Do you know how many books you’ve read during high school? It’s roughly 30 books. All the books you’ve read from primary school to university have served its purpose – to prepare you for employment. To prepare yourself for entrepreneurship, here is a list of recommended books that focus on what you need to succeed.

Why Do You Need to Read Books?

Over 80% of the rich people read books on education, career-related, or self-improvement. If these highly successful people who know the ins and outs of their businesses continue to read, then it follows that if you want to achieve their success, one of the things that need to be done is to read.

The biggest mistake of people who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur is to look for or think about the next big thing. Don’t get me wrong, people with entrepreneurial mindsets are constantly on the lookout for opportunities, but learning to think and act like an entrepreneur is far more important. You don’t study your lessons while taking an exam.

Attitude Versus Aptitude

When I compiled this list of recommended books to read, I listed all the books in alphabetical order with the intention of dividing it equally into two groups – books that prepare you to be an entrepreneur and other books to read as an entrepreneur. Imagine how surprised I was when after dividing, exactly 80% or 25 books fell under preparation, while the rest of the books are more related to skills.

Zig Ziglar said, “Success is 80% attitude, 20% aptitude.” True enough, most of the books here focus on attitude. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to understand how an entrepreneur thinks, and the habits of successful people.

Grow yourself and be prepared. The books here serve as a foundation for you to launch a successful startup.

Books to Prepare You for Entrepreneurship

  1. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau
  2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
  3. The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World by Chris Gillebeau
  4. Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! by Anthony Robbins
  5. Click Millionaires: Work Less, Live More with an Internet Business You Love by Scott Fox
  6. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
  7. Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell
  8. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
  9. The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs by Kevin Johnson
  10. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway: Dynamic Techniques for Turning Fear, Indecision, and Anger into Power, Action, and Love by Susan Jeffers
  11. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap And Others Don’t by Jim Collins
  12. The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
  13. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
  14. The Law of Success: In Sixteen Lessons by Napoleon Hill
  15. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous
  16. Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
  17. The New One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Johnson Spencer
  18. The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
  19. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach their Kids About Money that
  20. The Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert Kiyosaki
  21. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
  22. The Seasons of Life by Jim Rohn
  23. See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar
  24. The Startup of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha
  25. Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude by Napoleon Hill and W. Stone
  26. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  27. Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your
  28. Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson

Books to Grow Your Business

  1. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher
  2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
    Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
  3. The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier than
  4. You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy
  5. To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel Pink