The most successful business leaders of today have one thing in common. They all have read at least three out of the five books recommended in this article.

By Janet T. Clinton

Charles Munger once said, “go to bed every night a little wiser than you were when you got up”. I also heard someone else saying the other day, “success leaves clues”. However, if you think hard enough you will realise that one of the best way success can leave clues for successful people is when books are being written by or about a successful person.

These books will not only help the aspiring young succeed as an entrepreneur by providing them with the right knowledge, new insights and new ways of thinking but will also become their source of inspiration and provide tips and strategies to help them develop those necessary skills.

Not only this, reading books about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurism also provides inspiration and help boost our confidence. There is no entrepreneur belonging to any business, or niche who haven’t benefitted from the knowledge acquired through reading these books.

Now, if you are wondering about what you should be reading, I have already taken the liberty of enquiring hundreds of entrepreneurs regarding what other entrepreneurs should read for entrepreneurism and compiled a list of 5 such books based on their opinion as successful entrepreneurs and business owners who also happen to be avid readers.

  1. The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World-Niall Ferguson

Ferguson can be rightfully claimed as a one-man book factory. Only if the American economy knows how to crank out goods as prolifically as Ferguson does with histories, we might not be as financially messed up as we are right now. Here, in this book, Ferguson reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind the rise and fall of not just money but western civilization as well.

  1. Think and Grow Rich-Napoleon Hill

Think and grow rich is one of the first self-help books that was published in 1937 (and still enduring) during the period of Great Depression. In this book, Napoleon Hill listed a six-step guide to applying certain principles (or universal building blocks) that will be required in order to amass a fortune. The data used here was collected by interviewing more than 500 successful entrepreneurs including Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

  1. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People-Stephen R. Covey

Many argue that Covey’s seven habits are merely common sense. But by putting them together in a sequence along with the philosophy of principle-centredness backing them, this has become one of the best books available on business leadership for the past 15 years. It acts as an actionable but extremely self-aware guidance for aspiring leaders who want to improve from the inside out.

  1. The Greatest Salesman in the World-Og Mandino

At first glance, this book appears to be for people in sales but once you start reading, you will realise that it is for almost everyone who wants to succeed in business (and life in general). It tells an inspiring story about the importance of persistence and self-belief. There’s a reason Og Mandino has been considered one of the greatest writers that ever lived and after reading his masterpiece, you will know why.

  1. The 4-hour Work Week-Tim Ferris

in this book, Ferris has laid out a brilliantly simple plan on how to take your next big idea into the market. For e.g. you can pick up a topic you are passionate about, then conduct research to find out what your audience needs help with, later on, test the required areas for improvement and finally, make them their dream product. This book, with its shortcuts, can easily make your entrepreneurial dream into reality.

The list of books mentioned above will be a great starting point of ideas for you if entrepreneurialism, business and success is what interest you the most. And once you start reading these books, there will eventually come a point where reading itself will become enjoyable and before you realise, you will start looking forward to reading other books on entrepreneurship with an excitement and eagerness never seen before.

Janet T. Clinton is a web design professional working at Clap Creative, a web development company Los Angeles. She has written several articles related to technology, e-commerce and entrepreneurship. You can follow her on Twitter as well @janettclinton

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