Become an Entrepreneur With the Best Books on How to Start a Business
Reviewing the Best Books on How to Start a Business of 2022 in Detail
Ken Colwell’s How to Start a Business – Best Overall
At the top spot is Starting a Business Quick Start Guide by Ken Colwell. In this book, the author aims to help readers develop an understanding of the key aspects of starting a business. Before showing you a complete step-by-step business plan, Colwell starts from the basics and helps you develop the mindset of an entrepreneur. Once you know what sets entrepreneurs apart from those who work nine-to-five jobs, the book teaches you the importance of knowing your customers.
You’ll learn that to dominate the market for your niche, you’ll have to research and understand every aspect of it. What’s more, in addition to this extremely valuable resource, you’ll also get free access to digital components that make your entrepreneurial journey easier — such as financial templates, pitching templates, and start-up tools. This makes this book on starting a business the most distinguishable one on our list!
Pros
- Comes with additional, useful tools
- Perfect for passionate entrepreneurs of all ages
- Part of One Tree Planted to support reforestation
Cons
- Some chapters are repetitive
Bob Nelson’s How to Start a Business – Most In-Depth
Our runner-up is Starting a Business: All-in-One for Dummies by Bob Nelson and Eric Tyson. For almost the same price as the other books on this list, you get a deal that’s almost double the size; this book is an impressive 656 pages long! This helpful book on business covers everything you need to know about starting a new career, such as accounting, entrepreneurship, franchise management, small businesses, marketing, and management. Thanks to these valuable resources, you can rest assured you’ll have all the knowledge needed to set foot in the entrepreneurial realm. This in-depth guide is a must-have for anyone looking to start their own business.
Pros
- Covers a wide range of key entrepreneurial topics
- Written by two successful authors
- Great value for money
Cons
- Can be a bit hard to finish
Steve Mariotti’s How to Start a Business – Highest-Rated
At number three, we’ve got The Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Running a Business by Steve Mariotti. Mariotti is the creator of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a nonprofit organization that has directed thousands of aspiring people on how to begin their own small company. This information-packed book brings you extensive knowledge at just under 500 pages. And readers love it! This book has the highest rating on our list — 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Even though it’s a long read, the information never gets repetitive and includes lots of real-world examples. What’s more, this book on how to start a business is filled with wonderful words of inspiration and progressively gets more and more interesting as you move through the chapters.
Pros
- Critically-acclaimed
- Fun to read and easy to understand
- Great for beginners and young entrepreneurs
Cons
- The book only focuses on US laws
Ilana Griffo’s How to Start a Business – Best for Creatives
Mind Your Business by Ilana Griffo focuses on helping readers turn their creative passion into a monetized, full-time gig. If you’ve got a special creative talent — such as cooking, singing or drawing — Griffo’s book helps you figure out how you could transform it from a side hustle into a full-time, lucrative career.
This book also focuses on the important side of running a business that most creatives aren’t very well-versed in, such as management, marketing, budgeting, and legal guidelines to help you protect your assets. With over 2,000 positive reviews that vouch for the book’s quality, this one definitely deserves a read.
Pros
- Written by a best-selling author
- A quick, engaging read
- Packed with precise, helpful information
- Attractively designed
Cons
- It isn’t an all-inclusive guide for entrepreneurship
Suzanne Carpenter’s How to Start a Business – Most Affordable
Lastly, we’ve got Soap Making Business Startup by Suzanne Carpenter. This book on starting a business is the cheapest option on our list, but it isn’t the least valuable by any means! This helpful book teaches you everything you need to know about starting and running a successful company. Plus, it also covers a number of essential details about how to create natural, organic soaps and turn your creations into a lucrative business.
What’s more, this resource teaches you how to come up with natural soap recipes that are an original concoction of your own, not just another copy of what’s already being sold on the market. So, if you’re into making soap and are looking to turn your passion into a business, get your hands on this fountain of guidance!
Pros
- Affordable option
- Available for free as an audiobook with an Audible trial
- Easy, fun read
- Includes soap-making recipes
Cons
- Very niche-specific
Buying Guide to Choosing an Ideal Book on How to Start a Business
Buying a book on how to start a business isn’t the hard part, but reading it, finishing it, and implementing the knowledge in real life is. To make sure you achieve each step and get the most out of your purchase it’s important to choose the right book that inspires you to take action and succeed. Here are some crucial points to consider.
Think About Your Experience Level
First of all, be sure to answer this specific question. Are you a seasoned entrepreneur looking for some professional advice to step into the next level of your business journey or are you an absolute beginner with very little knowledge about running your own start-up?
Choosing an advanced-level book with zero experience in entrepreneurship is certainly not a wise thing to do. Most of the information will just fly over your head and you won’t remember or be able to apply any of it.
On the other hand, getting a book for absolute beginners when you’ve already established a business will simply tell you what you already know.
In both cases, you probably won’t even get to the third or fourth chapter of the book before you get tired of it or put it down. This is why it’s important to pick one that’s written for someone with your level of experience.
How Big of a Book Can You Read?
Make sure to have realistic expectations when gauging your reading capabilities. Some people are more passionate readers than others and prefer to curl up with a long book for hours on end. These are seasoned readers who can easily take on and finish a 600-800 page book comfortably. But if you’re not a passionate reader, or if you don’t have the time to dedicate to reading a lengthy book, you probably won’t be able to finish a book of this length. In this case, we recommend sticking with a fairly short book that you know you’ll be able to complete.
Read Online Reviews
Before you invest in a new book, you should always look at what other people have to say about the book. If three to four people are complaining about the same issue in the first few reviews, they’re probably right — and you should choose another book instead. Look for books that have glowing reviews that celebrate how useful the book’s information is, how inspiring it was to read it, and how fun it was to read.
