What is the best book for small business? | Up and to the Right | Episode 059

Isn't it great?! You look in the business category on Amazon, Audible or your local library and there are SO many successful authors who want to help YOU!

Then the pit in your stomach starts to form as you try to figure out which ones are most relevant to your situation or the issues that you're currently facing. How do you choose the best book for small business?

In this episode we're going to try to figure that out!

Listen to or Download the Audio Podcast

What's here for You?

There are more than 70,000 books in the business category on Amazon and many on Audible. Which ones are worth your time as a small business owner? In episode 50 I talked about how to get the most out of the content we consume... in this episode I break down which content to choose.

What is the Best Book for Small Business?

Spoiler alert (yes, you knew this was coming) the 'best' book is going to be ones that work for your business. As such, 'best' becomes subjective. Here's a list of books I think can provide value for all business owners:

• The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
• Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
• Blink by Malcom Gladwell
• Presence by Amy Cuddy
• Start With Why by Simon Sinek
• The Dip by Seth Godin
• Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy
• Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

You'll notice that a number of these aren't business books. Entrepreneurship is an expression of self, successful entrepreneurship is an expression of our best selves.

While these are specific titles most of these authors have a number of titles that are worth your time.

Let's Get Practical

Any business content you read, watch, listen too etc. is only as valuable as its positive impact on your business. Passive listening to an audio book might tilt your decision making one way or another but if you value the author's opinion it's important to read, watch or listen with intent. How are you going to implement the ideas?

For me this means taking my time and reading slowly, stopping frequently and figuring out how a topic, suggestion or idea might impact my own business. Going slow is counterintuitive to most business owners but in my experience, it's worth it.

Rant on Book Length

While I just said going slow was a good idea I have to interject that most authors write too much. I'm not sure if authors feel a short book won't command a decent price on Audible or what. For my money, if you can get me the content in 40 pages and strengthen my business that's worth more than the same concepts delivered in 400 pages.

Rant over.

Working a Book

I talked about this same thing in Episode 50 but the value you'll get out of any particular media is proportional to the work you put in to transform your business using the knowledge you gain.

The best book for small business? Yeah... the one you're will to work.

Practical Action

Getting down to practical action we need to do

Choose books based on where you think gaps exist in your business. Rather than thinking of a book as a passive process... think of every book as a workbook.