(Part 2) Best small business & entrepreneurship books according to redditors

I was a solo consultant from 2005-2007 and supported my family of four during that time.

I suggest working to become recognized for your expertise before you go solo.

I prepared by blogging, writing many articles and two books, presenting at conferences, and teaching classes. Additionally I was a consultant for a security company for several years, which meant I had a lot of contacts who might hire me for work as an independent. When I was considering going solo, I emailed many of them to let them know I was considering an independent path.

I decided to make the leap when a prospect said they had months of work for me to do. I left my job, but that prospect was all talk! Fortunately I found plenty of other work to compensate.

I paid my bills by scheduling and teaching independent classes. Above that I consulted, which was "bonus" at that point.

I read this book back then. It's from 2000 but the overall message is still relevant:

https://www.amazon.com/Serf-Surfer-Becoming-Network-Consultant/dp/0782126618

Be sure you take care of the "infrastructure" issues early -- taxes, business bank accounts and credit cards, insurance if you need it, etc.

Finally, it's best to decide right away if you intend to be a solo consultant, or if you are starting a business that would employ others. The latter is more complicated, obviously.

It's extremely hard work and the pressure is enormous. Two years was plenty for me but I'm glad I did it. Good luck!

Hm. That's tough. Are you in law school, or is this some sort of survey class? If it's a survey, the stuff on wikipedia is actually pretty good. Also, there's a book called "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law" that is very very useful: http://www.amazon.com/The-Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business-Law/dp/0324204930

This is exactly right, and is documented really well in the book Uncharitable by Dan Pallotta. The problem is that percentages are not usually reported with absolute dollar amounts sent to the cause. In your example, that's an extra $10,000,000 that wouldn't otherwise be used to get guns off the streets.

And, in addition, it's super easy to game the numbers. I start a foundation to study lupus. I get $10,000,000 in donations. I donate all but $1,000,000 to some random university studying it that I found in 10 seconds of googling. I keep the $1,000,000 for myself. I have a rather sterling 90% given to the cause and only 10% for "administrative expenses".

In short, you need a much better metric than % to cause.

Theres a book called Platform Revolution that focuses on this business model. Highly recommended
https://www.amazon.com/Platform-Revolution-Networked-Markets-Transforming/dp/0393249131

VCs will typically be looking at 10/20/30x their investment and will be stringent in you sticking to a well defined plan.
The 40k you have spent should go someway to proving your concept. I think angel investors are your first point of call to raise $300-500k seed money and then once you've proven your platform has retention and value, then go for VCs.

A few books I highly recommend:
Eric Ries - The Lean Startup

Sangeet Choudary - Platform Revolution

Read these asap if you haven't already - it's all about lean production of value and minimal waste, which is what /u/duli-chan is getting at.

Flawless Consulting is pretty well known and respected.

I felt the same way, so I went and found a bunch. Here they are:

Start Your Business is the single greatest book on starting a business. It is a pretty comprehensive overview of all aspects. I would definitely recommend it.

Finance:

Financial Accounting is a decent text. The usefulness of financial accounting in general is quite limited for an entrepreneur though. The techniques are mainly used by outside parties to evaluate companies, whether for investing or lending. But it can be useful in that it gives a metric for how your company is doing.

Managerial Accounting is a good book. The subject matter is extremely important and should definitely be learned. Get a book on managerial accounting.

Marketing:

Marketing Management is a really good text for an overview of marketing. One of the best.

Most marketing texts are smaller and not textbooks like you're looking for. There are some detailed texts that go into complicated calculations related to marketing decisions. Go check them out. It's like marketing science or something like that.

Business Law:

Business law is not really worth going into extreme detail. So a good book is The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law .


Final Note: It's important to note that it makes way more sense to just get into business and learn as you go. You could spend years learning from every text possible and get nowhere.

Funny you asked, I actually released my first book centered on an Introduction to Consulting last week. I'm still working on getting my website set up and was going to do a free kindle promotion the first week of December, but in case your interested now, here is the link.

https://www.amazon.com/Jack-All-Trades-Master-Some-ebook/dp/B07JX5CXTS/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1540912904&sr=8-30&keywords=introduction+to+consulting+book

The book is still available for download for free at

https://www.amazon.com/FULL-SCALE-Grow-Startup-Without-Plan-ebook/dp/B00NTC5G28

You are welcome :)

We connect programmers with freelance programming jobs and we help businesses find freelance programmers.

This diagram explains how our business works for both types of customers: programmers and businesses.

http://imgur.com/a/dZpp9

Sometimes, our customers with hiring requirements pay us additional fees for business services that we have in-house expertise in, such as financing, marketing, operations and sales.

The books URLs are https://www.amazon.com/Code-Cash-Encompasses-challenges-everything-ebook/dp/B01N1TTJFK/ & https://www.amazon.com/First-Freelance-Programming-Client-Step-ebook/dp/B01N9RETLR/

@jeffreyatucker:
>2015-01-12 03:42:45 UTC

>It's done! Bit by Bit, now published. amazon.com

----

[^[Mistake?]](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=TweetPoster&subject=Error%20Report&message=http://reddit.com/2s5q21%0A%0APlease leave above link unaltered.)
^[Suggestion]
^[FAQ]
^[Code]
^[Issues]

Technically you're supposed to pay yourself a market based wage....not just for tax reasons (like mentioned by another commenter), but also because you should be replaceable and your salary should be able to pay a replacement for yourself. Otherwise you're just earning "sweat equity" that you hope to cash out with later on.

I'd recommend getting the book "Simple Numbers". It's just $10 for a Kindle version. It talks about the financial parts of a business in a way that makes sense and it discusses the concepts and ideas behind profitability, paying yourself a a wage, ad how to track it correctly from an accounting standpoint

Many of us entrepreneurs purposely underpay ourselves. And most of us are interested in growing our business's top line numbers. This book explains the rest.

https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Numbers-Straight-Talk-Profits/dp/1608320561

I've been in business for 10 years and just finished reading this book last week. It's the type of book I wish I would have read five years ago.

If you or anybody wants to read this book but cannot afford the 10 bucks, PM me.

There are some books you need to read.

https://www.amazon.com/Platform-Revolution-Networked-Markets-Transforming/dp/0393249131

https://www.amazon.com/All-Marketers-Are-Liars-Authentic/dp/B0009WF9EG/

https://www.amazon.com/Tribes-We-Need-You-Lead/dp/B001IMTKUK/

Your problem is not that the app is buggy. If the users told you that they left because of a buggy interface, they are lying. If consumers liked your story, they would tolerate a few bugs. You have two problems that are kind of the same problem. Problem number one is that without even downloading it, and by just looking at the app store page, this thing reeks of a desperate attempt to monetize my attention with ads or whatever. But this is also because of the bigger problem, which is that there is no story, no tribe, no niche, = no reason to use this app. The name and logo is boring and your whole thing looks like you are trying to be everything to everyone. And you know what happens then.

There is no amount of money you can throw at this problem to solve it. You have to have one damn good and unique and fun reason for consumers to spend their precious time using it that will create a buzz. "Random Acts of Ice Cream" or some shit like that. That is the only thing that can save this.

Llevo 15 años como Consultor Independiente, con bastante éxito.

TODO mundo quiere hacerse independiente, pero pocos tienen la disciplina y valor para hacerlo. A mí me sirvió mucho leer estos libros:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Business-Consulting-CD-ROM-Included/dp/0787994642

http://www.amazon.com/Flawless-Consulting-Guide-Getting-Expertise/dp/0470620749/

Suerte

Legitimate Work From Home Opportunities: A Phenomenal Collection of Verified Online Resources And Business Ideas

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NCBY57M

FREE until February 7th

> “Is it really possible to work from home and create a decent income online?”

>It most certainly is. In fact, the trend to move towards freelancing and the gig economy is growing stronger and stronger, each passing year. And you are about to learn how you too can do it too!

>It doesn’t matter if you are new to the work anywhere concept, or you are a seasoned internet marketer. You will find tons of online resources and business ideas to boost your income for 2019 and beyond, in this book.

>There are several legitimate resources for performing simple tasks to earn a few dollars per hour (like typing, filling surveys, etc.) all the way to earning several hundred dollars per hour (like social media marketing), depending on your expertise and skillset.

Jack of all trades master of some

I believe the author is a redditor too.

3D Printing Consumer Market Outlook 2018 - 2020: free until Oct 4th

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079ZQY62R

I would recommend reading "From Serf to Surfer: Becoming a Network Consultant" for answers to your questions and more:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0782126618/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZNpZDbB33D5SM

The book is pretty old but the business concepts are still highly applicable.

Instead of making money on royalties / equity, you might want to look into the idea of value based fees. Here is THE book on the subject.

You are correct in your assumption; Aligning your financial incentives with the client's financial incentives is a win for all parties involved.

IMO, when people ask to "improve a process" it's because they are dissatisfied with the amount of time something takes, and they are frustrated when certain steps in a process block or delay them.

For QA/QC that might be a difficult thing to hone in on. Your job essentially causes delays in that you find issues that need to be revisited. Perhaps they want you to find less issues. ;)

1. I highly recommend talking with everyone on your team. Determine what their pain-points are first and foremost.
   
   
2. From there, gather some loose ideas of how you can tackle those pain-points (and your own) while keeping things within your ideal process. Work with lead developers, project managers, and managers to refine this process, and to discover whether something even makes sense. Don't get tunnel vision.
   
   
3. Finally, document the shit out of it, and ask everyone for their input. Go back to step 2. You may be in step 3 for a few cycles while you work on other projects, wait for feedback, and refine processes.
   
   
4. Once everyone is happy, stick to the process, and work with managers to ensure other's stick to it. Some issues will come up with the process, so be open to revising it. Also, account for situations where the process will get in the way. Allow a lot of flexibility, without compromising the quality of the project.
   
   The "QA/QC process" is really more of a development process, and QA/QC is a part of that. This is highlighted by a simple situation: if no ticket system is used for development, how can QA/QC track and communicate issues?
   
   Read up on how other businesses handle development processes. Read research material and approach this smartly and professionally. You are likely to step on some toes because no one likes change, and no one likes processes.
   
   Here's a book I've found useful: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321193679/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   Look into how other companies have adopted Scrum or Agile. Look at Waterfall.
   
   Good luck!

VijayAnna, I don't know what stage the startup you're joining is at, but be very careful when choosing what type of content to read. Startup Marketing strategy (Growth Hacking) is nowhere near the same as Corporate Marketing strategy.

As a preface, I'd recommend reading Full-Scale which will give you a good idea of some of the challenges/differences between the two worlds and how to successfully scale a startup using the right data.

Here are three blogs I wrote at my previous company that I tend to share when people want a good foundation to start doing social media marketing:
The Ultimate Guide To Content Curation

How to Use Buffer to Share Like a Social Media BOSS

Three MUST-USE Tools to Optimally Time Your Social Media Posts

Some of my other posts on that blog will also be beneficial when you want to dive deeper into the nuances and "tricks" of individual social networks.

Disclaimer: My previous startup offers digital marketing courses online. I managed their internal profiles and trained/consulted external clients on their behalf. They offer individual courses for FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc that cover everything from beginner concepts (how to set up a profile) to the more advanced concepts (interest-based ad targeting). Check them out at SMMU.com and if any of the courses catches your eye, lmk and I'll see what I can do to get you a promo offer (or better).

Not a blog, but "Bit by Bit: How P2P Is Freeing the World" by Jeffrey Tucker was a fantastic read.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S085TRS/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o02_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

I'd think the first thing to do at this point is to talk with your client about their expectations. Be honest in telling them what you can do in the time you have, and give them the options of changing schedule, scope, and budget. Usually you can have any two of those. If all three are locked in, then describe the outcome you expect. You'll get the go-ahead or you won't, but your conscience should be clear either way.

My theory is that people hate after-the-fact surprises more than hearing bad news at the beginning. If you don't, you risk your reputation with the client's network - you'll never have the opportunity to explain the situation to those people.

Finally, check out Peter Block's book Flawless Consulting. The first third is indispensable, the second third is good, and the last part is just OK (IMHO).

Pinchbeck is a brilliant man. I've been reading his newer book, "2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl". He describes 2012 not as an apocalyptic end-game scenario, but instead as a possible time for humanity to experience a paradigm shift in conscious thought.

His argument is the following:

1 | Technology and society are manifestations of our thoughts/ideas

2 | Much of our technology and ideologies are geared towards destructive purposes (whether those are militaristic or capitalist)

3 | A global shift in consciousness [thought] will lead to radical changes in all other aspects of life

I'm not sure it's going to become a NEW major world religion, but it is already a part of several world religions as a spiritual sacrament, and has been for centuries at least. I've never heard of DMT-Nexus, but I will check it out.

I have no idea what is actually significant about 2012. I don't understand the cosmic ramifications, or what it is going to do the environment or how that's going to effect us. All I've heard is conjecture and I get the feeling that no one really has any idea what, if anything, is significant about the date. But if I had to throw my speculation in towards a specific direction, I'd probably fall on the side of Daniel Pinchbeck

[BLOG] Starting a Successful Blog: Share Your Passion and Turn It into a Business

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L4ZDF4R

FREE until July 10th

> WordPress blog is the best blogging platform. If you’ve never blogged before and don’t know where to start, this easy guide will provide all the information needed for a beginner blogger.

>Website design can be intimidating if you’re not a techie, but this book lays out a simple guide to starting your own business website or blog. If you’re looking to start or grow your business, either online or offline, consider building a website with the very affordable WordPress.

I couldn't agree more. I even wrote a book a little while ago that talks about improving selling skills on Craigslist (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BV5P4WN in case you want to check it out.) One of the only downsides I've found with trying to improve selling skills on Craigslist is there aren't many options to market your product. Most collectors online aren't living near me in order to pick up the product. Which is why I have also started to flip on eBay, at least there the product is in front of a global audience. I can also market on various forums and websites to get the product in front of high paying collectors who will then just have the product shipped to them.

Do you not agree that there are a whole load of really immature books about game design that are sold more on the fact that "its a book about games" than its inherent content ?

Even within the space of magazines I think it would be fair to call Nintendo power immature and something like EDGE , Games TM or Develop magazine Mature.

for someone starting from scratch you would get allot more by reading these books than by watching EC ( obviously can do both and EC is a nice starting pion for someone totally new to games)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0465067107?ie=UTF8&tag=alwaysblack01-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0465067107

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0273693646?ie=UTF8&tag=alwaysblack01-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0273693646

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Game-Design-Raph-Koster/dp/1932111972

allso over view books on Game theory , the history of the microchip and computing , evolution and basic biology can be incredibly good in helping think about games as an art and the limitations in the development of software.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fun-Games-Text-Game-Theory/dp/0669246034/ref=cm_lmf_tit_12

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321193679/zx81orguk00

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0932633439/zx81orguk00

http://www.amazon.com/Computer-History-Information-Machine-Technology/dp/0465029906


I realise EC is just easily consumable general information and that's fine just wish they did it without the pretence , like I said in other comments I'm glad they make it even though it personally annoys the hell out of me its beneficial for games as a whole as there is a general lack of even moderately intelligent talk about games.

• Beautiful Code
  
• Design Patterns
  
• The Pragmatic Programmer
  
• Refactoring
  
• The Mythical Man Month
  
• Why Programs Fail
  
• Professional Software Development
  
• Coders At Work
  
• Contextual Design

Peter Block's Flawless Consulting is the Bible of consulting and offers really intuitive step-by-step analysis of best practices in consulting. If you pick this book up, you can use it to guide you through your first gigs without too much trouble.

Good luck!

I'm sure some non-profit compensation packages are inappropriate, but you can't simply look at the salary and determine whether or not that's the case, as you did in your comment. And nothing is wrong with spending a large percentage of your budget fundraising as long as the end result is a bigger and better impact improving the world.

The simple truth is that there's a huge untapped pool of charitable donations that people would make if they were asked in the right way. Instead, people in the non-profit industry are cautious and shy about making an aggressive case for their own causes, for fear of looking selfish.

Of course, the real problem at the core of the non-profit industry is "how do you measure success?" In the for-profit world, cash is the bottom line, but non-profits too often gauge their success on misleading and unscientific surveys or on simple "dollars moved" stats. I heartily recommend givewell.org for the work they do encouraging donating based on good science, and the book Uncharitable if you want to read more about how the culture of non-profits is self-sabotaging.

Value-Based Fees is the one I swear by. Really shows how the relationship should be set up (for example using "we" instead of "you"). Definitely a good read.

Could you help me review these two kindle books -- on business -- Free till Saturday the 24th.
Thank you.

https://www.amazon.com/Small-Business-Starters-Guide-Experience-ebook/dp/B01LR7MNV8

https://www.amazon.com/Fast-Track-Your-Business-Management-ebook/dp/B01LT9GV2Q

I'm not experienced enough to even remotely consider consulting, though this book is one I have bookmarked.

It's US-oriented(ish) though should be of some help to you.

I've read a lot of the books recommended so far in the comments, and IMO a lot of them wouldn't really apply to OP and what he's looking for.

For the financial analysis stuff you're looking for, I would recommend ["Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits"] (http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Numbers-Straight-Talk-Profits/dp/1608320561/ref=pd_sim_b_52?ie=UTF8&refRID=1S8HGR7A61EGGQWPC28R).

I would also second "The Personal MBA" as someone already posted here. I also liked ["E-Myth Mastery"] (http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Mastery-Michael-E-Gerber-ebook/dp/B000RO9VIQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419395662&sr=1-1&keywords=e-myth+mastery) for the company structure and organization that you're looking for -- if you can get past the waffling and storytelling crap Gerber is so fond of, there's actually good information within those pages.

Lastly, "Street Smarts" is also a great book on business strategy for those with more experience like you.

Tucker's new book can be bought here:

http://www.amazon.com/Bit-How-P2P-Freeing-World-ebook/dp/B00S085TRS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420766939&sr=8-2&keywords=bit+by+bit+tucker

Hi Jawilson2, here's a few books I've read in the past that helped prime me. I guess at the minimum these books helped me understand who was a bullshitter and who wasn't when they claimed they "knew the business side."

Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur - Fund raising basics. Key if you ever plan to raise money. You'd be stupid to try without reading this first.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071496025/

Business Model Generation - This book helps you think through the business model issues most "hacker" type entrepreneurs skip. Makes you think more holistically.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470876417/

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law - Basics about legal issues you should be aware exist. I haven't read through it all at once, but it's a good guide when I run up against areas I'm murky on.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business-Law/dp/0324204930/

From Serf to Surfer

My strong opinion is that the most reliable and efficient (ie $/hr) way to do this is with development consulting (app dev, front end and back end)

Buy this book:

The Software Engineer's Guide to Freelance Consulting: The new book that encompasses finding and maintaining clients as a software developer, tax and legal tips, and everything in between. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1TTJFK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wBTRzbR596M0F

Imo, because I've seen how long it can take people to find things they are deeply interested in, if you really want $10k, get there via consulting, and then just reduce your consulting hours and use your free time to work on things that interest you. And then you'll always have an income source you can scale up and down as needed.

[https://www.amazon.com/FULL-SCALE-Grow-Startup-Without-Plan-ebook/dp/B00NTC5G28]

I thought this book was pretty insightful
https://www.amazon.com/Platform-Revolution-Networked-Markets-Transforming/dp/0393249131

\>with the accounting books, Accounting was still the only course I have ever failed. What ones you ready?

Not so much straight accounting - more like "I need a CFO, but am not going to hire one, so that's me now."

The best one I've found - that really is blowing my mind - is:

https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Numbers-Straight-Talk-Profits/dp/1608320561

I am way into anything that gives you a manageable load of metrics and tells you when to watch out.

"The Ultimate Blueprint for an Insanely Successful Business" by Keith J. Cunningham is another good intro to reading financial reports and getting something out of them.

If you are charging hourly then you are missing out on a boatload of revenue. I highly recommend that you read Alan Weiss's book, Value Based Fees.

I'm a socialist and this is right on. We have to distinguish between long term goals (a more equal society) and short term relief of suffering. I think we (the left) should be more willing to consider market solutions in the short term.

One example would be letting charities play by the same rules as companies. Yes, the people who make money in the charity business would make more money, but it would also give more help to those the charities exist to help. (http://www.amazon.com/Uncharitable-Restraints-Nonprofits-Contemporary-Perspectives/dp/1584659556/)

I think we need to drop our ideology with regard to the short term, in favor of what works. There are a couple of heterodox economists I really like, lefties to be sure, but with interesting nuanced appreciation of the good that markets can do:

• Dean Baker (http://www.cepr.net/index.php/beat-the-press/)
  
• Ha-Joon Chang (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/hajoonchang)
  They have both written really good books, too.
  
  If market policies succeed (as I believe they often can), and this leads less power for the left, so be it. But I don't think that will be the case.

Read value based fees before you start charging by the hour

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0470275847

You can download a sample on iBooks. Anything by Alan Weiss will help you on your new consultation business

Mill

Daniel Pinchbeck makes me look up words twice per page a couple chapters deep.