
When you’re first opening your new business, there’s a lot to manage. You need to make sure that you have the proper licenses. You need to train employees, and you need to have everything set up before your opening day. Plus, there’s the added pressure of being active on social media, and working on your marketing. As a small business ourselves, we understand how much pressure there is during those first few months.
As a new business owner, though, your work is never really done. There’s always something more to do, or something more to learn. As we’ve grown as a business, we’ve continued to educate ourselves and our employees. In fact, we’ve found quite a few business books that have helped us continue to improve. With that in mind, we’re listing the top five business books that every new business owner should take the time to read (or listen to as an audio book).
Number 1: Delivering Happiness
This business book covers the story of Zappos, and how it transformed itself from startup into a business that took the U.S. by storm. Written by former CEO Tony Hsieh, the book covers company culture and the importance of taking calculated risks. Most importantly, it also goes over how creating customer happiness is a sure way to success. It’s an easy read, and goes over a lot of principles that you can find in other business books in an easy-to-digest format. You can find a copy for yourself here.
Business Book 2: Leaders Eat Last
In Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek covers the importance of leading your team from the front. This means showing your employees that you’ll sacrifice as much for them as they will for you. It’s a great way to learn critical leadership skills to help when you gain more employees. Plus, it shows the importance of having a culture of trust within your organization. You can find a copy for yourself here.
Choice Number 3: The New Gold Standard
Not surprisingly, the Ritz Carlton has a lot to teach both new and old business owners alike. If you think that you should pass over this book because you’re not in the hospitality business, think again. It’s an amazing business book that teaches not just the importance of customer service, but also how to handle a “breakup” with a customer. It’s one of our favorites for showing how to spin a negative situation into a positive one with customers. You can get the book for yourself here.
Number 4: Never Lose a Customer Again
You can offer the best customer service in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t get the customer in the first place. Never Lose a Customer Again is one of our top books since it covers the fact that all interactions are with people. It doesn’t matter if you sell to other businesses or to customers. At the end of the day, there’s always a human behind each business. This is a great overview in how to not just make a sale, but also how to follow through afterwards to ensure that your customer remains happy. You can find the book here.
Business Book 5: Start with Why
We fully admit that we’re a fan of Simon Sinek’s work, so we have another one of his books on this list. Start with Why covers what makes a business truly great. If you learn what your business’s “why” is, then you’re more likely to succeed. It goes over some basic business principles and also includes things to watch out for as your business continues to grow. If you want a copy, then you can find it here.
Keep in mind as your organization grows, there will always be more to learn. We certainly continue to find new ways to continue to improve. However, you will make mistakes – and that’s okay. Part of growing as a business is learning what works and what doesn’t. With that being said, reading a few of these books will absolutely help you avoid some of the pitfalls that may come your way.
If you have a new business and want to make some connections in the area, you may want to stop by our monthly event, First Thursday. It’s a free business mixer we host, and we’d love to see you there.