5 lessons I learnt from my favorite business books

Information, they say, is key. So, when you talk about a store of information and knowledge, then books should always come to mind. Business books contain valuable lessons that can help you achieve your goals and build a successful brand. Guess what? I’m going to share with you 5 lessons I learnt from my favorite business books.

If you’ve ever tried to run a business before, I’m pretty sure you’ll understand just how challenging it can be to do so.

I remember when I started my first business, back in my university days. It was a simple buying and selling business. Every lady on campus always wanted to look good. So, I bought accessories, like earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets and wristwatches, from wholesale vendors. I had these cute little jewellery boxes made. So, I arranged each of those items in each box and sold them. I had different packages at different rates. It was a good business because I made lots of sales. However, what I didn’t realize was that it was easy to make those sales because I was right in the midst of my target audience. I didn’t need to go around town trying too hard to market my business. A couple of flyers was all I needed for my publicity. I’d go to hostels and classrooms from time to time to share them, but that was it.

Leaving school, I tried starting a shoe business, and then I realized how much work it took to build a successful brand or run a business. So, I knew that if I truly wanted to be a successful business person, I had to learn from the best. I guess that was when I stumbled on a few business books that pointed out certain strategies to me.

I know there are tons of business books in the world. So I get that it can be a little overwhelming knowing where to start. 

These are 5 lessons I learnt form my favorite business books

1. Don’t be afraid to fail

The graph of success isn’t linear, it has a lot of Ups and downs. So, don’t be afraid to fail. As a matter of fact, failure is a part of the journey to success. You need to learn certain lessons that can help you avoid some errors in the future. So, to do that, well, failure will be inevitable.

Failing forward, a book by John C Maxwell explores the concept of handling failure. The question isn’t whether we’d fail or have problems, but how we intend to handle it when it happens.

2. Marketing is about your prospect’s perspective, not your product

The 22 immutable laws of marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout is a business book that will help you understand the concept of marketing.

Marketing is about getting into your prospect’s mind first. So, even if you are not the first in your industry or in the market, you create a category that allows you to be first in their minds. That’s what successful marketing is about, not your product.

3. Do not compete

It’s too much work to try to beat your competitors. Instead, focus on getting some other things right.

“Blue ocean strategy,” a book by W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne explores how to take over the market from competitors by building a blue ocean that people can’t wait to dive into. Don’t crowd the existing market. Create yours.

4. Execution is key

Ideas, they say, rule the world. However, ideas without execution are as good as useless. So, how can you move your dreams from ideas to reality? Execution.

Execution takes intelligence, relevant knowledge, experience, hard work, etc to achieve. So, how do you get it done? You need discipline.

Reading “Execution: The discipline of getting things done,” by Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charan will give you insights to help you take actions.

5. Start with the “why”

“Start with the why,” is a business book by Simon Sinek that helps you examine and question the need for your business.

If you want to inspire people, you don’t start by telling them what you are doing or how you are going to achieve it. Start by identifying a need that needs to be met first. Answering the question of why communicates to your audience your vision, which will determine whether they want to be a part of it or not.

That’s it, guys! I’ll be back with more business books. In the meantime, enjoy these reads.