25 Business Tips for Entrepreneurs, Startups and Business Owners [Entrepreneur’s Bookshelf]

You’ve heard you are what you eat, well we believe that you are what you read. We receive hundreds of books to read to help out entrepreneurs and business owners but more than just offering a chance to hear about a book we believe we want you to walk away with some wisdom just like we did from reading these books.

Teach a CEO presents lessons from the Entrepreneur’s Bookshelf on how you can improve and grow your business venture. We have taken some nuggets from our library and provide them for entrepreneurs and business owners and to help your ventures.

Business Tips from The Bookshelf

1. One reason the five principles discussed in this book are so important is because the real difference between most people and Ultimate Influencers is their ability to solve problems. The world rewards greatly those who can solve problems. In order to do that, you must face them head-on. (Adversaries Into Allies)
2. Decision making is driven by both conscious rational logic and subconscious emotional needs. Often, when faced with too many choices, people will gravitate toward the products or services that “feel” right. In a crowded marketplace, emotional drivers trump rational reflection. (Empathetic Marketing)
3. If you want to grow, there are a few things you should consider. First, you simply can't do everything…. Second, some business owners…actually give their schedule to someone else to manage so that their time is strictly controlled…Finally, while you may not compromise when it comes to the quality of the product, you might need to make other compromises. (Small Business for Big Thinkers)
4. Mindset matters because your mindset–where your head is—guides everything else. Your mindset guides how well you can “think big,” how much you believe in your ability to succeed, how well you can think creatively and outside the box, and whether you can really stick with this and stay motivate. Mindset, in short, is everything. (Business in Blue Jeans)
5. But when large companies give some degree of ownership to the consumers in the process, that is, when they cede control and empower, it can easily become another support beam on the bridge connecting the consumer and the company. A company's giving control, simply put, is amount the best ways to foster consumers intrinsic motivation to support its product or service. (Empathetic Marketing)
6. Edison's experience as an innovator is as relevant today as it was one hundred years ago. Edison devoted considerable attention to the questions all innovators face in modern times: Which products should I develop? How should those products be designed, manufactured, and marketed? How do I raise money to support research and development? How do I respond to competition and changing markets? Knowing Edison's response to these questions brings us closer to understanding the nature of technological innovation and creativity. Edison stands as an innovator, not because he always succeeded, but because of the scope and range of his interests. (Edison and the Rise of Innovation)
7. My one piece of advice for you on competitive strategy is to differentiate yourself form your primary competitors as much as possible. Differentiating your business model relative to your competitors enables your business, by definition to stand out from the crowd. (The One-Hour Business Plan)
8. Truly successful individuals create both immediate and long-lasting influence attracting others to them. After all, there's a reason we say that someone with influence has a lot of “pull.” Great influencers attract people, both to themselves and to their ideas. (Adversaries Into Allies)
9. Sacred Service occurs when we got our selves out of the way….. When employees have their attention on the details, breakdowns, or circumstances of their lives, it is difficult for them to be here, now, fully in service to our customers. We're not advising you to ignore the circumstances of your employees; we are counseling you to empower them by training them to be present, which is the only place anyone has any power to create. (Sacred Commerce)
10. If you take what you love doing and merge it with what you do well, that's what your business should be about. That business will have the highest likelihood of success, because the fire in your belly will keep you motivated, and your expertise will ensure that you do what you do really well, which is a large part of why people will come back to you again and again. (Business in Blue Jeans)
11. Being able to admit you are wrong is not only one of the first signs of maturity but perhaps the foundation of any type of growth and effectiveness. (Adversaries Into Allies)
12. Ultimate Influence is based on five principles that occur on an ongoing basis….(1) Control your own emotions (2) Understand the clash of belief systems (3) Acknowledge their ego (4) Set the proper frame (5) Communicate with tact and empathy. (Adversaries Into Allies)
13. Most of our lives we attempt to avoid failure. Somewhere we learned that failure is bad. Can you see that failure only shows up as bad if the context for life is trying to get somewhere or prove something? Shift the context to one of awakening, and it isn't much of a stretch to comprehend that failure is a vital part of the process. Most of us grow the most when faced with failure; it is a fertile ground for transformation. (Sacred Commerce)
14. Your business is a gift. But it's not a gift that everyone in the world needs or that everyone wants (even if you think you should). Instead of giving people what you think they'd want or, worse, what you'd like to give them,you need to choose who you're going to give your gift to and get to know that group of people so that you can make your gift into the format they want most…. not choosing a target market is like having a bunch of darts, but no dartboard. (Business in Blue Jeans)
15. Choosing to compete is not just about stretching to reach new goals (that's always important for a business), it's also about carefully considering the kind of business you want and don't want. And here is one final thought. While I have spent a lot of time talking about connecting with and winning big business, you need to carefully balance your mix of big and small customers. (Small Business for Big Thinkers)
16. Influencers write handwritten notes, and lots of them. They find reasons to write them and they send them to all sorts of people. In addition to prospects, customers, and clients, send a note to your waiter, mechanic, or any service person who takes good care of you. (Adversaries Into Allies)
17. We American entrepreneurs have a tendency to spend a disproportionate amount of time working
    on the solution before we fully understand the problem or explain it clearly as a need. The need must be clearly and consciously identified before you start working on the solution; otherwise, you start to solve the wrong problem. (The One-Hour Business Plan)
18. Marketing is successful when you choose the smartest methods that reach your audience in the most effective, efficient manner and then deliver your message in a creative, interesting way that attracts your target market and engages them with your brand. (Business in Blue Jeans)
19. Mission statements are an opportunity to align yourself, your employees, and your customer base with your commitments. It is most important that these statements are written in the present tense so as to always be current and happening now. The mission statement is a promise of what you will deliver as well as what you aspire to. (Sacred Commerce)
20. People are always looking for ways to express themselves–their personalities, their values, even their uniqueness. Self-expression gives people a sense of self-worth and identity. The need for self-expression offers a variety of opportunities for business. Positioned and marketed correctly, a brand can be either a symbol of or a means of expression. (Empathetic Marketing)
21. Edison was not opposed to mass-circulation advertising, even for the phonograph, but he did not spend as much money on ads as his competitors because he believed they could not convey the technical superiority of his products. The goal of his marketing strategy, therefore, was to allow as many consumers as possible to hear his phonographs and records. (Edison and the Rise of Innovation)
22. It may seem odd to talk about selling your business and timing your exit…, but you need to have a vision. (Small Business for Big Thinkers)
23. True leaders and influencers not only accept having smarter and more knowledgeable people on their team, they seek them out. They purposely surround themselves with people who are more capable than they are in one or more specific areas. (Adversaries Into Allies)
24. If your business model is tested properly before launch, your business or a new business initiative just might be similar to my favorite horeback ride: premature, out of control at times, wondering what is happening and how you got there. At other times you will be so in sync with your customers that time flies by, the value exchanges exhilarate you, and you will wonder how you ever lived happily without these exchanges taking place. However, all of that is premature at this time, in this context, with this customer target market (you). Yes, the management team (jockey) is critical. My point is that you can select the best jockeys for the horse later–after you learn more about your horse the business model. (The One-Hour Business Plan)
25. In recent years, some firms have scaled back their support for research and ddevelopment or closed their laboratoriesin an effort to reduce costs, raising questions about how these companies can remain innovative in a highly competitive, rapidly changing economy. Edison's experience is relevant today because he grappled with the same problems, and we can look to his example for ways to overcome the many challenges of operating a profitable, self-sustaining enterprise. (Edison and the Rise of Innovation)

The Summary of the Books on the Entrepreneur’s Bookshelf

Excerpts from Amazon.com