a comment if you read any of these books or to share one with me.