Resources For Entrepreneurs

  

Dear BizPassion Readers,

You asked. And I answered. Below are recommended resources for entrepreneurs - books, productivity tools and other resources to help you to develop your entrepreneurial mindset and become the successful entrepreneur you were made to be.

#1. The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything

  • Loved the 'action ability' of this book!
  • Any 'Resources For Entrepreneurs' list would be incomplete without this book.
  • Think of this book as the a one-on-one conversation with a no-holds barred no-nonsense kind of guy who holds your feet to the fire and really makes you think long and hard about WHAT, exactly, is behind your desire to start your own business.

#2. Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Dea with Change in Your Work and in Your Life

I read this book years ago, and still glean from it's simple reminder that life REALLY is about maintaining an evolving perspective and the impact of remaining flexible and fluid in the midst of change.

#3. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

  • I must admit. I've read this book a number of times - there is so much richness to consider with this one. When you consider any 'Resources For Entrepreneurs' list has to include a resource that will help you to communicate your ideas in a way that people can 'get'.
  • Explaining your business idea so that others can relate and 'get' it is part art and part science.
  • Chip and Dan Health (brothers), go behind-the-scenes and reveals to us, tidbit-by-tidbit, how to convey ideas that others will 'get' and cling to.

#4: EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches

  • This book initially took me by surprise. I'm a big Dave Ramsey fan, but when I initially began to read it - many of the words of advice seemed general.
  • But, I had gone through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and knew that there HAD to be more to it. So I stuck to it, and boy, am I glad I did.
  • Dave reveals so much of what it takes to be the Leader your business deserves and cries out for.
  • This book has a been there, done that flair that gives us insight into practical tips and advice from the heart of a leader.
  • I appreciate every rich morsel and tidbit of leadership/entrepreneurial advice I learned from this book.

#5: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

  • When starting your business, it helps to maintain a fixed eye on your BIG WHY. Why IS it that your business REALLY exists? What is it's purpose?
  • This is why 'Start With Why' is one of my faves. The author, Simon Sinek, gives you example after example of the sustainable success awarded to those businesses that never loose sight of their why.
  • The reality of starting a business means that you will juggle many things. But in the midst of juggling, never loose sight of your 'Big Why'.

#6: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

  • As an entrepreneur, you are a visionary and a leader. A part of your entrepreneurial mindset has to be develop the thoughts, actions, and behavior of a leader.
  • Maxwell teaches you simple leadership principles that will help your entrepreneurial endeavors to flourish. He teaches principles like "Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand" and "People buy into the leader, then the vision."
  • As you grow your business forward, you need to be mindful of the type of leader you are to your vision, your business, and to those customers who value what you offer.

#7: 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life: A Psychologist Learns from His Patients What Really Works and What Doesn't

This book gives you perspective on how to keep your vision moving forward. Entrepreneurial mindset is really about maintaining perspective on how to keep you vision moving in spite of obstacles.

#8: The One Thing You Need to Know: ... About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success

I've read this book a few times too. It gives insight into sustained success and the characteristics and perspectives of successful being a successful leader, a successful manager, as well as being a successful individual contributor.