Here it is! Part 2 of my favorite (the best!) business books every entrepreneur and small business owner needs to read.

Pablo Neruda once said, “The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.”

With this in mind, I’ve collected 5 of the best business and mindset books I’ve found over the past year, hoping they will serve you as they have served me in this journey.

Curious about Part 1 of my favorite business books? Read more: The 5 best business books you need to read STAT 

Business Book Checklist: What You Need In Your Bookshelf

Chillpreneur: The New Rules for Creating Success, Freedom, and Abundance on Your Terms

By Denise Duffield-Thomas

Denise Duffield-Thomas is a mindset money mentor whose work focuses on women who are online entrepreneurs. Her first books, Lucky B*tch: A Guide for Exceptional Women to Create Outrageous Success and Get Rich, Lucky B*tch: Release Your Money Blocks and Live a First-Class Life, focus on how to attract success and achieve your wildest dreams, whether you’ve just started out or are in need of a push to hit the next big milestone.

In Chillpreneur, Denise DT (as she’s widely known) breaks down the secret to building a long-lasting business around your core identity, incorporating your mindset, the business models that work with your personality and priorities, how to handle your money, and how to sell what you do to achieve the wealth you’ve been looking for.

Chillpreneur is divided in four sections:

• Mindset

• Business Models

• Money

• Marketing

Each section is chock full of valuable lessons and easy-to-implement steps to help you break through your perceived limits and go beyond your own expectations.

Curious about what being a chillpreneur means? Read Make Money and Feel Good Doing It: Become a Chillpreneur! by the author herself. 

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

By Brené Brown

Brené Brown is a professor and researcher who’s spent her career at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work. She’s devoted her research to studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy.

Her work revolves around human emotion. It offers insight into what it means to grow from within and how to expand one’s possibilities while acting imperfectly, as humans.

Dare to Lead, published in 2018, is in her own words, “the ultimate playbook for developing brave leaders and courageous cultures.” In this book, Brené explores what she defines as four key characteristics of great leaders, traits anyone can master and allow anyone, despite their seeming challenges and shortcomings, to become an inspiring leader within their organization and life.

 The four skills are:

• Rumbling with vulnerability

• Living into our values

• Braving trust

• Learning to rise

Dare to Lead is the guide that combines all of Brené’s previous work into action steps towards effective leadership.

Influence — The Psychology of Persuasion 

By Robert Cialdini

Dr. Robert Cialdini is a psychologist who’s devoted his career to figuring out what influences people’s decision making processes. He’s a psychology and marketing professor at Arizona State University.

In Influence — The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini covers what he defines as the 7 key influences of persuasion:

• Weapons of influence

• Reciprocation

• Commitment and consistency

• Social proof

• Liking

• Authority

• Scarcity

Backed by 30 years of research and over 5 million copies sold, Influence is a must have book for any small business owner looking to understand consumer behavior and how to influence it ethically. What’s more, better understanding your consumers’ logical and emotional reasoning is priceless in providing real value to positively impact their lives.

The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field

By Mike Michalowicz

By Mike Michalowicz, the same author of Profit First (which we covered in Part 1 of my favorite business books review), The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field is a step by step guide that presents pumpkin farmers as a metaphor, turning their methods for growing award-winning pumpkins into savvy business tactics.

With tactics like “planting the right seed,” or focusing on your key business moves instead of trying to do all the things; and weeding out the losers (those pumpkins that clearly won’t grow to be award winners) or “firing” your small clients—or those who detract from your big goals—, Mike is far from sugar-coating entrepreneurship. His straightforward approach is refreshing and will give you the action items you need to take you from small town pumpkin patch to reaching those lofty business goals you’ve set out.

Successful Women Think Differently: 9 Habits to Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient

By Valorie Burton

A must-have book for female entrepreneurs, Successful Women Think Differently is Valorie Burton’s peek behind the curtain at what female entrepreneurship is about.

As a life coach, motivational speaker, author and entrepreneur, Valorie breaks down the preconceived notions of entrepreneurship and shows you how to:

• Focus on solutions instead of problems

• Leave fear behind

• Nurture intentional relationships

• Take the steps to reach your dreams 

• Practice (and strengthen) self control

Valorie expertly intertwines her entrepreneurial experience throughout her book and helps you practice self-coaching tactics and winning strategies to reframe your old thinking patterns and unlock your fullest potential to succeed.

Find authors who both support your vision and challenge it - and you will have found growth

We’re constantly consuming one form of content or another. We’re always processing new ideas, exposing ourselves to creatives, innovators, news outlets and more. Sharing ideas is easier than ever; so it’s more important than ever to be mindful of the stuff we absorb.

As an entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to nurture your own path with authors who both support and challenge your own experiences and beliefs. It’s this constant balance between comfort and expansion that will help shape your own version of entrepreneurship and, really, life.

If You Could Summarize Everything You’ve Learned About Entrepreneurship In A Single Sentence, What Would It Be?

Let Me Know!

Kiva Slade is the CEO and Founder of The 516 Collaborative.

She is a Certified Online Business Manager® who partners with mid 6-7 figure business owners serving as their confidante, voice of reason and manager of all things operations, teams, and projects.

Kiva holds a Master's degree in Public Administration and has operated her own jewelry business. Her 20 years of experience run the gamut from Legislative Director for a member of Congress to chief encouragement officer for her teenage children.

In her free time, you can find her indulging in gluten free desserts, playing in the dirt in her garden, or with a good book.