Best Books of 2011 that Should Grace Your Nightstand
It’s a New Year—time to catch up on your professional reading so that you can stay current and competitive. We’ve browsed those books that made the 2011 lists of best business books and are recommending our top five that are likely to benefit our readership. We suggest you add the following to your nightstand:
1. Becoming a Franchise Owner! (Wiley, 2011) In this book, author Joel Libava helps readers properly research and select the right franchise for them. Listed on both Entrepreneur.com and Small Biz Trend’s lists of 2011 best business books, Becoming a Franchise Owner! includes the following:
- A self-evaluation quiz that will help you determine whether or not you’re franchise material
- Tips on assessing your skill set and matching your interests and aptitudes with the right franchise
- Data on locating information about current industry trends, interviewing franchisors/franchisees and discovering valuable franchise opportunities
- List of 40 crucial questions to ask before buying a franchise
2. How Companies Win: Profiting from Demand-Driven Business Models No Matter What Business You’re in (HarperBusiness, 2010) Written by Rick Kash and David Calhoun, How Companies Win examines something we’ve suggested our readers do for years: increase revenues by expanding service offerings. This book helps readers accomplish this by locating and securing those valuable areas of high-profit demand, something that applies to all financial professionals. How Companies Win is number three on Inc’s Business Book Bestseller list and includes a powerful business model that has helped other profitable businesses— like Best Buy, Anheuser-Busch, Hershey’s, and Allstate—succeed.
3. The Entrepreneur Equation (BenBella, 2011) This book helps entrepreneurial hopefuls answer the most important question of all, “Should I be an entrepreneur?” Not everyone is suited for self-employment, and author Carol Roth helps readers answer that question before attempting to launch their own businesses. The Entrepreneur Equation is on Entrepreneur.com’s list of “10 Intriguing Business Books for Entrepreneurs to Read on Vacation.”
4. What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential (Harvard Business School Press, 2011) Number two on Inc.’s Business Book Bestseller list, What to Ask the Person in the Mirror is intended to help professionals “diagnose problems, change course if necessary, and advance your career.” Written by Harvard Business School professor Robert Kaplan, this book is intended to help business professionals ask the right questions to advance their careers.
5. In the Black: Nine Principles to Make Your Business Profitable by Allen Bostrom (Universal Accounting Center, 2005) This guide demonstrates how to increase your business’s profitability using improved accounting and business metrics – a must-have for organizations of any size. Written by president and CEO of Universal Accounting Center Allen Bostrom, this book also discusses the importance of increasing communication among the three major business functions: marketing, production and accounting. This book can help any small-business owner, especially those who specialize in financial services, bring greater success to their own businesses as well as those of their clients. Order now and you can begin applying tried and true principles of business profitability.
Resource
–. “Top Business Books.” September 2011 Inc.com
Payton, Susan. “Three Small Biz Books Worth Reading.” 17 December 2011 SmallBizTrends.com
Tice, Carol. “10 Intriguing Business Books for Entrepreneurs to Read on Vacation.” 21 December 2011 Entrepreneur.com