I Challenged Myself To Read Business Books And This Is What Happened
Written by: Stephanie Kable, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Business books offer invaluable value.
Since 2019, I’ve been reading personal development/business books on a regular basis.
Religiously, before going to bed, or while waiting for an appointment, or on public transport, I always have a business book to take me to a different world and help me think differently.
The experience has taught me a lot, and I would like to share it with you today, as well as a few books that have left a mark on me.
Learn From Other People’s Experience
Many successful entrepreneurs have documented their success (and failure) in a book. Reading about them allowed me to see what pitfalls they avoided, how they managed to be resilient and think outside the box.
For me, every entrepreneur should read The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. In this book, the author shares with us his amazing entrepreneurial adventure that could have finished very differently if he had not had the strength to keep fighting for his business.
Expand Your Skills
Getting my business skills up-to-date was another goal that I pursued. There are so many fields an entrepreneur should understand: marketing, sales, management, strategy, technology, etc.
As the business venture is growing or tackling new challenges, the entrepreneur should have a wide knowledge of business topics in order to communicate effectively with people in the team, freelancers, and other stakeholders.
Business Made Simple by Donal Miller is a great start to expand our business skills. In this complete book, the author covers all the skills someone should get in order to run a successful business.
Try New Things
Reading books is great if it motivates us to take action on new things. What are the latest trends we should be aware of that we could adapt to our business model? What tip or nugget did we find? What interesting idea can I implement?
For example, Sell it like Serhant by Ryan Serhant is a great book about selling. It includes the author’s best advice on how to sell effectively. Sales are the foundation of any company. Learning how to sell has a tremendous impact on the bottom line.
Get Inspired
Books have the ability to give you the inspiration you need to push your limits and leave your comfort zone. Business books allow you to dream bigger and transform the vision you have for your own business and for yourself.
In High-Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Buchard, the author studies what’s in common between high performing people and draws conclusions and advice on what we should do to reach that level. It inspires you to adopt habits and routines that will take us to the next level.
Discuss Strategies And Ideas With Like-Minded Entrepreneurs
Business books are a great start. Unfortunately, once we close the book, how much do we implement? How much do we remember?
In order to take greater advantage of this wealth of knowledge, tips, and advice and to maximize its impact, I’ve started my Online Business Book Club that gathers like-minded entrepreneurs who meet every month to discuss ideas from different business books. Join us.
I cannot stress enough the importance of reading business books. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming; 10-20 pages a day can make a huge difference to your personal development and your business. Just give it a try!
Stephanie Kable, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Stephanie Kable is the CEO of Live-English.net, an English online school that helps professionals worldwide feel more confident with their English as a second language. Through online one-to-one and group lessons via Zoom, the team of native-English teachers provides an efficient, convenient, and fun way to improve English speaking skills. Stephanie holds a B.A. in Management from the University of Paris-Dauphine (France) and an M.A. in Information Systems from Institute Mines-Telecom - Business School (Paris, France).
Fond of languages, technology, business, and personal development, Stephanie combines all these fields of knowledge to offer unique English courses focused on each learner's needs.
