Ballerific Business: Must Reads for Entrepreneurs – blogged by: @proudlylauren

If you’ve ever wanted to start your own business, or launch your own service, who do you typically look to for advice? Your friends? The Internet? The closest people to you? While they may give sound advice, wouldn’t you much rather hear it from someone who’s had actual experience building nothing into an empire? With this reading list you’ll be able to get first hand advice from revolutionary moguls like Carnegie, Sophia Amoruso, and Daymond John. Pick a book, take notes, and start plotting your next big idea. 

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: This book will teach you the fundamentals you need to not only be a  better entrepreneur, but a better social influencer. Carnegie breaks down all the steps you need to take  to make friends everywhere you go. It teaches etiquette, how to handle competition, and how to effectively persuade non-believers.  This book is a classic for anyone who may want to branch out on their own.

2. The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John: Shark Tank’s Daymond John has been practicing the power of broke ever since he started selling his home-sewn t-shirts on the streets of Queens. With no funding and a $40 budget, Daymond had to come up with out-of-the box ways to promote his products. Luckily, desperation breeds innovation, and so he hatched an idea for a creative campaign that eventually launched the FUBU brand nto a $6 billion dollar global phenomenon.  But it might not have happened if he hadn’t started out broke, Learn how you can do the same for yourself. 

3. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: In this book Kahneman talks about the fast emotional system, and the slow logical system that makes up our mind. He goes in depth to describe the various effects each system has on our success and how to achieve it. This is a must read for entrepreneurs  who’ve been raised, and are used to, a fast paced environment.

4. #GirlBoss by Sophia Amoruso: This book is excellent for women who want to build their own empire, no matter life’s obstacles. This book is a first person account of the CEO of Nasty Gal, and how she went from dumpster diving to owning her own empire. The book is so successful, Netflix has approved a series based around it.

5. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell: This book examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success, including the infamous ‘10,000 hour rule’ which explains that the key to achieving world class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours.

6. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss: We all fantasize about a work week that doesn’t require 40 hours, and Ferriss has found a way. In this book, he puts you in the right mindset to start building a business that will allow you to work only 4 hours, and still build a fortune.

7. The $100 Startup by Chris Gillebeau: This book is perfect for those who feel like being an entrepreneur is impossible without boat loads of money. Gillebaeau caters to everyone:  If you’re just out of school, still in school, or just plain broke, this book is perfect for you.

If you’ve been sitting on an idea, or have a current business that can afford to be revamped, these books may be just what you need to get your plan off the ground and in motion. Pick your favorite book from the list and start crossing off your entrepreneurial goals one by one.