That’s why we’ve collected a selected list of the best small business books that will help you improve your leadership skills, get more productive, and hone your marketing skills.

But, don’t worry; that doesn’t mean you need to take a time-consuming course, much less go for an MBA. Fortunately, there are so many ways to gain knowledge. One of the easiest and most accessible ways is simply to read a good book or two.

So, what should you add to your reading list this year? We’ve rounded up the top five must-read books for small business owners.

5 Best small business management books

1. Traction

Full title: Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

By Gino Wickman

Focus: Staying in control and avoiding burnout

Every small business owner can relate to feeling stressed, unfocused and ready to throw in the towel. Feeling frustrated, burned out and overwhelmed are common problems for all entrepreneurs and business owners.

Traction aims to help you overcome those challenges by implementing The Entrepreneurial Operating System®, a method Wickman designed for achieving the business success. This book is brimming with tools and techniques that will help you regain control over yourself and your business through a strategic, measured process.

Best of all, Wickman’s writing is straightforward and easy to read, making it accessible to everyone (no MBA necessary!).

2. Start With Why

Full title: Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone

By Simon Sinek

Focus: Developing leadership skills

Every small business owner can benefit from developing strong leadership skills, whether you employ just one person or have a staff of 50—and this book argues that inspired leadership is a key factor for success. Sinek explains that all great leaders think, act, and communicate in the same way, and this common behavior is the key to successfully building businesses, organizations, and movements.

To become an inspired leader, Sinek tells readers that they must reconnect with the reasons why they started their business in the first place (hence, it all starts with “why?”). Sinek explains that by focusing again on why you started your business—as opposed to the day-to-day of running it—you will feel reinvigorated and become better able to inspire your employees.

3. Smarter Faster Better

Full title: Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

By Charles Duhigg

Focus: Improving productivity

If you’re looking to boost your productivity, this is the book for you. Smarter Faster Better centers on eight key productivity concepts—motivation, goal setting, and decision-making—that explain how the most productive people and companies get so much more done.

Duhigg draws upon both research findings and anecdotal experiences to explain what drives productivity and how the reader can become more productive on a personal and professional level. Duhigg gives you the insights and tools to build work smarter and harder across all aspects of your business—from building better teams to making better decisions and optimizing your time as well.

4. Grit

Full title: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

By Angela Duckworth

Focus: Working hard to achieve results

Pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth delivers an extremely powerful message in Grit: No matter what natural-born talents you’ve been given, you can become the best version of yourself through plain hard work and perseverance.

She explains how anyone—from students to parents and athletes to business owners—can achieve success with “grit,” which Duckworth defines as a special combination of passion and persistence.

Through research and anecdotes, Grit shows that success is not based on talent but on passion and a strong work ethic. She tells readers how and why they can achieve their goals as long as they are committed to working hard for it.

5. The Power of Broke

By Daymond John

Focus: Bootstrapping

If you think your bootstrapping is holding you back, read this book and think again. Author, FUBU founder, and ABC’s Shark Tank star Daymond John humbly started his business with only $40 in his pocket.

John’s lack of financial resources drove him to be more innovative and dream up creative, cost-efficient campaigns that eventually launched his fashion brand FUBU into a $6 billion dollar global phenomenon. But had he started with more funds, he might never have had the desperation to do things differently.

The Power of Broke explains how financial strife can be your greatest competitive advantage as an entrepreneur or small business owner because it inspires and demands creative thinking. Being “broke” forces you to use resources more efficiently and strategically because there is no room for loss.

6 Best marketing books for small business

 1. Everybody Writes

Full title: Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

by Ann Handley

Focus: Writing good content

As a business owner, you do a lot of marketing writing. Make your writing sharper, smarter and more meaningful with this fantastic book by Marketing Prof’s Chief Content Officer Ann Handley.

2. Positioning

Full title: Position: The Battle for Your Mind

by Al Reis and Jack Trout 

Focus: Branding

A must-read to understand customer communication, and business branding, including positioning your business goals vis a via your competitors.

3. Likeable Social Media

Full title: Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on with Your “SMM” Social Media Marketing Efforts on Facebook (& Other Social Networks)

by Dave Kerpen

Focus: Branding on social media

Dave practices what he preaches when it comes to being the most likable guy online. This read will help you connect better to your users or customers online, and teach you how to build a strong (and likable) brand. 

4. Be Our Guest

Full title: Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service

by Theodore Kinni 

Focus: Giving great customer service

Learn from the Pros at Disney how to perfect customer service, and help your users fall in love with your brand.

5. Maximize Your Social

Full title: Maximize Your Social: A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing and Business Success.

by Neal Schaffer

Focus: Social media marketing

Neal is one of the leading experts today in all things social ,so his book is a must-read for any business owner. Pick this up o and you can ramp up your social (and your profits) through social media.

6. Scaling Up Excellence

Full title: Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less

by Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao

Focus: How to scale up a business

Included in Inc.com’s list of 10 Best Business Books of 2014, this book deals with how to successfully grow and scale your business to maximize success. Add it to your reading list.

The post 11 best books for small business owners appeared first on WiseStamp.

It requires an equal balance between different roles while ensuring a good environment. For the community at large and the school itself.

Beyond disciplining students and evaluating teachers, you want your students to excel academically and your teachers to excel personally. It’s up to you to be a role model, an inspiration to your students as well as your staff.

Authors have put their thoughts and strategies on paper so others can benefit from their wisdom and experience. Below are the best books for educators.

Here are the top 10 back-to-school books that will help your job as a principal to be more effective. In addition, If you enjoy reading here are the most recommended books for startup owners.

1. If You Don’t Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students!

Guide to Success for Administrators and Teachers is a practical guide full of tips, for making a difference in students’ lives. It gives you tools on how to improve the school’s atmosphere. Establishes a healthy climate for teaching, student, and parents. It is a funny but sensible book, and well worth picking up. 

Review 4.5/5
Price: $16.99

2. Being a Successful Principal

The book has several different short stories that are based on real events and situations. It’s very similar to “chicken soup for the soul” but just for educators. Each short story has a special mention that can help you guide as a principal.

Topics covered include communication, mediating conflict, trusting yourself and others, and standing your ground (even in quicksand). A truly enjoyable read!

Review 4.7/5
Price: $29.57

3. Bully-Free Classroom

The book’s full name is kind of a mouth full – “The New Bully Free Classroom: Proven Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Teachers K-8”, but the book itself is very comprehensive. Dealing with the topic has garnered much publicity in the past few years.

It has a unique take on the subject in that it doesn’t automatically condemn bullies or coddle victims, but rather displays a more comprehensive understanding of all sides of the issue.

The book includes chapters for empowering bystanders, helping targets, and helping those who bully with over 100 activities. Discussions, projects, and 40 reproducible handouts for students and teachers. It can be implemented immediately and can help make the classroom a place where all students are free to learn without fear.

The new edition also deals with cyber-bullying. A very important solution-based book

Review: 4.8/5
Price: $40.08

4. What They Don’t Tell You in Schools of Education about School Administration

One of the best books for educators, possibly the all-time best-selling book on school administration. It is an assigned text in many graduate education courses on school administration. Like no other book on this subject written before, it is about swimming with the sharks and surviving.

It’s one of the best-selling books of all time, and I’ll tell you why! This book gives practical advice that principals can incorporate into their daily jobs. It presents all sides of the story such as seasoned administrators, teachers, and school board members. It represents the administration as it is!

This book made the reading list for many graduate courses. It is a grounded book that gives the reader a real-life view of how it’s like to be the head of the school administration.

Review 3.6/5
Price $34.06

5. What Great Principals Do Differently

The book “What Great Principals Do Differently, Eighteen Things That Matter Most” describes the qualities and practices of great principals.

These include: developing an accurate sense of self, understanding the dynamics of change, and dealing with negative or ineffective staff members. All issues are essential to everyday management and well within a principal’s sphere of influence.

It’s a fine blend of theory and practice. This back-to-school book is research-based, practical, and doable.

Review: 4.6/5
Price: $16.95

6. School Leadership That Works

From Research to Results by Robert J. Marzano, Timothy Waters, and Brian A. McNulty

School Leadership That Works: From Research to Results is for the more academically inclined. It is based upon the meta-analysis of 69 studies conducted since 1970. That met the authors’ selection criteria, as well as on a recent survey of more than 650 principals.

The authors developed a list of 21 leadership responsibilities that had a significant effect on the student’s achievements. In order to have a significant effect on students, there must be specific behaviors associated with these responsibilities. By using a framework of 11 factors and 39 action steps.

This back-to-school book is a guide based on research to create strong school leadership.

Review: 4.6/5
Price: $17.98

7. The Principal’s Survival Guide

“The Principal’s Survival Guide: Where Do I Start? How Do I Succeed? When Do I Sleep?” by Susan Stone Kessler, April M. Snodgrass, and Andrew T. Davis is one of the best books for educators.

The Principal’s Survival Guide is a collaborative effort between three veteran principals who succeeded in helping students achieve success by connecting with their families and teachers.

It is a practical guide, with solutions geared to today’s technological reality. For example, they recommend texting students to gain honest input or sending short complimentary emails to teachers to make them feel appreciated and validated.

These experts show how to lead and make difficult decisions while guiding students and the school at large. The authors’ vast knowledge and passion really shine through.

Review: 4.9/5
Price: $23.99

8. The Mis-Education of the Negro

Before you rail against this book title, read about the book. The book Mis-Education of the Negro was originally published in the 1933’s by Carter G. Woodson.

This book is less of a guide and more of a storytelling book that everyone should read. Despite what you are told or have been thought you must do things for yourself. That message right there is important for all faculty members to understand.

Dr. Woodson bases his book on the black days, where culturally speaking colored skin was looked down upon. African Americans were not given the proper tools to succeed in school or in anything for that matter. Dr. Woodson enforced his community to change their mindset to “do for themselves” regardless of what they were taught. Great novel one of the best books for educators.

” In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.”

Dr. Woodson

Reviews: 4.5/5
Price: $10.47

9. The Results Fieldbook

The Fieldbook explores how to measure school improvement and success. It points out tactics and strategies that are already in front of your fingertips.

This is definitely one of the best books for principals, the Fieldbook provides five school systems that overcame hardships and obstacles. All students in the system had an exceptional outcome by the strategies used in the book. Using teamwork, proper use of achievement data, and planning for measurable goals is what made the difference.

If you want to be a better teacher, professor, principal read this back-to-school book.

Review: 4/5
Price: $8.35 -$17.00

10. BRAVO Principal!

Building Relationships with Actions that Value Others is based on a cute acronym (BRAVO: Building Relationships with Actions that Value Others). This book is full of action-oriented suggestions accompanied by personal vignettes. Chapters include examples of actions that are: empowering, respectful, and making people feel important, upholding high standards, and being courageous. 

This book reminds you that ultimately, your success is built on the positive impact you can make on the people you are involved with – students and teachers alike.

Review: 5/5
Price: $34.95

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“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”

Creativity Inc. 

By Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace is a fascinating in-depth look into the world of Pixar. Named one of the best books of 2014 by The Huffington Post, Financial Times, Success, Inc., and the Library Journal, Creativity Inc. will give you insight into what it takes to continuously break the mold to persistently create amazing things.

Zero to One

Written by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters stems based on a course about startups that Thiel taught at Stanford in 2012. Zero to One is the meticulous notes of one student (Blake Masters), revised for a wider audience. Recommended by such entrepreneurs as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, Zero to One will challenge the way you think and force you to answer questions that will help push your startup forward.

The Lean Startup

This book is by Eric Ries begins with the experience of Ries himself has with “sitting in a dorm” and “inventing the future”. His premise is that startups can organize the development of their product in a much better way than they currently are. They should do this by treating their startup like an experiment. This book comes highly recommended by WiseStamp’s co-founder Josh Avnery and many other startup entrepreneurs.

The Checklist Manifesto

This book by Atul Gawande is perhaps told from a medical surgeon’s point of view, but it applies to professionals in any field. Gawande’s claims that failing in the modern world is more of a result of “ineptitude” because of ignorance or not knowing enough.

He suggests that in our complex world even experts require checklists and that this checklist can vastly improve results. This book is valuable for its assertions but is also beautifully written and offers some fun vignettes. According to Business Insider, Jack Dorsey includes The Checklist Manifesto in a welcome kit he gives to all new employees.

Built To Sell

John Warrillow shares the top tips for small business owners at each stage of their business. The book dedicates each chapter to creating a unique product, setting up processes and building teams, and automating your business. Learn how to create value and agile business that adapts accordingly.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

This book by Ben Horowitz is about Ben’s journey to success. While he doesn’t impart any secret formula, he does share details of his struggle. Understanding the need to separate facts from perception and the understanding that “there are no short-cuts to knowledge” are two important lessons that can be found in this important book.

Horowitz shares profound insights into what it takes to build a successful startup and he does it with tremendous flair, making this book such a reading delight.

Hooked

Hooked by Nir Eyal should be required reading for all startup founders looking to build a product that will heavily engage users. Understanding how our emotions play a major role in driving our behavior is one of the more fascinating discussions in the book. If it is properly applied to a product, a new habit can be formed and with it a potential startup success..

The Four Steps to the Epiphany

Steve Blank takes the reader through a tough but necessary read that will teach you that products are an illusion of startup success. Blank will then go on to impart the most fundamental question a startup founder can ask himself – “where are the customers?”.

This informative and valuable book will provide you with concrete examples and skills that will give you insight into the sales and marketing required to build a successful startup.

The E-Myth Revisited 

The book by Michael E. Gerber was written to help startups develop predictably and productively. It dispels many myths entrepreneurs have about building a business and provides them with powerful insights that will help them through the stages of infancy and adolescence to maturity.

It is both an entertaining read and a valuable guide that will help startup founders understand that building a business is a never-ending quest to learn more and be more.

The $100 StartUp

Written by Chris Guillebeau is an easy-to-read book filled with inspiring stories of entrepreneurs who have found ways to turn their life’s passions into income. Perhaps aimed at small businesses, it motivates big ones to think creatively, encouraging them to push beyond their limits.

Conclusion

The most important lesson when reading startup business books is to forget what you think you know and be open to gaining further insight. Try and relate your business to the context of the book.

Find the connection between what is said and what you have been applying to your own business. Here it is, The best books to read to push your business forward! Don’t miss out on the chance to channel your uttermost creative self in the business world.

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