9 out of 10 startups fail in the world. Have you ever thought about why this happens? It's because 90% of people don't know how to do business. They have no ideas regarding vision, strategy, marketing, or how to pitch the right investors.
So here are the best books on this subject which will truly increase your knowledge of the business. Please don't stay in any illusion that you know everything and can make it. This is the single biggest quality found in every failure if you don't believe me go and ask any failure why he failed and his reply would be bad luck, bad partner or God don't like me. Wow, hats off to them but they won't say that it was their lack of knowledge which lead them to failure.
So be realistic and logical and remember the advice of the most successful entrepreneurs of the 21st century
Stay Hungry Stay Foolish
Steve Jobs
By Peter Thiel
You know the greatest satisfaction comes in business when you know that you have created something that wasn't there previously. Whether it is product innovations or service innovation you know you have created something new, something exciting and that is when you have gone from zero to one.
On the other side, those who have just copied or just followed what leaders in the industry have done without any competitive advantages or innovation than are the ones who go from zero to N.
This is the whole essence of the book: that is to create something new.
And to create something new you need to understand some important things and one of these is the ideology of Competition. According to the author, Competition means no profit and struggle for survival so it is better to avoid it.
Now how it is possible to avoid it ???. Before asking such questions you need to ask yourself why you are competing?? That's true if companies look clearly they will understand that they don't know why they are competing. Like Shakespeare had said, " It's not at all clear why they should be fighting since they have nothing to fight about".
This is shown by Clear rivalry between Microsoft and Google in which Apple took the win.
War is costly in business.
Another thing in business that everyone should remember is that they focus on the present but on the future. The value of a business today is the sum of all the money it will make in the future.
And last, to build a monopoly start the small first cover the local areas then scale up but not at cost of profit " Scaling without profit is like committing suicide don't challenge large Competitor in the start and remember what really matters is generating cash flow in future so "last would be first".
Another great insight from the book is about Power-law which is a small handful of companies radically outperform all others this is basically for investors and VCs. In a study of 2005 by a firm showed that Facebook returns were more than all other combined companies they had in the list.
So what should we remember from this???
That most startups fail and with that our time and money too. So whether you are starting a business or want to invest, always see that your company has the potential to return the value of the entire fund. Whether it is your efforts or money the value should always be more than what you get.
And last is sales don't think that your product will sell by itself. Without Marketing, no business could stay and that brings us to our next book
Buy on Amazon
By Philip Kotlar
We have all heard from our grandparents that be good and honest and these things will pay off in the long run. However early on it was just a choice but today it is like oxygen if you don't have it you will die.
This is the whole essence of Marketing 4.0 where author Philp Kotler says that now inclusive is more important than exclusive. Early innovation would happen form companies to customers but today the market will tell you what they want and you will have to innovate that.
In today's world, you cannot afford to be product-centric or customer-centric. What you and your brand need to be is Human-centric. We think social media and technology have connected us which is true also to some extent but according to numerous studies people of this age are said to be the most lonely ones and what we all want to feel is belonging to something special so how could marketers forget this need.
If you want to stand out among numerous competition your brand need to have humans quality in it which are
Six human qualities brand should have
1) Physical ( well logo and tagline)
2) Intellectual ( Smart and intelligent and innovative)
3) Sociability ( Have courage in talking to the customer regarding fault )
4) Emotional ( Can connect with customer emotions)
5) Personality (self-aware and know what they stand for)
6) Mortality ( Ethics and integrity)
Another key area to focus on is content writing. As attention span is getting decreased and with manipulative ads are coming you cannot just depend on advertising.
In this age content writing is the new advertising
And this all will make sense only if you follow one simple method that is omnichannel. Marketing.
So what Is this?
Have you ever experienced this like seeing an ad for the latest phone on Amazon, then reading the reviews and features, and lastly purchasing that phone from a mobile shop?
Or you have seen a billboard of a new iPhone and then purchased it online.
This whole process is called omnichannel marketing
The practice of integrating multiple
channels to create a seamless and consistent customer experience.
If you are doing a business you just can't depend on your shop. You have to purchase your website and display your product there too. Nowadays coaching classes are also coming up with online services.
If you follow this step properly or even better purchase this book it can really help your business. Marketing is not like before with changing customer behavior and increasing Competition we need to apply new rules to win In this new world ..
Buy on Amazon
By Eric Ries
Let's say you have a great idea and a good marketing plan but still there are high chances of failure. Why???.
Because you haven't tested your idea to your target customers. See everyone has a good idea even your neighbors would have once go ask them but what separates a successful startup from a failed one is that their good idea is combined with their customer's needs.
And that is what this book is. Although it includes many concepts the key points of the book are to create an MVP ( minimal viable product ).
Now, what is this?
Before creating your final or service you first need to see to be sure that your customer will like it and this surety will only come when you showed them your product or service. Now how will you show before fully creating?
So you don't need to show every single thing about your product just be short and give them a short demo or tailor of your product and notice their attention and implement their feedback now don't do this with your friends or family their opinion can't be taken seriously but do this one his expert or have long experience in that particular industry.
This is one of the best books on startup and contains many deep insights.
Buy on Amazon
By Jim Collin
It's impossible to have a great life unless it's a meaningful life and it's impossible to have a meaningful life without a meaningful work ⠀
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So guys you can't just avoid reading this if you are in business or wanted to start one. Business is all about understanding and one of my favorite topics so here is a short summary from my all-time favorite book⠀
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1)Leave 5 leadership ⠀
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To start a business leadership is a must-learn a skill without it you can't succeed. But here the author has given different types of leadership skills i.e. level 1,2,3,4 and 5. One to four types are the one who has the brain but not the heart and vice versa. So it is only level 5 which will give you greatness and here what it is ⠀
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An individual who blends extreme personal humility with an intense professional will. Their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves. ⠀
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HUMILITY + WILL = LEVEL 5⠀
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2) FIRST WHO THEN WHAT⠀
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Remove the wrong people from the bus. Great vision without great people is irrelevant. If you want to achieve greatness remove all mediocre type people from your life ⠀
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3) The real question in business is not, “How do we motivate our people?” If you have the right people, they will be self-motivated. The key is to not de-motivate them. One of the primary ways to de-motivate people is to ignore the brutal facts of reality. Lack of appreciation and empathy etc⠀
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4) Hedgehog Concept(very important) is a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of the following three circles: What you can be the best in the world at (and, equally important, what drives your economic engine, What you are deeply passionate about. Without finding an answer to the above question you can never achieve greatness⠀
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Many people get stuck in business because they don't have any strategy to take that to the next level. So this book will teach how to do it and create an enduring business which will not only create a profile but also satisfaction
Now before going further, if I ask you about your dreams and goals in life, you guys will very passionately say that my goal is to start a billion dollars company to buy a big car, etc. But if I ask you a second question have you ever thought of giving something in return for this so many people will surely go blank.
And that's sorry to say that in real life also these people will go blank 😔 because they think life is all about getting things but in reality, it is about giving things and when you give things with your full heart without any expectations it returns back to you in a double value.
This is the whole essence of the book where a businessman ( Joe) who was failing in business got a hard lesson to focus on giving by his chairman with 5 laws to help him and those were.
1) The law of value
Always give your customer more value then the price they paid for this will not only generate more revenue but also a loyal and satisfied customer who will then promote your business for free.
Value can not only be in the form of less money but by creating good relationships too like remember your customer name, greet them at their birthday such little things won't cost anything but will increase your value so much that you will become truly unshakable.
2) Law of compensation
Now, this law will show you how much you will earn. Earning depends exactly on how much customers you serve like if you are operating in your local areas so you can only serve that much of customer but if you go online then you can serve the global audience so always try to scale your business while improving your quality to
3) Law of Influence.
Believe it or not but only your customer can make you successful in business neither your MBA degree nor your intelligence. And another hard fact is that in life no one will help you for free except for your parents. So helping your customers first and asking them to share your product within their circle sounds simple but it is not and for that, you need to master social intelligence. This can be developed by reading various communication-related books and if you ask me I would recommend this The Like switch.
4) Law of authenticity.
In today's world, everyone tries to fake themselves and I can't find a better example of this then our social media. Means just look at how good looking, happy, and enjoying they look until and unless you see their face in reality without any filters. So point to say this is that don't fake yourself in personal life also and in business. Everyone has faults and goes wrong at some time so admit it and accept that your product has some disadvantages and you will work on that this will only earn you the customer trust. Nothing is more truthful then been authentic
5) Law of getting back
Nothing is earned without having patience, its key element of success. So after applying all this above law be patient and wait for things getting back at you. The businessmen (Joe) did the same and soon their client and customers were coming back to him. His employees began to love him more and work more passionately.
And all this results in more business and happiness which is the true success.
Many people in the business believe that their sole purpose is to earn profit and yes this should be your goal you are not there for charity but having only this goal will make you mediocre because you have no real purpose. Companies like Apple, Google, Amazon didn't just build upon getting profit their purpose was to change things and make life better for their customer and we all know how much profit they are earning today. So have a goal bigger than money so you can also achieve something which no money can buy ie happiness and satisfaction.
Happy Reading
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