Top 10 Books To Grow Your Business Right Now

Entrepreneurs and business leaders have favourite books, some of which may even guide their decisions on a daily basis and influence the choices they make.

Owners should have a reading list planned if they aspire to:

• Grow their business
• Become stronger leaders
• Achieve extraordinary results this year

Don’t have a reading list for this year or just want to make sure that you haven’t missed a gem of a book? We’re going to list the best business growth books that we believe all entrepreneurs and business leaders should have on their list.

Top 10 Books To Grow a Successful Business

CEOs average 4 -5 books per month, and while this statistic is older, it’s a good baseline to follow. Books open up a world of ideas, approaches and expertise that can streamline business growth.

Devote time to reading, consider using time management apps to stay on track and be sure to add the following books to your list this year.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things:

Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

Business is hard. You’ll make decisions where there are no easy answers, and this is where Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things provides the wisdom that comes only from experience. 

Leaders consider this one of the best business books of all time​ – not because of Ben’s use of words and almost lyrical writing, but because he brings insights to rapid growth in the technical space like few others can.

Inside a wealth of information awaits the reader who will learn:

• What it means to work in a growth environment where your job description changes a few times a year.
• How focusing on good management is critical to weathering the decision-making storm.
• What to do when “things fall apart,” which encompasses how to let people go, demote friends and more.

Leaders make difficult decisions, and this book puts them out in the open for you to learn from.

Principles: Life and Work

Ray Dalio’s best seller has sold over 5 million copies because following the advice of one of the most successful entrepreneurs and investors in the world is always a good idea. But Ray, a billionaire, puts it all out there in a book that is more than just practical advice - it’s a personal story.

Considered one of the top business books by people like Bill Gates and Tony Robbins, readers will learn how to look in the mirror every day and take responsibility.

He calls for integrity and transparency and outlines principles that worldwide leaders lean on:

• How to think on the second and third consequences of your decisions
• Why readers should doubt everything and rely on open-mindedness
• Thoughtful disagreements and why it’s crucial to understand other people’s reasoning
• So much more

Arguably, Dalio’s near-600 page book is too comprehensive - with too many principles - yet the wisdom you’ll learn is near unmatched.

Good to Great:

Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

Good to Great is one of the most recommended business books​, and it’s actually one of a series of six for you to add to your reading list. Jim Collins explains how good companies can grow into great ones by sorting through 1,400+ businesses that made significant improvements in their performance over time.

What Collins found was that those who rose to greatness did so on the back of a strong company culture and promoted those who were disciplined to find success.

You’ll read through dozens of examples in the book, showing what great companies did to become great and what others did to miss their greatness goals.

The One Thing:

The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

Gary Keller’s The One Thing is one of the best business books​ for anyone who wants to achieve their goals in business. You’ll weave your way through the complexities of wanting less - fewer meetings, emails, messages - yet wanting more productivity from your work.

You want a better income and lifestyle, and The One Thing explains how to achieve this by:

• Cutting through the clutter
• Achieving better results in less time
• Building momentum toward your goal
• Staying on track and trying to reduce stress
• Mastering what matters most to you

The E-Myth Revisited:

Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

Starting a small business? Most don’t work, according to Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited. Gerber breaks through a lot of the myths people read on business development books, giving practical advice on:

• Applying lessons to franchising
• Growing pains from conception to success
• Ways to grow your business that are predictable and productive
• Why small businesses fail at such a high rate and what to do about it

If you’re the owner of one of the 5.45 million small businesses in the UK, set time aside to read this book. 

Explosive Growth:

A Few Things I Learned While Growing To 100 Million Users

Growth is often slow, but what happens when you grow to 100 million users - or sales - and lose $78 million? Cliff Lerner explains in his humorous book, titled Explosive Growth, the:

• Step-by-step playbook you need to follow to grow in any industry
• Genius growth hacks that made Cliff hit 100 million users
• Three metrics that you need to follow for explosive growth
• Media hacks to get features in the world’s top publications

Explosive Growth is one of the entrepreneur books that help you break through the startup classification and reach a level of success few can.

Traction:

How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth

Traction is on the list as one of the business books for beginners who need customer growth. Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares co-wrote this book together and outline how startups can strive to grow into public entities or sell profitably.

Nineteen channels are taught in Traction, with interviews from the founders of:

• Reddit
• Kayak
• HubSpot
• Wikipedia
• More

Entrepreneurs will learn channels to use that their competitors are ignoring for growth, how to get targeted media coverage, the power of email marketing and a three-step framework to figure out how to best grow their business.

Competing in the Age of AI:

Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World

Competing in the Age of AI explores the potential of using artificial intelligence (AI) to remove the constraints on scale, scope and learning that have traditionally limited business growth. 

Authors Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani demonstrate how AI processes are more scalable and allow organisations to push industry boundaries.

The book includes a framework for rethinking operating models and dives into the potential risks created by digital firms. Loaded with examples, this is a book that will help business owners rethink their strategies on how to compete in the era of AI.

Scaling Up:

How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

Scaling Up is a revision of Verne Harnish’s best-seller Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Harnish shares practical techniques and tools business leaders can use to build industry-dominated businesses.

Harnish’s tactics have been honed from 3+ decades of advising CEOs and executives, helping them navigate the complexities of scaling up a venture. The book aims to help everyone in the organisation align and contribute to the business’s growth.

Scaling Up features one-page tools, including the Rockefeller Habits Checklist^TM, which has helped over 40,000 firms successfully scale their operations.

SYSTEMology:

Create time, reduce errors and scale your profits with proven business systems

SYSTEMology is a handbook for all business owners who want to grow and scale but are too owner-dependent. Author David Jenyns outlines a structured framework to help transform your business into one that runs itself. You’ll learn how to optimise your processes and systemise your business so that anyone can step into your shoes.

David Jenyns drew on more than two decades of real-world experience and case studies to create this framework, which helps business owners understand:

• Where to start and which systems to focus on
• How to achieve rapid system creation
• Making system improvement a part of the workplace culture
• How to continually improve your processes

Having reliable and optimised standard processes for your operations will allow your business to easily grow and scale to new heights. 

The Takeaway

Business growth books are a fast way to gain knowledge that only comes with the experience of being in the trenches. Authors often include entrepreneurs who have been through the trials and tribulations of making hard decisions, losing millions and somehow finding a path to success when it’s not often clear.

Dedicate time to reading books that often hold the key to growth and reaching your business goals.

Want to learn more about how to grow your business faster? Click here to watch our free webinar on how you can scale your business without wasting your time or your money.