Good business books worth a read?

[Mason1985]

After a bit of new year inspiration.

Anything from generalist books to autobiog's.

After a few good reads, any recommendations greatly appreciated.

 

[toastking]

I always recommend this one, Ricardo Semlers Autobiography. Its inspiring.

Duncan Bannatynes is also a good laugh and Richard Bransons isn't as smug as I thought it might be. All worth a read. If you like your football then Alex Fergusons wont be beaten on that front (or Di Canios if you want a crazier life story).

All are inspiring in their own ways.

Can never remember better examples, so I am going to go away and think!

 

[Steve Sellers]

Chitty on contract!

 

[Working First Aid]

I've just finished reading "How to get rich" - I very much recommend it...

Also, consider Adwords for dummies as a PPC starting point.

I have many business books I have delved in to at some point or another, but those two really stand out.

As a non business specific book, but as something that will help you when considering your market as a whole, as well as how it is really just a small cog in a very large machine, consider reading "Memoires of a stock operator". It's old & it's about trading shares - but the clues about crowd mentality, personal psychology & asset management are still very relevant today...

 

[Phil Richardson]

I have just finished reading Tough Calls by Allan Leighton which I would definately recommend.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/18479405...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=1847940528

 

[Multi-store]

first break all the rules

good book to start off with about people management

 

[Moneyman]

both books by felix denis.
he did it and speaks from experience.

dont buy the ones from people who got rich by writing get rich books or doing seminars. especially people in sales or advertising. buy how to do sales books by all means but dont buy their how to run a company stuff. try to buy either product or services books depending on what you do as they are both very different types of businesses.

Also avoid the branding books. Get the product first, then the branding. Too may startups are all brand and no focus on the actual concept.

 

[HFE Signs]

I liked Richard Branson's to be honest, but don't expect to come away an entrepreneur.. this is something you can't learn, you're born this way.. enjoy

 

[Working First Aid]

I forgot about "Losing my Virginity". Aye, that's a good read - although in terms of usefulness from a business perspective I think the only real thing I took away from it was the area of perseverance in the face of adversity.

 

[MikeJ]

Probably the thing that inspired me the most was Lee Iacocca's autobiography. I first read it in the late 80s, and still read it most years.

 

[Mason1985]

Thanks to the above.

Read Branson's and loved it.

Have put a few purchases in and look forward to reading.

 

[subtlesandy]

Ricardo Semler - Maverick. Written originally in Brazilian Portuguese but a fabulous read. Inspiring and completely bespoke. Anything written about or by Nicolas Hayek is truely excellent too.

 

[Freelancer87]

Seth Godin's - "Purple Cow".

 

[toastking]

Seth Godin's - "Purple Cow".

Did you really like him? I felt his books are dreary and everything that is wrong with the industry. There are a lot of books making their authors a lot of money for a book that contains just three things.

1 - boasting
2 - anecdotes, some of which will have 'facts' that are wrong and these are supposed to teach you lessons
3- 90% of a book telling you what the book is going to tell you.

If purple cow is different to the others then can you give any impression as to why? I hear such good things and I just cannot see it anything I have read by the man!

 

[johnp341]

The e-myth revisited: why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it by michael e. gerber.
Excellent book.

 

[Working First Aid]

The e-myth revisited: why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it by michael e. gerber.
Excellent book.

I had this delivered yesterday and read the first three chapters or so last night.

It was painful. Very painful.

It has got a lot of positive reviews though so I'll keep on trying with it, but if it stays the same by chapter six I'm going to have to bin it...

 

[internetspaceships]

Probably the thing that inspired me the most was Lee Iacocca's autobiography. I first read it in the late 80s, and still read it most years.

You know what? I was about to post exactly the same thing.

 

[WHARTY]

The book that got me started in business was by Napoleon Hill, "Think And Grow Rich". A truly brilliant read. I must have read it 20 times in two years!

I would also suggest Debora Meadens book "common sense rules" that too is a very good read.

 

[internetspaceships]

I'll go get Deborah's book and give it a go Wharty. I didn't like the other one though I found it to be remarkably patronising and lacking in real content. Admittedly it may have got better after chapter 3 but by that point I'd given up on it.

 

[rosstailor]

trust agents

 

[Alan R Price]

The e-myth revisited: why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it by michael e. gerber.
Excellent book.

In my view, this is the best business book ever written. Anybody running a small business should read it.

Also, almost anything by Brad Sugars is worth a go.

 

[captaincloser]

Also, almost anything by Brad Sugars is worth a go.

Is this a serious recommendation for Brad Sugars ???

Brad Sugars is an Australian businessman reckoning to be worth a billion dollars and runs one of the worst business franchises ever..selling to well intentioned business coaches for huge sums of money and ongoing royalties. He has been exposed 101 times on the internet. Check bluemaumau.net for starters. He has made his money from the misery of others.

He has lost more lawsuits in the past few years than I have had hot dinners and he spends a huge proportion of his ill gotten earnings 'correcting' the internet...he is a modern day highwayman...He literally rewrites the internet and builds sites warning people about phoney coaching franchises...of which he is the ringleader.He has people working full time taking down reports about him under the word scam.

None of his books were written by him they are all much plagiarized from very much better authors and over the years the starred comments on Amazon have mainly been proven to come from his own staff and blinded franchisees.

The churn rate of his franchise in the UK has been abysmal..hundreds have lost huge sums of money on this false prophet.The only people to stick have been a couple of master franchisees who make most of their money from chasing down the franchisees when they leave for outstanding money on the franchise. A wreckers game.

If you took any one of the Sugars books and add up the years he has been in so many businesses and then multiply it by the 15 odd books the guy has had around 300 jobs spanning over 800 years. A true messiah.

Snake oil personified.Almost all recommendations for Sugars come from his latest disciples all of whom see through him in time.

Personally never owned his franchise but know around 40 who did.

Read his books ? I don't think so

 

[Alan R Price]

Is this a serious recommendation for Brad Sugars ???

Brad Sugars is an Australian businessman reckoning to be worth a billion dollars and runs one of the worst business franchises ever..selling to well intentioned business coaches for huge sums of money and ongoing royalties. He has been exposed 101 times on the internet. Check bluemaumau.net for starters. He has made his money from the misery of others.

He has lost more lawsuits in the past few years than I have had hot dinners and he spends a huge proportion of his ill gotten earnings 'correcting' the internet...he is a modern day highwayman...He literally rewrites the internet and builds sites warning people about phoney coaching franchises...of which he is the ringleader.He has people working full time taking down reports about him under the word scam.

None of his books were written by him they are all much plagiarized from very much better authors and over the years the starred comments on Amazon have mainly been proven to come from his own staff and blinded franchisees.

The churn rate of his franchise in the UK has been abysmal..hundreds have lost huge sums of money on this false prophet.The only people to stick have been a couple of master franchisees who make most of their money from chasing down the franchisees when they leave for outstanding money on the franchise. A wreckers game.

If you took any one of the Sugars books and add up the years he has been in so many businesses and then multiply it by the 15 odd books the guy has had around 300 jobs spanning over 800 years. A true messiah.

Snake oil personified.Almost all recommendations for Sugars come from his latest disciples all of whom see through him in time.

Personally never owned his franchise but know around 40 who did.

Read his books ? I don't think so

I'm not recommending anybody signs up to an ActionCoach franchise or saying that Brad Sugars came up with all the ideas in his books. I don't know whether you have ever read any of those books. I have read most of them. Putting aside any prejudices one might have against him as an individual (I find him arrogant, self-satisfied, smug and generally rather unpleasant) or against the concept of the Action franchise (one of my pals got "bitten"), books such as Instant Profit, Instant Cashflow and Instant Systems however really do contain a lot of excellent business ideas and advice, much of which we have put into practice in my business to great effect.

 

[captaincloser]

Point taken. We all can only speak as we find and if the books helped your business thats great.

Apparently, nobody simply nobody, for love nor money has been able to stand the guy within his own set up and all the things you say resonate with what others have told me. He has issues that is for sure.

I forgot to say that Dale Carnegie is the daddy of them all as far as business books are concerned. Old as the hills but his books mean as much today as the day they were written.

 

[RBS]

consider reading "Memoires of a stock operator". It's old & it's about trading shares - but the clues about crowd mentality, personal psychology & asset management are still very relevant today...

Reminded me of movie "Boiler room".

 

[MichaelM]

• Losing my Virginity (Richard Branson)
• The Financial Times Guide to Business Start-up (Sara Williams)

But the best of all:

• Who Moved my Cheese (Spencer Johnson)

This is a fantastic change-management book and has inspired everybody I've leant it to.

 

[Alan R Price]

Point taken. We all can only speak as we find and if the books helped your business thats great.

Apparently, nobody simply nobody, for love nor money has been able to stand the guy within his own set up and all the things you say resonate with what others have told me. He has issues that is for sure.

I forgot to say that Dale Carnegie is the daddy of them all as far as business books are concerned. Old as the hills but his books mean as much today as the day they were written.

Agreed. How to win Friends . . . is a great book. We should all give it to our kids when they hit 13! Although they probably wouldn't read it.

 

[maxh]

Never Eat Alone, I forget the author.

Essentially anything that encourages strong networking via giving/reciprocity and genuinely helping people out.

I've rarely said "No" to someone after free business/SEO advise and as a result always have more clients than I can service.

50 Secrets from the social science of persuasion is also great, as is anything by Chialdini.

EDIT: On the Chialdini book. I have bought 3 and my father has bought 15 copies of the book. Every time we lend it to someone it is never returned, that's how good it is.

 

[I Love Spreadsheets]

I have found that the vast majority of business books spend 90% of the book telling you what the book is going to tell you and as a result are a complete waste of time. Here are a few that I have found to be different.

Guerrilla Marketing - Any book by Jay Levinson. I've yet to find a Guerrilla marketing idea I could lift directly from these books and use but they always seem to get me thinking about my marketing in the right way. I always get these in an audio format and listen to them whilst out and about. It seems to work better that way.

Masters of Doom - This is the story behind the creation of ID software (The makers of the Doom and Quake games). Its a bit of an oddball one to include as a business book but it does run through how they set the business up and expanded it whilst slipping through the fingers of a whole range of top software companies.

Get off you Arse by Brad Burton. Not a massive business book but this book actually motivated to get on with my business idea. If I hadnt read it I would still be planning my start up 3 years later

 

[internetspaceships]

Never Eat Alone, I forget the author.

Essentially anything that encourages strong networking via giving/reciprocity and genuinely helping people out.

I fully support this method because "what goes around comes around" is more than just a saying.

 

[toastking]

I fully support this method because "what goes around comes around" is more than just a saying.

Whilst its a great theory and I wish everyone would stick to it, all too often people get away with things and profit from them whilst millions more are better people and get screwed over for their time.

It may sound pessimistic but the world just isn't fair enough for what goes around comes around. I wish it was but too many people just want to know what they are going to get out of it.

 

[Tom McClelland]

An oldy but goody.

I found "What they don't teach you at the Harvard Business School" by Mark McCormack to be full of excellent advice about running companies and sales.

 

[Ross Webster]

A lot of good books covered already.

A few ones I read recently (or rather 'listened' - I do audiobooks during commute!):

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor - interesting book about how happiness doesn't follow success, but rather that success follows happiness. Some very interesting points.

Anything You Want by Derek Sivers - a quick business biography by a very down to earth entrepreneur. I very much enjoyed it.

 

[RBS]

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor - interesting book about how happiness doesn't follow success, but rather that success follows happiness. Some very interesting points.

Just downloaded, if anybody wants, PM me your email address.

 

[altwebdesign]

I put my life against this:
http://simonmiddleton.com/books

What you need to know about marketing - brilliant read!

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Alan Sugar Autobiography- A good read, takes quite a while because its a thick book. One down side for me is he skipped the bit about where he got his pilots licence and wrote a good few chapters about his football career

Alan Sugar The Way I See It- Starts off good, but weakens as it goes along. He did include a bit about pilots licence so that please me

Duncan Bannatynes Autobiography- This is a good one, 'rags to riches' story. Plus no boring drool over football.

Theo Pathetis Autobiography- Average book. Also contains a few chapters about football- helps you get to sleep.

Duncan Bannatyne Wake up and change your life- Great for small businesses and really inspiring.