The best 56 Small Businesses books

Rework (2010) throws out the traditional notions of what it takes to run a business and offers a collection of unorthodox advice, ranging from productivity to communication and product development.

These lessons are based on the authors’ own experiences in building, running and growing their company to a point where it generates millions of dollars in profits annually.

The Art of the Start offers a brief overview of some of the key aspects of starting and running a business. It covers topics such as pitching for funding, recruiting the right people, and building a successful brand.

The $100 Startup is a guide for people who want to leave their nine-to-five jobs to start their own business. Drawing from case studies of 50 entrepreneurs who have started microbusinesses with $100 or less, Guillebeau gives advice and tools on how to successfully define and sell a product, as well as how to grow your business from there.

One Simple Idea (2015) argues that it takes only passion and one simple, marketable idea to start your own business. The book shows how building long-term partnerships with your manufacturers and vendors can help your business run smoothly, and how catering to your customers' needs and desires helps you sell your product on the market. In short, One Simple Idea gives concrete, firsthand advice for anyone who wants to get their one simple idea off the page and out into the world.

CRUSH IT! is a motivational text, a blueprint and guide for those who want to translate their passion into a business. Using the author’s life as an example, this book details how everyone can “crush it,” i.e., realize the possibility of living their passion, determining their livelihood and making a living off of what they love to do.

In a revised and updated version of his famous book The E-Myth, author Michael Gerber cuts through various myths about what’s involved in starting a small business and how to make a business successful. Walking you through every stage of how to build a business, The E-Myth Revisited highlights the important difference between working in your business and working on your business.

Smart People Should Build Things explores the dangerous consequences of top students’ career choices in the United States, and offers practical solutions to reset the country’s course toward prosperity by encouraging students to adopt an entrepreneurial attitude. Along the way, the author provides solid advice for budding entrepreneurs on their first adventure into business.

Zero to One explores how companies can better predict the future and take action to ensure that their startup is a success. The author enlivens the book’s key takeaways with his own personal experiences.

Traction (2014) explains why the success of every start-up depends not only on its products, but on the customer base it builds. Weinberg and Mares present proven methods for gaining customers, and help you choose the best for each growth phase of your company. With a bit of Traction, you’ll win – and develop – the audience your product deserves.

Make Your Mark features the wisdom and tips of 21 of the most successful entrepreneurs and creatives of the last few years. These artists, coders, developers and writers share the secrets and ideas that have helped them take their respective markets by storm.

Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! (2011) outlines the essential, interconnected elements you need to know that affect your company’s longevity and growth. Through a series of simple steps, you can create a more productive workplace to ultimately boost performance and build greater wealth.

The Personal MBA contains everything you need to know in business. Today, true business leaders are forged through their own experience and personal research, not in universities. From developing your idea to sealing a deal, these blinks guide you through the entire process of becoming a self-made business success story.

Cradle to Cradle (2009) exposes the fundamental flaws of manufacturing and the damage it inflicts upon our environment, even as we attempt to be eco-friendly. These blinks also introduce you to ways in which you can make a positive impact on the planet, and guide you through the process of rethinking your business in order to become eco-efficient.

Evergreen (2015) is about keeping your business fresh and staving off stagnation that threatens its survival. Fleming outlines a philosophy that puts customers at the center of a company’s strategy, challenges conventional business wisdom and offers concrete advice for building long-term profitability.

From groceries to ski-slope access to MP3s – today all kinds of businesses operate by subscription, and everyone from giants like Amazon to small local firms are benefitting. The Automatic Customer breaks down the multiple models you can use to tap into the power of subscriptions, explains how to measure your new success, and gives you tips on keeping up the good work.

Accounting Made Simple (2013) provides a brief introduction to the fundamentals of accounting, illustrating how to read the most important financial statements and draw a conclusion about the numbers. It also outlines the double-entry ledger system, a hallmark of accounting best practices.

Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited (2014) describes the basic principles governing behavior online and explains how you can build a website that delivers a great user experience. Also included is a simple guide to help you test a website at each stage of its development.

Build for Change (2014) sheds light on the changing relationships between customers and businesses. By explaining the inner workings of customer loyalty and highlighting the importance of new technological developments, these blinks equip businesses with the tools they need to create a powerful and sustainable customer base.

Clients First (2013) reveals how honesty, competence and compassion can become the keys to great success in your company by creating strong and trusting relationships with clients. The authors offer some excellent insights drawn from their own experience, having gone from flat broke to wildly successful real estate agents in just a few years.

The Startup-Playbook (2012) gives you business-building tips straight from the founders of some of the world’s biggest start-ups. By conducting interviews with the founders of companies like LinkedIn and Spanx, the author uncovers what you need to do to make it big.

Anything You Want (2011) is a guide to realizing your dream business, which is easier than you might think. These blinks will teach you why the conventional ideas of amassing tons of money, consultants and technology are all wrong, and that the real key to success is you and your stellar ideas.

Rocket (2015) is an inside look at the success of brands like Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret, whose rapid rise had nothing to do with luck. These blinks share the proven science of brand building that propelled companies like these to such impressive growth and immense success.

How to Start a Start-up (2015) is a practical guide to founding your own company. From pitching for funding to hiring employees, these blinks offer tips, strategies and insights about the first steps a start-up should take to forge a path toward solid, sustainable growth.

Do More Faster (2011) presents a step-by-step guide to launching your start-up. It’s crucial to stay on track as you move toward success, from honing your ideas to finding the right team and getting investors. The author also stresses the importance of the work-life balance while showing you how to do more faster.

SEO 2016 (2015) is your definitive guide to mastering search engine optimization. These blinks will explain the essential workings of Google’s ranking algorithm and outline strategies to increase your website’s visibility and help you climb higher in search engine rankings.

The Power of Broke (2016) reveals how starting a business with a limited budget doesn’t have to be a disadvantage. With the right perspective, one can harness the Power of Broke to produce astounding creativity. With this fresh look at the business world, you’ll stop seeing money – or a lack thereof – as a barrier to entrepreneurship, because the truth is, anyone with the right idea and a can-do attitude can start a business. So what are you waiting for?

Managing Online Reputation (2015) offers insight into how companies and CEOs who don’t know how to manage social media and the internet can damage their reputations. Find out how one small incident with an unhappy customer can spiral into a tornado of negative posts and angry tweets. More importantly, find out how you can prevent this from happening to you.

80/20 Internet Lead Generation (2015) reveals how your business can take advantage of the internet’s lead generation potential. From SEO to pay-per-click advertising to content creation, simple and actionable strategies are what you’ll need to get your business ahead in the information age.

Business Model Generation (2010) is a comprehensive guide to building innovative business models. From empathizing and connecting with customers to finding inspiration for products and learning from some of today’s most game-changing platforms, these blinks will help you kick-start your business thinking.

Nail It then Scale It (2011) is your guide to perfecting your business plan and expanding your company. These blinks outline the process of creating innovative products that solve problems, targeting and communicating with the right markets and refining your strategy before scaling your business.

Business Execution for Results (2013) is a guide to building a better business. These blinks offer a practical plan for setting appropriate goals and performing the necessary analyses to create a winning business strategy that will lead your company straight to the top.

Blue Ocean Shift (2017) is a step-by-step guide to moving past competition in an overcrowded industry. These blinks, based on decades of the authors’ practical experience, explain why you should endeavor to make competition obsolete and how you can open up whole new worlds of opportunity.

Company of One (2019) presents an alternative philosophy of business success – one that turns conventional wisdom on its head by prizing less over more, small over large and niche over mass. In the course of laying out this philosophy, it also provides practical strategies for developing your own small-scale business enterprise – one that can provide you with enough free time, independence and income to live the life you want to live.

Growth IQ (2018) answers the million-dollar question of how to make your business grow. Full of practical advice, tips and strategies gleaned from today’s top entrepreneurs and their firms, this is the ultimate guide to making smart decisions that’ll help early-stage firms get off the ground or rejuvenate stagnating giants.

Lost and Founder (2018) is a hands-on guide to getting your startup off the ground. Written by the founder of a company that’s already made it and packed with cheat codes and hacks, this is the ultimate insider’s playbook of strategies and tactics for struggling founders and would-be innovators.

The Loop Approach (2019) presents a systematic approach to the transformation of organizations. Its toolkit of ideas and methods is designed to help even the largest organization change its bad habits, thus enabling it to adapt to the challenges of the future. 

New to Big (2019) maps out how established companies can install a supercharged growth model at the heart of their enterprise. By adopting the structure of new start-ups or first-time entrepreneurs, they can fend off stagnation, reignite their creative flair and innovate to solve the problems of the future.

User Research (2018) is a practical how-to guide for entrepreneurs, researchers and managers interested in answering the most important question in business – does your product meet your customers’ needs? Drawing on author Stephanie Marsh’s years of experience in user research, these blinks present the most commonly used methods, clearly describing the advantages and disadvantages of each. 

Founded After 40 (2017) examines the opportunities and challenges that present themselves to the later-life entrepreneur. Packed with practical advice and illuminating examples, these blinks are an essential guide to starting a thriving business at any age. 

Simple Tips, Smart Ideas (2019) is a guide for small businesses that delivers on the promise of its title. Erica Wolfe-Murray distills cutting-edge industry knowledge on business growth, savvy marketing, and sustainable innovation into a range of easy-to-follow tips and ideas, all geared toward businesses that skew more boutique than behemoth. 

How to Have a Happy Hustle (2019) is an empowering guide to making ideas happen. Puncturing the mystique surrounding successful startups, Bec Evans reveals how anyone can grow an idea into a business by starting small, thinking creatively and getting feedback from their target market. Most importantly, by focusing on the process of testing and building an idea, connecting with people, and learning from mistakes a happy hustle redefines success to include personal growth, fulfilment as well as financial gain.

How to Have a Happy Hustle won the Startup Inspiration category at the Business Book Awards 2020.

Fix This Next (2020) provides business owners with a simple system to address the key issues preventing their companies from flourishing. Instead of trying to fix every issue at once, it reveals how different components of a business affect each other. It also provides a tool, the Business Hierarchy of Needs, that can help owners identify which issue to tackle first to ensure continual growth and profitability.

See You on the Internet (2020) is a simple guide to navigating the world of digital marketing. If you’ve ever felt intimidated by the thought of building a website or running an email marketing campaign, See You on the Internet will walk you through planning, implementing, and measuring your digital marketing efforts.

Resilient (2021) is an intimate account of entrepreneur Sevetri Wilson’s journey from self-funding her first company to securing ongoing capital for her second. It provides early-stage founders insight into every step of building a business – from initial concept to securing the finances needed to scale.

Clockwork (2018) explains how entrepreneurs can grow their enterprises without sacrificing their sanity. The trick is implementing smart systems and standard operating procedures that allow your business to run like clockwork without your constant input, freeing you up to tackle the challenges or embrace the opportunities that come your way.

Scale for Success (2021) is a guide to turning your small business into a far bigger and more successful enterprise than it is today. From crowdfunding to job descriptions, it covers the ins and outs – and highs and lows – of scaling up any firm.

Testing Business Ideas (2021) explores how entrepreneurs can use experimentation to give their new venture the best chance of success. It outlines the rationale behind testing, and describes a framework for deciding how to proceed. 

Self-Made Boss (2022) is a practical starter kit for anyone looking to start a small business. It’s packed with advice and case studies looking at small businesses from across the United States, with step-by-step instructions for turning your great idea into a successful business. 

New Sales. Simplified. (2012) is a guide for those charged with finding new business. It takes a look at the fundamentals and offers actionable advice and techniques to the aspiring new business salesperson.

Zero to One (2014) offers advice to start-up founders. It shows how to establish a monopoly by creating proprietary technology, a strong brand, scalable products, and by using network effects.

The Pumpkin Plan (2012) presents a simple yet powerful strategy to help you grow your business and stand out in any industry. Through real-life examples and practical tips, you’ll learn how to identify and focus on your most profitable clients, streamline your operations, and create a company culture that fuels growth.

How to Grow Your Small Business (2023) is your six-step flight plan to guide your business as it takes off. When Don Miller started to take his business to the next level, he realized no-one had written a reliable, step-by-step playbook for growth. Since then, his small home content business has expanded into a $20 million dollar company, so he wrote the book he wished he’d had. 

Two Weeks Notice (2023) is your step-by-step guide to launching a successful online business. It provides you with the tools and tricks you need to become your own boss – and gain the creative and financial freedom to live your best life. 

Third Shift Entrepreneur (2021) offers an effective mindset and strategies for starting or growing your business – without having to quit your day job. It weaves key observations throughout a fictional narrative about a group of entrepreneurs, then breaks out these points for closer examination with examples from real-world startup scenarios.

Marketing Strategy (2021) is a comprehensive guide that decodes the intricacies of crafting and implementing effective marketing strategies. It introduces the reader to a practical framework known as STRATEGY, exploring each component through real-world examples and actionable insights. From setting smart objectives and understanding target audiences, to measuring performance and conducting post-mortem analyses, it provides a roadmap to marketing success. 

Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs (2008) provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and utilizing financial information effectively, specifically tailored for entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers without a financial background. Through practical insights and real-world examples, it demystifies complex financial terms and empowers nonfinancial professionals to leverage financial intelligence for business success.