What are your essential business blogs / newsletters / podcasts / forums?

[Kerwin]

I want to learn about business stuff as much as possible and I was curious what sources of information and news people here would recommend? I'm interested in everything from accounting to general hints and tips for business owners and everything inbetween.

I like to learn about things I don't know much about so would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[fisicx]

Not sure I have any essential sources. I tend to look at multiple websites to make sure they all agree.

General hints and tips are rarely of much use as each business is different. What helps a bloke cutting grass won't be much use for someone settings up a factory. The accounting for someone walking dogs will be very different to a lawyer employing staff.

You will probably be far better off asking specific questions related to your business.

I'm not a fan of podcasts. I like my information free of cruft but podcasts tend to waffle on and on and on then after 20 minutes you finally get something useful you can use.

UKBF is always a good starting point.

 

[Mark T Jones]

It really depends on your own style preferences and what you are hoping to learn

Having tried with your standard 'entrepreneur ' autobiographies and motivation/tips books, I moved on - there were a few nuggets, but far too many cliches, repetition and (in the bios) fake jeopardy.

These days I'd say, if you want to understand business I'd get knowledge on it's fundamentals

Economics
Marketing
Human psychology

I'd also throw in

Accounting and geopolitics.

 

[Kerwin]

Not sure I have any essential sources. I tend to look at multiple websites to make sure they all agree.

General hints and tips are rarely of much use as each business is different. What helps a bloke cutting grass won't be much use for someone settings up a factory. The accounting for someone walking dogs will be very different to a lawyer employing staff.

You will probably be far better off asking specific questions related to your business.

I'm not a fan of podcasts. I like my information free of cruft but podcasts tend to waffle on and on and on then after 20 minutes you finally get something useful you can use.

UKBF is always a good starting point.

Thank you. I've been reading UKBF for some time now but I do have a few questions I'd like to ask in the future. I'll keep my eye on things!

It really depends on your own style preferences and what you are hoping to learn

Having tried with your standard 'entrepreneur ' autobiographies and motivation/tips books, I moved on - there were a few nuggets, but far too many cliches, repetition and (in the bios) fake jeopardy.

These days I'd say, if you want to understand business I'd get knowledge on it's fundamentals

Economics
Marketing
Human psychology

I'd also throw in

Accounting and geopolitics.

Those subjects sound useful. Do you have any book recommendations? If not I'll do a bit of hunting myself to see what I can find. Thank you.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Dummies guides are always a good starting point - though it really depends on your opening level of interest and knowledge

For the basics of economics and a slightly different angle, I'd recommend The Undercover Economist and Freakonomics

For geopolitics Tim Marshall is readable

 

[Clinton]

Reddit! Pick the right "subs" and it's a million times better than many of the podcasts etc that I've checked out in the past. I visit Reddit more than I visit here nowadays.

 

[Martin Patfield]

Reddit! Pick the right "subs" and it's a million times better than many of the podcasts etc that I've checked out in the past. I visit Reddit more than I visit here nowadays.

Good shout on Reddit. It's not a platform I've ever really been able to get into, but have been using it more and more these last few months. Really knowledgable people, and help out there.

I like reading these forums seeing peoples questions and queries and seeing the responses. Easy to take in, and it's likely you will be in the same situation as the people asking the questions at some point in time.

Sometimes take a look at the MoneySavingExpert Forums which are relevent - again similar to viewing stuff here to see peoples problems and the responses:

Employment, jobseeking & training

Categories - Discuss employment rights, holiday pay and other work issues.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com

Cutting tax

Categories - No-one likes to pay more tax than necessary; get help from other MoneySavers to cut your tax bill.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com

Redundancy & redundancy planning

Categories - For help with questions about voluntary and compulsory redundancy.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com

I've put more effort into reading books in the last year or two for various reasons.
I am on the younger end of the scale with less experience so some may scoff at the list, but I am looking to grow and be better.

How To Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
The One Minute Manager - Dale Carnegie
Who Moved My Cheese - Spencer Johnson - --- really simple, but it makes you think!
Getting Past No - William Ury
Getting to Yes - William Ury / Roger Fish / Bruce Patton
What they don't teach you at Harvard Business School - Mark McCormack
Everything is Negotiable - Gavin Kennedy
How to Be a Winner - Nick Thornely / Dan Lees
First Break All The Rules - Marcus Buckingham / Curt Coffman
Now Discover Your Strengths - Marcus Buckingham / Donal o Clifton

Your Money Or Your Life - Vicki Robin
The Simple Path To Wealth - JL Collins
The Richest Man in Babylon - George Clason
The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel
I Will Teach You To Be Rich - Ramit Sethi
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki
How To Stop Worrying and Start Living - Dale Carnegie


Not read them all yet but a fair chunk.

 

[Clinton]

Good shout on Reddit. It's not a platform I've ever really been able to get into, but have been using it more and more these last few months. Really knowledgable people, and help out there.

My subject is mergers and acquisitions, selling / buying of businesses, and I get far better conversations on the topic there than I get even in LinkedIn (where I have a carefully crafted network of M&A professionals).

The business broker sub, for example, has a lot of US based brokers and M&A folk (and just a few UK ones), but it is still a useful repository of high level conversations on the subject.

Outside of the M&A subs, there are some excellent ones like Entrepreneur, SmallBusinessUK, SaaS and others - all huge subs with tons of very informative threads.

 

[Kerwin]

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you all! I'll be sure to check out everything that has been mentioned.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Your here this is the best site for a new start up
Been in business all my days and only ever used this site for leaning advice and reading and that is the honest truth.