9 Books I Would Give As Gifts To New Entrepreneurs & Nonprofit Founders
Who loves a good book? I know I do!
I especially love self-help books! Said no one ever…
Look, I know self-help books receive a bad rap. However, I think they can be really useful!
Book reviews provide you with a list of books to read, right? What they don’t provide you with, however, is when to read each book.
This is important!
Each book covers a different topic and a different purpose.
To get the most out of every book, you should know at what point of your life and/or business each book is best for.
Today, I want to provide you with a book review AND a brief timeline as to when you may want to consider reading each book I mention in this post.
You’ll take more away from reading these books if they align with your current stage of life/business.
When starting and running a business, there are 3 phases everyone goes through.
Let’s talk about what these phases are first!
An Introduction to the 3 Phases
First phase: Starting phase
You’re already in the process of starting your business or you’re thinking of starting one. Either way, this phase is all about learning how to start your startup. You don’t have all the details figured out yet and you may be unsure as to how to start. This is when you figure it out!
Second phase: Building phase
In this phase, you’re experimenting with your business to see what works and what doesn't. You’re ultimately building your business to the point where you’re able to make a profit.
Third phase: Maintaining phase
At this point, your business has been open and you’ve been running it for a while. You’ve established your best processes and now it’s time to focus on what’s most important to you in your business and allow everyone else to fill-in around you.
Now, let’s get to the books! Below are my book recommendations for each of the 3 phases:
The Starting Phase
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
A morning routine is fundamental and will change your life for the better. I swear by it! Having a morning routine allows you to set your day up for success and will get you started on the right path. In this book, Hal Elrod highlights how you can go about setting up your morning routine and he provides a lot of good tips and tricks too. He uses one method called “life savers” and the “savers” stands for… silence, affirmation, visualizations, exercise, reading, and scribing. I do a lot of these on a regular basis, not because of this book necessarily, but because I know that they’re good for you. So, if you don’t have a morning routine yet, I would definitely recommend this book to you. I really do think it will help you to build a foundation for yourself so that you can start your day intentionally in a way that works for you.
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
After years of running my own businesses (nonprofit and for profit), I truly believe that the key to surviving in business is to not only be profitable, but to have a purposeful aspect as well. These two factors go hand-in-hand in my opinion. If you’re building a non-profit, you must be profitable. And if you’re building a for-profit, I think it’s always good to have that purposeful aspect. People look for purpose nowadays more than ever before. They want to see what your business is all about, what you as the founder cares about, and whether or not their values align with yours. Overall, this book is a feel-good book. However, it’s really insightful too! The author of this book founded TOMS Shoes. TOMS Shoes is a for-profit business that sells shoes and with every shoe sale, a pair of shoes is also donated to someone in another country. Blake Mycoskie has been very successful in the business world and has made a lot of impact too. He gives great advice throughout the book such as how he hired and found his people. In addition, he provides a lot of fun ideas that you may want to add to your own business. For example, instead of using the terms “program director” or “CEO,” I use “mission control” and “chief-launcher.” Start Something That Matters is an easy read and a true gem if you’re thinking about starting a business and want both profit and purpose. Again, this is something I preach and it does mean a lot to me. Putting a business out there without a purposeful aspect is not nearly as good as a business with one… And vice-versa!
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
This book has meant so much to me! It takes the perfection side out of a business and truly gets the message across that you’ll never be 100% ready and you don’t have to be. You just need to start. This book also highlights that sometimes not having everything prepared is the best thing for your business because it allows you to pivot and adjust right away as you test the waters and get feedback. This book is a classic and is one of the more popular books out there in regards to business.
So, these are the 3 books that I would recommend if you’re wanting to get started in business and/or build your own. Go ahead and start here. First, get your morning right. Second, figure out some ideas as to how you can incorporate purpose and profit. Third, just start! What are you waiting for?
The Building Phase
Now onto the building phase of your business. This is where you really want to get your hands dirty! It’s the only way to figure out what will work best for you and your business.
Here’s the first book I recommend for your building phase:
The E Myth by Michael E. Gerber
A lot of people get stuck working inside of their business and never take the time to work on their business. What does this mean exactly? Read The E Myth to find out! This book is truly amazing and has changed my mindset when it comes to running a business. Michael Gerber hammers down on the importance of delegation. Instead of focusing on your strengths and weaknesses, focus on your strengths and delegate your weaknesses to someone else. I’m sure that each one of us has certain tasks that we don’t need to be wasting our time and energy on. If there’s a task that falls in an area that you aren’t strong in, or maybe you’re constantly struggling to get that task done, it’s time to delegate it! Gerber emphasizes that you need to do what’s best for you. Find what you like to do and what you’re good at. Use reliable people to work on the rest. Every business owner should have this book in their possession!
Platform by Michael Hyatt… Get Noticed In A Noisy World
If I had to summarize this book in one word, I would use the word “practical.” This book outlines how to build your platform as well as what you need in order to deem your platform as complete. Some of this information is a little outdated, however, the book is not! You’ll still find good, useful information from it that ranges from creating business cards to starting on social media. Building a platform is important so that people can find you and connect with you. Platform serves as an overall great refresher!
Crushing It! By Gary Vaynerchuck
This book captures the millennial side of things: What are successful millennials doing in their businesses? And how did they get there? Personally, I like Gary Vaynerchuck because he has a very different approach than others, especially in regards to social media. He’s real with people too! And he believes in progress over perfection just like I do!
And that’s it for the building phase!
The Maintaining Phase
The maintenance phase is all about being productive in order to move your business forward. So, these next 3 books are all about just that. How can I be more productive? How do I prioritize well? How can I best accomplish the goals that I’ve set for myself and my business? These 3 books will answer those questions and more!
The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Feeling overwhelmed? Have so many things to do that you don’t know where to start? This happens to all of us! And that’s why a book that addresses these common feelings makes for a fantastic read! The main point that I took away from this book that I still use today is this: What is the one thing that you can do that will make everything else easier or better? The One Thing uses a great example which I often will think back to when I’m overwhelmed. Think of a lever that’s loaded. Next, think of that one decision or task that you can make and/or do to lift that lever and everything else that’s on top of it. How can you kill two birds with one stone, right? I know this is a broad question, however, it directs your thought process to what is essential and what’s not. Instead of investing your energy in all different areas, you can narrow down your focus and take it “one thing” at a time.
Deep Work by Cal Newport
If I had the time, I would totally reread this one! Deep Work is all about how to focus better. Cal Newport believes that if we focus for 2-3 hours on one project, we could get so much more done than focusing on multiple things at once. He claims that once we start on a project and jump to another, we experience something called attention residue. What this means is that when we start a new project, our minds will still be focused on the past project for a while. We don’t want to lose that time! Therefore, it’s better to focus on one project at a time.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
The title says it all. Essentialism by Greg McKeown is about narrowing down your life to what’s essential and what’s not. Is what you’re doing busy or essential work? It’s about narrowing your life down to the most important elements so that you can simplify your life. I find that this really helps me when it comes to decision making. I focus on what’s most important and eliminate the rest. I think it will help you too!
Final Thoughts
I absolutely love these books and they’ll give you a solid grasp on your business and life, especially if you read them in order!
You’ll be leading your business, so it’s important to have an understanding of how a business runs, how you can cope with common business issues that arise, how your personal lifestyle can align with your business and vice versa, what’s most important to you and to your business, and more.
So, which book are you most excited to read? Have you read any of these books before? If so, which one?
That’s all I have for today! See you in the next blog!
