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7 Top Business Plan Books for New-age Entrepreneurs

Free Ultimate Guide On Writing A Business Plan

• October 18, 2023

12 Min Read

Business Plan books are the first thing to go for once you have decided on the idea you want to pursue as an entrepreneur.

Starting up as an entrepreneur is not as simple as it seems. Transforming your idea into a business that creates value for the world is a long process.

The process is full of uncertainties, hurdles, and burnout. To make consistent efforts without giving up, you need a plan you can rely upon.

A plan that helps you in making wise decisions in your entrepreneurial journey is known as a business plan.

It also helps in refining processes and keeps you in line with your business goals.

Now, how would you create a business plan?

Well, you can anyhow get to know what it contains. However, to easily create a business plan that covers all aspects of your business, you must read these books.

In this article, we are going to discuss the 7 top business plan books written for ambitious entrepreneurs like you!

Best Business Plan Books

• Art of the Start 2.0
• The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies
• The Founder’s Dilemma
• The One-Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur
• The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan
• Anatomy of a Business Plan
• The Complete Book of Business Plans

1. Art of the Start 2.0

Goodreads rating: 3.87/5

The author of this book is American millionaire Guy Kawasaki. Though his name is enough for anyone to stand up from their seats let me tell you a few things about him.

• He worked with Apple in 1984 as a part of the marketing team for Macintosh computers.
• He is the author of 12 books including The Art of Social Media, and Enchantment.
• He is currently working as the chief evangelist of Canva which is a graphic designing software.

Now coming to what this book holds for you, it’s one of those books that focus on transforming your business idea into a full-fledged organization.

Guy Kawasaki explains why it is important to have a vision and how you, as an entrepreneur, can feed your team with the same vision.

If your team does not adhere to the same vision, there will always be chaos in the workspace.

You must also share stories about your product and your journey. Everyone loves stories. You don’t have to write a 300-page book but a few social media posts, and videos that resonate well with your target audience.

The book also guides entrepreneurs while hiring. It tells you to hire people who are new in the industry. They are most likely to innovate new products as they consistently ask questions.

Key Highlight:

This book will help you in writing a business plan along with guiding you in various steps of entrepreneurship. This book holds something for every aspect of entrepreneurship.

It also stresses how you can use the internet and cloud tools to make the processes more accessible and more efficient. In the modern era, businesses are equipped with tools that are affordable and accessible to everyone.

Moreover, the book also throws light on socializing and partnering with the right people for leadership roles or to get funding.

By reading this book, you will feel more powerful as an entrepreneur and will be ready to take on challenges that come along with entrepreneurship.

This book doesn’t sound like rhetoric and probably that’s why this book received appreciation from all across the world.

Book Link- Art of the Start 2.0

A reader’s review:

The focus is on tech entrepreneurs. While much of the advice is applicable to other industries, the book will hit the bullseye specifically with those starting technology businesses.

Anita Campbell (via Goodreads)

2. The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies

The author of the book is Rhonda Abrams who has written more than 12 books on entrepreneurship. Being an entrepreneur herself, the knowledge she shares is absolute gold and trustworthy.

She also writes one of the most popular columns in the US known as Small Business Strategies.

Let us now discuss what Rhonda Abrams has taught in her book.

The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies is a complete guide for anyone stuck in writing. It is one of those books that give you a push to start working on your idea.

This book contains various worksheets and charts which makes it consumable as well as practical.

You will get enough examples of various parts of a business plan , giving you an in-depth idea of what it looks like and how it is written.

This book not only teaches you to write a business plan that reminds you about your vision but also this plan can help you get investors on board.

It also equips you with strategies to get funds at the best possible rates and also to minimize the costs involved in running a business.

It gives you an in-depth understanding of positioning your brand in the market to gain the attention of your target audience and thus derive maximum profit.

Moreover, you can also use it for competitions related to showcasing plans for their businesses. The book is used by many entrepreneurs and is recommended to every small business.

Book Link- The Successful Business Plan

There’s enough information here to help you get almost any business started. This is a proven source, for it’s been through several re-prints since 1991.

Jeffrey Brown (via Goodreads)

3. The Founder’s Dilemma

Goodreads rating: 4.01/5

The book, The Founder’s dilemma, is one of the best business plan books by Noam Wasserman. Apart from this, he has written another bestseller known as Life is a startup.

Noam Wasserman served as a professor at Harvard Business school for 13 years and is currently working at the University of Southern California as a founding Director at the Founder Central Initiative.

The book he wrote is an absolute beauty. Not because he has told some hidden secrets but because he has addressed a problem that many entrepreneurs often ignore.

And that problem is the company’s leadership. You might have a billion-dollar business idea and even have cracked the tech for it, but you might still fail because of listening to the wrong advice.

If you want your business to not suffer due to wrong decisions made by top leadership, you must read this book.

This book will help you in deciding whom you want to work with, and how to share the equity among co-founders and employees without being emotional.

However, this book might not be useful for small businesses but is a gem for someone planning to launch a high-growth business.

Book Link – The Founder’s Dilemma

I’ve never seen a book before that was particularly helpful – to a founder – about the wide range of issues a founder will face.

Brad Feld (via Goodreads)

4. The One-Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur

Goodreads rating: 3.86/5

The author of this mind-blowing book is none other than Jim Horan.

Known for his expertise in solving complex business problems , Jim has helped many entrepreneurs in turning their businesses into profit-making machines.

Jim Horan has also been a Fortune 500 executive and has written six books in the One Page Business Plan for Creative Entrepreneur series.

This book is quite different from other books as it is written for entrepreneurs who do not understand a lot about business figures but want to get started soon.

There’s a saying that if you cannot write your business plan on a single page, you are probably doing it wrong.

The book enables you to write it in a couple of hours which includes your mission, objectives, and plans.

It will be crisp and easy to understand for your investors as well as the team. In this fast-moving world, it becomes really uncomfortable to give a week preparing a business plan.

You have the idea and with the help of this book, you can turn the idea into a business in no time.

Having said that, this book is not recommended to someone who is building a high-growth company or a business with many manufacturing units.

This book is specially designed for small businesses to increase their profits and improve their vision.

Book Link – The One-Page Business Plan

One of my favorites! I have used these templates many times. It really forces you to be concise and focus on your vision. Highly recommend!

Teri Temme (via Goodreads)

5. The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan

Goodreads rating: 3.70/5

The author of this book Hal Shelton is an extremely experienced executive who has worked with many corporations, non-profits, and investment companies.

Hal Shelton completed his BS from Carnegie Mellon University and then pursued an MBA from the University of Chicago.

The secrets to writing a successful Business Plan focus on each section of the plan to help you create one that stands out in front of the investors.

The book also informs you about the common errors entrepreneurs make while writing. These errors sometimes cost very high as they might create confusion for investors as well as for the team.

You will also learn to do the market analysis and write the same in your plan. You will be able to answer questions like how big is the market and whether it is sufficient to run a successful business or not.

Investors receive a lot of business plans and going through each one of them is not feasible. Therefore writing an executive summary becomes extremely important.

The executive summary is an easy way to grab investors’ attention and help them understand your business without going through lengthy documents.

If you are launching a non-profit organization, this book can help you in many ways as a section of the book is dedicated to non-profits.

Moreover, the book also consists of secret strategies for writing a business plan and getting bank loans or funding from investors.

Book Link – The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan

This book provides a very solid foundation to write your plan. The author also provides excellent examples and instructions as to what to and not to do in writing your business plan

Kirk G. Meyer (via Goodreads)

6. Anatomy of a Business Plan

The author of this book, Linda Pinson, has worked very closely with the U.S. small business administration to write the government business plan publication.

She has also been honored as Education Advocate of the year and SBA regional women in Business advocate of the year.

Apart from this book, she has written many books on entrepreneurship such as Keeping the books and steps to start a small business startup.

This is one of the best business books for people who do not know anything about business plans.

This book provides you with an in-depth understanding of different business plans and will enable you to choose your ideal kind.

After reading the book, you will learn to update your plan according to the needs of your business and the position of your brand in the market.

The author also highlights the importance of mentioning the table of contents and executive summary in navigating smoothly through the book.

Apart from this, it also throws light on how you can efficiently market your business. You will also learn how to mention the financials of your company which is an important thing to do.

The Anatomy of a Business Plan also contains five real-life business plans which give you an understanding of how successful businesses can be explained in a few pages.

You also get a few worksheets which makes the overall experience of reading the book delightful.

Book Link – Anatomy of a Business Plan

This book is like “a mentor for your business plan”. Really informative and helpful.

Marvin Musfiq (via Goodreads)

7. The Complete Book of Business Plans

Goodreads rating: 3.47/5

The authors of this book are Brian Hazelgran and Joseph A. Covello. Both of them have a great understanding of how businesses operate in this book. They have told us that one size doesn’t fit all.

That means business plans for different businesses cannot be written in the same way.

This book contains 12+ plans that give you an idea of how you write one for yourself.

This book also focuses on how you should bring people into your business and what vision you should have to run the business for decades.

Moreover, when you read the book you will have to ask a lot of questions to yourself. The book will compel you to ask questions yourself that are immensely important before writing it.

Once you give satisfactory answers to the questions asked, you will feel more motivated to start a business , and writing a business will look like a cakewalk.

The above quote shows how important it is to plan your business and create a visionary plan for your business.

Book Link – The Complete Book of Business Plans

Great book encompassing everything about writing business plans.

Denny Troncoso (via Goodreads)

Bottom Line

All the Business plan books that we discussed above are going to help you in some way or the other.

But don’t worry you don’t need to read all of them. Just figure out where you stand and where you would want to go and select a book accordingly.

Innovative tools present in the industry like Upmetrics have helped many entrepreneurs in business and financial planning. If you need more help writing a perfect business plan, check out Upmetrics NOW and grow 2X faster.

Build your Business Plan Faster

with step-by-step Guidance & AI Assistance.

Related Articles On Business Plan Writing

• A Comprehensive Guide to Write an Effective Business Plan
• Formulating a Detailed Business Plan Outline
• Get Your Business Plan Written by Expert Writers
• Determining the Ideal Length of a Business Plan
• Understand the Operations Plan Section in a Business Plan
• How to Design a Compelling Business Plan Cover Page
• Guidelines for Formulating a Business Plan Table of Contents
• Understanding the Importance of a Confidentiality Statement in a Business Plan

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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The 12 Best Books for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business

Successful people read.

A lot. 

Bill Gates reads 50 books a year .  Mark Cuban reads for more than 3 hours every day .  And, when asked how he learned to build rockets, Elon Musk simply said, “ I read books. ”

Is this a coincidence?  Nope.

Tom Corley, author of Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals , studied the role that reading plays in success .  His findings? 

Wealthy people (defined as those with an annual income of $160,000 or more, and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million-plus) read for education, self-improvement, and success. 

But, poorer people (defined as those with an annual income of $35,000 or less, and a liquid net worth of $5,000 or less) read primarily to be entertained.

Bottom-line? 

These types of books for entrepreneurs are powerful. But , to tap into this power, you have to read the right books.

In this article, we share the top 12 books for entrepreneurs starting a new business .

Post Contents

1. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

2. the 4-hour workweek: escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich by tim ferris, 3. purple cow: transform your business by being remarkable by seth godin, 4. the $100 startup: reinvent the way you make a living, do what you love, and create a new future by chris guillebeau, 5. deep work: rules for focused success in a distracted world by cal newport, 6. mastery by robert greene, 7. never eat alone: and other secrets to success, one relationship at a time by keith ferrazzi, 8. the lean startup: how today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses by eric ries, 9. the 22 immutable laws of marketing: violate them at your own risk by al ries & jack trout, 10. rework by jason fried and david hansson, 11. the hard thing about hard things: building a business when there are no easy answers by ben horowitz, 12. crushing it: how great entrepreneurs build their business and influence – and how you can, too by gary vaynerchuk, bonus business book: the ultimate guide to starting your first ecommerce business by tomas slimas, summary: pick one book for entrepreneurs.

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You’ve probably heard of ‘The Art of War,’ written in the 5th century BC by renowned military strategist Sun-Tzu.

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In comparison, Steven Pressfield’s ‘ The War of Art ,’ is Sun-Tzu for the soul.

What really prevents us from reaching our full potential? How can we combat the negative forces inside ourselves that lead us to procrastination, self-doubt, and self-sabotage?

This book for entrepreneurs identifies the most powerful enemy to our dreams that we all face: ourselves.

Simply, Pressfield believes our biggest enemy is ‘resistance.’ Resistance is our natural tendency to procrastinate and self-sabotage.

And, he doesn’t just expose resistance so you can understand what’s really holding you back. Pressfield also outlines a battle plan to help you conquer this internal foe.

So, if you ever struggle with self-doubt , overthinking, or procrastination, this book will help you carve a path to success, through fulfillment and productivity.

Bottom-line?

This book is a succinct, captivating, and no-nonsense guide to achieving success in any creative field.

No list of books for entrepreneurs would be complete without The Four Hour Work Week .

Having sold over 1.3 million copies and been translated into 35 languages, this business book held a spot on The New York Times bestseller list for over seven years .

Often referred to as “The Bible of Lifestyle Design,” Ferriss shows you how to live more and work less.

This business book constantly challenges conventional thought.

The idea is to start thinking outside the box, to always test commonly held views, and push boundaries further than you ever knew was possible.

Ferris will show you why you should forget the outdated concept of a working life, followed by retirement. You’ll also learn how to use time and location to gain financial leverage.

At its heart, this book for entrepreneurs is about productivity and effectiveness — covering topics such as prioritizing, outsourcing, and automation.

Whatever you want to accomplish as an entrepreneur, this business book provides a set of invaluable tools to help you achieve your goals.

This bestselling book for entrepreneurs comes from multi-bestselling author and marketing guru Seth Godin.

In Purple Cow , Godin demonstrates how the traditional P’s of marketing (product, price, promotion, place, etc.) don’t work like they used to.

Because there’s a new ‘P’ that’s now more important: the ‘Purple Cow’.

A ‘purple cow’ is Godin’s metaphor for something phenomenal, counterintuitive and remarkable.

Simply, cows are boring after you’ve seen a few. But a Purple Cow? Now, that would grab everyone’s attention.

This book for entrepreneurs explains how, in today’s market, your business is either remarkable or invisible.

And in it, you’ll learn why safe is dangerous, and why very good is actually bad.

Godin also provides examples of companies that have succeeded by becoming Purple Cows and urges you to emulate them to drive explosive growth through word of mouth.

To thrive, every new entrepreneur needs to understand how to stand out from their competition.

This book will show you how.

In 2013, Chris Guillebeau accomplished his goal of visiting all 193 countries in the world.

And, he’s never had a ‘real job,’ or earned a regular paycheck. Instead, he finds ways to turn ideas into income to support his life of adventure.

In The $100 Startup , Guillebeau hammers home the fact that you don’t need a lot of money to start a successful business.

This book for entrepreneurs features 50 case studies of people who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a small investment — often $100 or less.

And, most of these people had no special skills to begin with, but discovered aspects of their personal passions that could be monetized.

Guillebeau then distills the most valuable lessons from those who’ve learned how to turn their passions into profit.

The book dives deep too –y ou’ll find out exactly how much each entrepreneur had to get started, and what they did in the first weeks and months to gain traction.

It also covers the key mistakes they made, and offers insights into what made each business stick.

This book will help you find the intersection between your passions and skills, and what other people are willing to pay for.

Author and professor Cal Newport defines ‘ Deep Work ’ as the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task for extended periods of time.

And it’s a skill that’s becoming rare, just as it’s becoming more valuable.

While most people are frittering away their valuable time in a frantic blur of shallow tasks — like email and social media — the most successful people are focusing their attention on the tasks that truly matter.

Simply, deep work is the skill that’s vital to your ability to master complicated tasks and produce better results in less time.

And, not only will this skill supercharge your effectiveness, Newport also argues that it’s the key to a true sense of fulfillment.

This book for entrepreneurs is divided into two parts.

The first argues how cultivating a deep work ethic will produce monumental results in almost any profession.

In the second, Newport presents four detailed ‘rules’ for transforming your mind and habits to develop the ability to ‘go deep.’

In summary, in an increasingly distracting world, the ability to go deep will put you miles ahead of the competition.

And, this business book will show you how.

New York Times-bestselling author Robert Greene believes that we all have the potential to become a Master.

And, in this book for entrepreneurs, Greene lays out the path to Mastery : Learn the secrets of your field, commit to a rigorous apprenticeship, and absorb the knowledge of those with years of experience.

Additionally, Greene presents the behaviors of great masters, such as Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci, as well as nine contemporary masters interviewed especially for the book.

Then, he distills the common traits held by these masters to show that success isn’t about what you know, but about who you are. And, that a true master from any field can find a way to succeed in any other.

Also, this business book will show you which master traits you already possess, and how to develop the ones you don’t.

If mastery is the path to greatness, this book is your roadmap.

Ferrazzi originally came from humble beginnings, but his network of relationships now stretches from Hollywood’s A-list to Washington’s corridors of power.

In this essential book for entrepreneurs, Ferrazzi demonstrates the power of relationships in business. Additionally, he lays out the mindset, and the steps he uses to connect with thousands of people.

Basically, think of Never Eat Alone as a modern version of, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’

What’s so refreshing, is that Ferrazzi shuns the traditional glad-handing usually synonymous with ‘networking.’

Instead, he advocates basing relationships on generosity and connecting friends with other people.

This business book also outlines the timeless strategies used by some of the world’s most connected people, such as Winston Churchill, Bill Clinton, and the Dalai Lama.

And, it presents a set of proven principles and actionable tactics that you can use to further your career and happiness.

Not to mention, in the time since Never Eat Alone was published in 2005, the rise of social media has only made Ferrazzi’s advice and strategies more valuable to every entrepreneur.

Thankfully, the new edition also includes in-depth advice for making connections in the digital world.

In summary, master networker Keith Ferrazzi shows you how to grow your success by consistently reaching out to other people, and creating relationship dynamics where everyone wins.

Eric Ries is the creator of the Lean Startup revolution.

And in this timeless book, he shows entrepreneurs how to bootstrap a business , gain traction, and keep it lean for maximum results.

Constant digital innovation means that businesses need to continuously adapt and learn or, they’ll be outpaced and left in the dust.

Ries argues that “the only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.”

This book for entrepreneurs is centered around taking action, constantly testing, and relentlessly adapting. And in it, Ries provides an innovative, hands-on process for becoming a more adaptable company.

The Lean Startup is also chock-full of case studies that demonstrate the principles Rie’s teaches within.

This business book is particularly good if you’re prone to overplanning and preparing while putting off the inevitable action needed to make progress.

So, whether you want to create a scrappy startup, a small business, or a corporate machine, read this book.

Because the lean startup methodology is the new blueprint for business success.

If you build an airplane but ignore the laws of physics, it will never fly.

So it goes with the laws of marketing if you want to build a successful brand.

In this timeless classic, world-renowned marketing consultants Al Ries and Jack Trout expose The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing .

These include the Law of the Mind; “It’s better to be first in the mind, than to be first in the marketplace.” And, the Law of Leadership: “It’s better to be first than it is to be better.”

What’s more, this succinct business book is full of useful case studies to illustrate each law.

These essential insights have stood the test of time, and present a clear path to lasting marketing success

As Ries and Trout write, “Violate them at your own risk!”

So, read this business book to make sure that your marketing efforts adhere to these immutable laws.

After all, prevention is better than cure.

Most business books offer the same advice to entrepreneurs — study up, write a business plan, pitch investors…

But, this New York Time’s best-selling book shatters outdated notions — challenging mainstream business mindset and culture.

And then, it provides a whole new way of thinking.

Minimalist in delivery and ideology, Rework shows you that you need far less than you think to start a successful enterprise.

You don’t need an office. You don’t need to be a workaholic. You don’t need more staff or investors. You don’t even need meetings.

What you need is to prioritize more. To say ‘no’ more. To stop talking, researching, and planning and start doing.

You’ll also learn why plans are harmful, outside investors are unnecessary, and ignoring the competition is best.

Overall, this playbook is full of counterintuitive, revolutionary ideas.

Presented in powerful bite-sized chapters, Rework shows you a better, faster, and easier way to succeed in business today.

So, whatever your entrepreneurial dreams, get this information in your head to help make them a reality.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things is endorsed by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Peter Thiel.

So, you should probably read it .

As one of Silicon Valley’s most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, Ben Horowitz offers essential advice on building and running a business.

Many people highlight the excitement of life as an entrepreneur.

But in this business book, Horowitz also shines a light on the difficulties and struggles entrepreneurs face.

What’s particularly interesting is that Horowitz starts by arguing that there’s no formula for success. But, that you can learn invaluable lessons from others’ failures and hardships.

It’s full of Horowitz’s trademark humor — including stories of what it’s like to poach competitors and fire friends.

This business book was born out of Horowitz’s long-time personal blog.

And, it includes most of his original posts, compiled and adapted into an incredible guide to navigating the inevitable problems that occur in business.

Overall, this book for entrepreneurs is a no-nonsense, uncensored view of what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur.

Four-time New York Times bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk turns up the heat with his latest book, Crushing It!

Not to be confused with his 2009 business book, Crush It, in which Vaynerchuk argued that a vibrant personal brand is vital to business success.

This book for entrepreneurs showcases new lessons, advice, tactics, and strategies taken from his own experiences, and that of many other powerful influencers and entrepreneurs.

These successful entrepreneurs all shunned the traditional corporate life.

And instead, they built businesses on their own terms to become richer — financially, and personally.

In this lively and inspiring business book, Vaynerchuk dissects every major social media platform and shows you how to use it to increase your brand awareness and grow your business.

So, if you’re looking for actionable advice on how to build a powerful brand on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram , and Snapchat , this book is for you.

But, this isn’t just about professional and financial success.

This is about living life on your own terms .

Tomas Slimas is an ecommerce force of nature.

In The Ultimate Guide to Starting Your First Ecommerce Business , Slimas leads you step-by-step through the process of starting your first ecommerce business.

You’ll learn how to find great products, how to find suppliers, how to launch your ecommerce store, and how to market your products .

And, want to know the craziest part? This book is completely free.

Because Slimas is on a mission to help new entrepreneurs create the business of their dreams.

First, he founded Shopify — the platform to help you build a successful ecommerce store fast.

And now, with this book for entrepreneurs, he teaches you exactly how to make it happen .

More than any other book on this list, this book for entrepreneurs offers extremely specific advice on starting your business. 

That’s a lot of reading!

So, don’t try to do it all at once.

Pick one of these business books to start with. Which one seems the most useful to you right now?

Whichever book you pick, it’ll be worth the time.

Just listen to Warren Buffet…

When asked about the keys to success, he said, “ Read 500 pages every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”

But, he’s not talking about you.

You’re going to ‘read to lead’ — so, pick a book and get to it.

Did I miss any awesome books for entrepreneurs? Let us know in the comments below — we read them all!

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Best Books for Starting a Business 

If you’ve recently started a business, or you’re thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, you may feel overwhelmed by your long checklist. You need an HR structure, a marketing plan, a plan for employee morale, and, of course, a strategy to win despite your competitors.

Whether you’re a serial entrepreneur or a fresh business owner, there is much to learn from subject matter experts. Consider reading these books for starting a business and invigorating it.

1. From GED To Harvard Then Inc. 500

In this read, Jane Wolfe & Scott Wolfe detail their journey from earning their GEDs and building the fastest growing business in New Orleans. At the young age of 17 and 19, Jane and Scott began their business dreams and bought a run-down market.

Throughout the years, and the destruction from hurricane Katrina, the Wolf’s reemerged to support their community and build Melba’s PoBoys. The Wolfe’s have founded multiple companies in their careers, generating millions of dollars in revenue.

Why Read It: If you’re looking to learn about persevering through difficulty and creating unlikely opportunities in business, is From GED To Harvard Then Inc. 500 is for you.

2. The Authority Advantage

In The Authority Advantage , you’ll discover how you can use your personal branding to gain authority-status and earn more followers. Adam Witty and Rusty Shelton have decades of experience working with entrepreneurs to grow their brand and business by sharing their business and media insights.

In this read, you’ll learn how to create a following, engage with your audience base, and grow your business and name recognition. With practical steps on leveraging owned, earned, and rented media, you will emerge empowered with next steps to help you and your business shine in a competitive marketplace.

Why Read It: The Authority Advantage will help business leaders expand their following and increase their brand recognition. Read Witty and Shelton’s book to attract influential clients, customers, and followers to your side.

3. The Power of Remote

Cynthia Watson, Executive Chair, and Shane Spraggs, CEO, share their experience in building and managing remote teams at Virtira. Create a successful remote work environment with their comprehensive roadmap.

The Power of Remote can help you lower costs and boost productivity in your business.

Why Read It: This book is ideal for you if you’re considering a “remote-first” business model, or if you’re looking for guidance on transitioning to remote.

4. Beyond the Superhero

Jason Randall reveals how to free yourself from unrealistic expectations and pressure as an executive leader. If you’re spearheading your business, you need a handbook to help you find an alternate path to success — where both you and your business can thrive.

In Beyond the Superhero, you’ll find both a memoir and a roadmap to support your business initiatives and become the leader you want to be.

Why Read It: Whether you have decades or experience, or it’s your first time in leadership, there’s always room to improve as a leader. If you’re looking to relieve the pressure of leadership while gain practical insights, Beyond the Superhero is worth a read.

5. How Teams Triumph

A business is much more than offering a product or service for a profit. Your team, workflow, and employee communication all affect how successful your business will be — and whether you retain your employees. Team dynamics can become stumbling blocks for your company as silos grow and dysfunction creeps in.

Clinton M. Padgett offers a proven framework to ensure your team works together to achieve goals. Padgett creates positive work environments to motivate employees by improving team dynamics.

Why Read It: If you’re looking for advice on how to structure your teams and create a positive company culture that breeds success, you’ll benefit from How Teams Triumph .

6. Competing With Giants

As a small startup, you may wonder if you can ever compete with industry giants. Phuong Tran shares the story of her family-owned business that her parents built up to become the forefront beverage company in Vietnam. Phuong Tran shares how a family-owned business built itself into a coveted industry giant. After walking away from a $2.5 billion offer from Coca – Cola, Phuong Tran wrote Competing With Giants to help others follow suit.

Why Read It: Find the insight and encouragement you need in this underdog story of success. If you want a pick-me-up with practical application, give Competing With Giants a read.

Lissie Kidd

Sr. marketing copywriter.

Lissie Kidd is a Sr. Copywriter with several hundred articles in her portfolio and even more edited and published under her supervision. Lissie holds a MA in Communications from Grand…

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These 3 small business owners started their companies during the pandemic. Here are the books they read to do it, from self-help bestsellers to concrete management guides.

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

• Starting a small business can seem complicated, overwhelming, and stressful.
• Books can help us learn more about starting and running a business.
• We talked to 3 successful small business owners to get their book recommendations.

Turning your passion or idea into a small business can seem complicated, overwhelming, and too stressful to attempt. Luckily, books can help us learn more about starting and running a small business as well as motivate us to keep going through the hardest days. 

A record-breaking 9.8 million new small businesses opened in 2020 and 2021, so we spoke to three successful small business owners who started their businesses during the pandemic and read books to guide their entrepreneurial journeys. Their recommendations range from traditional business books to motivational self-help books and inspirational memoirs, so if you're considering starting a small business, here are some reads that may help you along the way:

Getting started

• Overcoming challenges  

Improving your business plan

"designing your life: how to build a well-lived, joyful life" by bill burnett and dave evans.

"Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $12.99

During the pandemic, many people began to think differently about their careers and aspirations. This book helps readers apply Bill Burnett and Dave Evans' "Life Design" method to their own lives with real-world examples and practical techniques to create a life that works for you and fits your purpose.  

"No matter where you are or how old you are, it's never too late to design a life you want to live," says Shekeitha Jeffries, founder of My Pretty Girl Notes , a stationery company that uplifts and honors Black women. "This book is dedicated to helping you find your purpose with questions about life and how you see yourself in the world."

You can also take an online class led by Burnett and Evans on the same topic .

"Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person" by Shonda Rhimes

"Year of Yes,"  available on Amazon and Bookshop , from $10.32

Shonda Rhimes is the creator of the hit TV shows "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal." But in her memoir, "Year of Yes," she addresses how her introverted side often kept her away from opportunities like media appearances and interviews. This book is about her commitment to saying "yes" for one year and the ways it changed her life. 

"[This book] is a reminder to say yes to the things you're most afraid of," says Jeffries. "It's hard to start a business, it's hard to have the confidence when even your family or friends might not see your vision. Say yes to yourself... Do it even if you're scared."

Legend Planner

"Legend Planner," available at Amazon, $24.99

While technically a book you write in, a guided planner can become an indispensable tool in starting a small business.

"If you're running a business, you need to learn how to get organized and you need to do it quickly." That's why Darwin Alford, founder of the sustainable streetwear brand Reclaimed DNA , recommends finding a great planner that works for you. She finds the layout of the Legend Planner most helpful for her handmade, made-to-order sustainable clothing business. 

"You can write out your monthly and weekly schedule, but the layout includes a section for your goals, habit tracking, separate work, and personal to-do lists, [as well as] space to identify your wins for the week and improvements for next week."  

You can also read our picks for the best planners here .

"The Fashion Business Manual: An Illustrated Guide to Building a Fashion Brand" by Fashionary

"The Fashion Business Manual," available at Amazon, $37.04

As a fashion business owner, Alford recommends "The Fashion Business Manual" to anyone looking to start a business specifically in the fashion industry.

"This is an amazing overview of what is it to run a fashion business," says Alford, who notes it "covers everything from forming an idea, finding a production team, marketing, taking stock, accounting."

"It's fully illustrated so it's an easy read, but it does give you an idea of the weight you'll take on when you start your business and how to get prepared to manage all the aspects you may not have thought about yet," adds Alford.

Overcoming challenges

"the obstacle is the way: the timeless art of turning trials into triumph" by ryan holiday.

"The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $14.99

One big hurdle in starting a small business is learning to adjust to unanticipated challenges. "Especially as an entrepreneur, there are going to be so many things that we are not prepared for. This book helped me shift my mindset to understand that there are going to be obstacles in your life and that is okay," says Ruth Sherrill, founder of Ruth Sherrill Marketing Services and Director of The Black Girl Initiative . 

Written by Ryan Holiday (of "The Daily Stoic" fame ), "The Obstacle Is the Way" is a philosophy book that offers a formula to help readers turn obstacles into opportunities. "It's a book that's helpful for business, relationships, and the ups and downs we go through so we can understand obstacles will happen and learn how to better handle them," says Sherrill.

"Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" by Susan Jeffers, PhD

"Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $11.49

Small business owners often deal with fear and imposter syndrome but "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" helped Alford move forward nonetheless. "Imposter syndrome is there, it's going to be there, but move with it and do it anyway." 

With practical techniques such as Susan Jeffers' 10-Step Positive Thinking Process, this book can help readers overcome passivity and negativity, even on the most challenging days.

"You're never going to feel fully prepared, no matter what Instagram shows you of others that seem to have it all together," says Alford. "Have faith in yourself."

"Staying Power: A 30-Day Guide To Commanding The Boardroom, Branding Yourself, And Finding Your Higher Calling" by Liz Nolley Tillman

"Staying Power," available at Amazon, $19.95

Recommended by Jeffries, "Staying Power" is an action-oriented guide that helps readers identify their purpose, articulate their value, and market themselves effectively to guide their business journey with purpose.

"There's not always going to be someone in the room who looks like you and that can create insecurities, [but] you need to come in commanding the attention and the recognition you deserve," says Jeffries, who credits the book with providing "advice so you can become more visible and be heard."

"Push beyond your insecurities, fear, and the stereotypes you face," she says. "As a business owner, you have to be confident in who you are and the products and services you provide — you have to be the voice of your business."

"The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery" by Brianna Wiest

"The Mountain Is You," available at Amazon, $16.19

This self-help recommendation aims to help readers learn new skills to step out of their own way and reach their greatest potential by looking insightfully at their most damaging habits, building emotional intelligence, and releasing past experiences that may be damaging their confidence. 

"This book helps you reflect inward, look at your self-saboteur, and find empowerment," says Sherrill. "When things don't go your way as a small business owner, it's easy to blame yourself, but we need to get out of our own way to be successful."

"The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea" by Bob Burg and John David Mann

"The Go-Giver," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $11.90

"The Go-Giver" is an anecdotal business book that uses the story of an ambitious go-getter to teach readers that shifting their focus from "getting" to "giving" can add value to our lives and ultimately help them get more in return. 

"This is a great business book because it helped me find new ways to appreciate my clients and value our relationship," says Sherrill. "It's not about what you're trying to get from people, but what you're trying to give to them."

"The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months" by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington

"The 12 Week Year," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $12.59

Recommended by Sherrill, "The 12 Week Year" is a self-help business book that redefines your "year" as 12 weeks in order to help you be more productive and reach goals faster.

"Whatever your goal is, this book can help you break it into bite-sized pieces," says Sherrill. "I always have so many things to work on for my clients, but I need to work on bettering my business, too. It helped me set my goals, manage them, and see them objectively."

"Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive" by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert Cialdini

"Yes!," available at Amazon and Bookshop , from $9.29

Backed by over 60 years of research into the psychology of persuasion, "Yes!" offers insightful tips in short chapters that can help readers become more persuasive in their personal and professional lives. These tactics can help small business owners clarify their message, differentiate themselves, and capture consumer interest. 

"Like so many other business owners, I follow so many marketing experts, but every great idea I've had came from what I learned in this book," says Alford. "It covers a different way of understanding how we get connected to things so we can better understand our consumers."

"Sustainable Marketing: How to Drive Profit with Purpose" by Michelle Carvill, Gemma Butler, and Geraint Evans

"Sustainable Marketing," available at Amazon, $25

"Sustainable Marketing" is an inclusive guide that uses case studies, academic research, and professional examples of how to implement and maintain sustainable marketing practices that will positively influence your brand and customer loyalty. 

"It's nice to find a book that talks about the constructs of having a sustainable business," says Alford. "This book gives you a basis to understand that you are a business and you do need a profit, but you can find a balance where growth can benefit you, the planet, and other people."

• Main content

The 10 Best Books for Writing a Business Plan

• Ivaylo Durmonski
• Reading Lists

There are a lot of insightful thoughts around the concept of planning. In a sense, planning helps you forecast the “weather” of your business. Prepares you for what might happen. And distance you, hopefully, further away from your business going to dust. Most importantly, it allows you to think about the type of tasks you should focus on doing today. Do we know how to plan our business if we’re not business owners , though?

There is nothing wrong with having a regular job.

A lot of people are doing it.

Theoretically, since we’re born. We enter a sophisticated system of government-operated institutions that aim to spit us out after approximately 20 years, ready to help someone else grow his dream business.

You’re thought -sort of – how to plan your career. But you’re never thought how to plan your business.

Regardless of your current situation. The idea of starting a business or learning basic business skills will surely reach your mind at some point.

If you’re still not sure whether or not this is something you can achieve on your own. The business books mentioned below are specifically selected to boost your planning skills.

These books, of course, primarily serve business owners or people that are dreaming of becoming such.

Yet, these reads will definitely expand your horizon even if you don’t plan on starting your own thing right now. They will give you a perspective that will force you to think long term – the best way of thinking.

The 10 Best Books for Writing a Business Plan:

1. the goal by eliyahu goldratt, 2. the one page business plan for the creative entrepreneur by jim horan, 3. mind your business by ilana griffo, 4. business plan template and example by alex genadinik, 5. the best-laid business plans by paul barrow, 6. smart business by ming zeng, 7. measure what matters by john e. doerr, 8. your next five moves by patrick bet-david, 9. business model generation by alexander osterwalder, 10. playing to win by a.g. lafley.

What’s the book about?

The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt is a novel. A fascinating story that describes the life of a business owner who is facing a series of obstacles that, if not handled well, will lead to a catastrophic ending of the company he is running. Mr. Goldratt presents this fictional business environment to teach us an important lesson: That the speed of a convoy is determined by the slowest ship.

Who is it for?

Especially interesting for people who already own businesses but are struggling to grow. For people who can’t adequately articulate what is wrong with what they are doing. Eliyahu Goldratt teaches us that we should observe a business as a series of systems . The faster the systems operate. The faster you’ll grow. To speed up this process, first, you need to identify the weakest link and improve upon the process.

Thought-Provoking Quote:

“Since the strength of the chain is determined by the weakest link, then the first step to improve an organization must be to identify the weakest link.” Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Get the book | Read my summary

In this book, Jim Horan compiles his years of experience as a Fortune 500 executive and business consultant. The pages will help you quickly form a simple business plan based on the most successful companies in the world. The book goes through the 5 stages every organization hoping to make a profit from their products and/or services needs: Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, Action.

This resource is great for people just starting their online or offline venture. Folks who are considering the idea of starting a business but are not quite sure what to do first. The One Page Business Plan For Creative Entrepreneur will show you the exact steps you need to begin your entrepreneurial journey.

Get the book

This long-winded title is here to show you how to start a business from scratch. Ilana Griffo, the author, shares her journey on how she started her side hustle which eventually become a six-figure design studio. A lot of readers describe this title as everything you need to learn about being your own boss. Of course, it all starts with planning.

Great book for anyone dreaming about starting a creative project both online and/or offline. The honest tips and the real-world insights will show you exactly what you need to do. How to start and how to plan your day. The book is the perfect companion that will be your guide in your money-making journey.

Simply put, this title will help you create a professional business plan. The author even boasts that you will do the planning in minutes. Not that you should rush. But the included exercises and the questions Alex Genadinik is asking in the book will help you think critically about your overall structure and the products you will be creating – or refining if you already have existing goods.

The program presented in this title is used by a number of universities to teach students how to plan better. As stated in the description, the book… “will help you identify the most effective business strategies for your situation.” You will start by writing a short 3-sentence business plan which will focus you on what’s truly important.

“Product: What is the product or service? What benefit does it provide and to whom? Can you make it inexpensively and of high quality? What form will it take? Website? App? Brick and mortar business? Marketing: Identify a few of the most effective marketing strategies to promote your business Finances: What are the major sources of revenue? How will this happen profitably? When will you achieve financial sustainability? Do you need to raise money for this? How much?” Alex Genadinik

The first book I read on business planning. Foreword by Richard Branson. This title is dated, but still adequate even though everything is happening online these days. The text will teach you the most important ideas around planning a business. It’s full of case studies about different projects and ideas. The author carefully explains how to present your business plan to others in a way that everyone will get.

This book will explain in a simple way why it’s essential and how you should approach the subject of planning in general. The ideas inside are great for people who are looking to raise money or get approval from seniors for their proposed course of action. Also, if you’re still not convinced that you need planning, this book will surely change your perspective.

Written by Ming Zeng, the former Chief of Staff and strategy adviser to Alibaba Group’s founder Jack Ma. This book presents a framework that will help business owners create a winning future strategy for their companies. The titles reveal some of the revolutionary practices Alibaba developed to rapidly increase efficiency.

We commonly read about what Google is doing or about what other Silicon Valley unicorns are working on. It’s a good idea to take a fresh eastern perspective on how to operate your business. Smart Business will show you how to use cutting-edge technologies to plan and scale your business.

Measure What Matter will teach you how to use Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) as an approach to make decisions in business. The legendary John Doerr has helped some of the best companies in the world to scale and exceed their yearly goals by using this simple method.

With time, every owner begins to collect all kinds of data to measure whether or not his project is succeeding. Sadly, many entrepreneurs end up being fixated on the wrong things. This book will explain what you need to measure and why. Helping you focus on the right things so you can reach explosive growth.

“We must realize—and act on the realization—that if we try to focus on everything, we focus on nothing.” John Doerr

In short, this book is about figuring out what you should do next. Taking a holistic view of your business is always a good way to think about where you plan to go. Occasionally, though, you also need to think and plan about what you should do right now – planning your next few moves. The steps inside this title will help you gain clarity on what you really want, who you want to be, and what to do to get these things.

For those who are not only working on businesses, but in business as well. Patrick Bet-David explains how to not let emotions cloud your judgment. How to switch from a broad view of your business to a narrower view. Essentially, the lessons inside will help you identify your true self. Understand who you want to be and where you want to go, both in your life and in your business.

“Your vision must align with who you want to be. Your choices must align with your vision. Your effort must align with the size of your vision. Your behavior must align with your values and principles.” Patrick Bet-David

Full of visual elements, Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers will help you soak up the knowledge and figure out your own business model. This is not your regular book where you’ll be presented with a wall of text. The title is full of infographics and design elements that will prompt you to actively work on defining your business plan and your strategy.

I’d say that this book is for people who are kind of tired of the traditional corporate-heavy jargon that is usually part of business literature. This title combines useful information and presents it in an easily digestible matter that will surely increase your comprehension and your participation when using the material.

“People are moved more by stories than by logic. Ease listeners into the new or unknown by building the logic of your model into a compelling narrative.” Alexander Osterwalder

Written by a long-standing Procter & Gamble Chairman and CEO, this book might seem a bit dry for your taste. Well, it surely is. Rarely anyone below CEO will relate to the mentioned examples. Yet, this read will change the way you think about your business. You’ll become more strategic with your daily decisions. You will become better at identifying what to do and what not to do.

Great companies do not become great by accident. They become great thanks to the strategic choices they make. Even if you don’t end up getting the book, simply consider the title for a moment: “Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works”. Now, ask yourself, are you playing to win, or are you simply playing? This question alone will disturb your current processes and assist you in finding the best course of action for your business.

“The heart of strategy is the answer to two fundamental questions: where will you play, and how will you win there?” A.G. Lafley

Some Closing Thoughts

Business planning is important for various reasons.

Not only you’ll get clarity on where you’ll want to go. But you will also set a to-do list that will portray how to get to where you want.

More specifically, conducting a business plan will force you to think about what type of business you want to create. Understand your core motivators. Help you find your unique proposition and how you are different from the rest of the businesses out there.

I’ve hand-picked the selection of business books above so you can plan better. Of course, you don’t need to read all of the titles. Usually one or two from the list is enough to get you moving in the right direction.

If you’re looking for more reads on the topic. Make sure to check my must-read business books list. Or, the selection of books on how to start a business (plus my business book summaries ).

Trouble Saying No to Temptations?

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• Type "best business plan books" into our search engine and study the top 5+ pages.
• Add only the books mentioned 2+ times.
• Rank the results neatly for you here! 😊 (It was a lot of work. But hey! That's why we're here, right?)

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Last Updated: Monday 1 Jan, 2024

• Best Business Plan Books

The One Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur

The fastest, easiest way to write a business plan.

The Art of the Start 2.0

The time-tested, battle-hardened guide for anyone starting anything.

Guy Kawasaki

Successful Business Plan

Secrets & strategies.

Rhonda Abrams

The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan

A pro shares a step-by-step guide to creating a plan that gets results.

Hal Shelton

The Lean Startup

How today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses.

The Founder's Dilemmas

Anticipating and avoiding the pitfalls that can sink a startup.

Noam Wasserman

How to Write a Business Plan

Mike P. McKeever

The Complete Book of Business Plans

Simple steps to writing powerful business plans.

Joseph A Covello

The 1-Page Marketing Plan

Get new customers, make more money, and stand out from the crowd.

Business Model Generation

A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers.

Alexander Osterwalder

Starting a Business QuickStart Guide

The simplified beginner’s guide to launching a successful small business, turning your vision into reality, and achieving your entrepreneurial dream.

Ken Colwell

Mind Your Business

A workbook to grow your creative passion into a full-time gig.

Ilana Griffo

Writing Winning Business Plans

How to prepare a business plan that investors will want to read and invest in.

Garrett Sutton

Burn the Business Plan

What great entrepreneurs really do.

Carl J. Schramm

Anatomy of a Business Plan

The step-by-step guide to building a business and securing your company's future.

Linda Pinson

The Book on Business Planning

Writing a Convincing Business Plan

Arthur R. DeThomas Ph.D.

Hit the Deck

Create a business plan in half the time, with twice the impact.

David Ronick

Creating a Business Plan For Dummies

Veechi Curtis

• 12 Books You Should Read Before Starting a Business www.businessinsider.com
• Business Plan Books www.mymoneybooks.com
• The 9 Best Business Plan Books www.thebalancesmb.com
• 20 Best Books on The Business Plan - Bigger Investing www.biggerinvesting.com
• 20 Best Books on How to Write a Business Plan in 2023 www.profitableventure.com

How was this Business Plan books list created?

We searched for 'best Business Plan books', found the top 5 articles, took every book mentioned in 2+ articles, and averaged their rankings.

How many Business Plan books are in this list?

There are 19 books in this list.

Why did you create this Business Plan books list?

We wanted to gather the most accurate list of Business Plan books on the internet.

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The 5 Best Business Plan Books (& Why You Shouldn’t Read Them)

You probably know that having a business plan will improve your chances of success in starting and growing your business. Reading the right business plan book can help you craft the perfect plan. But, there are more efficient ways than reading a book to learn about business planning and to complete your plan. In this article, I’ll show you such options, and if you’d still like to read a book, I’ll tell you the top 5 business planning books to consider.  

Why You Don’t Need To Read a Business Planning Book

There are many books about business planning that you could read, but why shouldn’t you? 

The simple answer, time. 

Reading even the best business plan books will take time to read and then process, and this is on top of the considerable time it takes to complete market research and write a solid business plan.

Instead, technology has provided today’s entrepreneurs with easy-to-follow simple business plan templates that teach you how to write the business plan as you complete the plan. Although every business is unique, a business plan template will offer you a great starting point and often includes customizable financial plans specific to your industry.   

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here

The right business plan template will include all essential components of a successful business plan including:

• Executive Summary
• Company Overview
• Market Analysis
• Customer Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Operations Plan
• Management Team
• Financial Plan

You can learn more about each of these business plan components and how to write a business plan from the business planning experts at Growthink.

    Finish Your Business Plan Today!

If you enjoy reading & want to learn more….

So, you don’t actually need to read a business book, but if you do, learn from the experts who have ventured on the same entrepreneurial journey. Their practical advice provides a step-by-step guide through the planning process to help you complete the necessary market research to stay competitive while completing the financial analysis needed to secure funding.  

How We Can Help You Succeed

At Growthink, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners develop business plans to start and grow their companies. With this extensive experience, we’ve created a simple business plan template and business plan examples for 100+ sectors (and we’re still going!) to save you time and make it even easier to write a successful business plan. Check out the links below or learn more in our Business Plan Writing Help Center to help you launch or expand your successful business.

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

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Home » Business Plan Tips

20 Best Books on How to Write a Business Plan

Are you wondering which book is best to learn how to write a business plan ? If YES, here are 20 best books on how to write a business plan in 2023.  Starting and running a new business to success can be quite daunting. According to reports, a little more than 1 in 5 businesses tend to crash just within their first year, this is why having a detailed business plan is vital to the success of any business.

Putting together a good business plan from scratch is a challenging undertaking that needs extensive market research, statistical analysis, financial calculations, and much more. You need to understand how to make your business case, describe why there is a demand for your product or service, explain in detail how you intend to build your team, and also explain how you are going to finance your business and remain competitive.

Business plans are quite similar to a GPS; it is possible to travel without a GPS, but it may take you longer and the possibility of getting lost is always present. So instead of having to stop and ask for directions, you can use your business plan as a map to help guide your business.

Nonetheless, here are the best business plan books to take your business dreams from idea to reality.

The One Page Business Plan

According to reports, various corporations, small businesses, and entrepreneurs around the world leverage The One Page Business Plan process to quickly and easily establish highly focused and simple business plans. Instead of beginning with a blank piece of paper, the book and planning tool kit include business plan templates, as well as sample business plans to help get you started.

Have it in mind that the easy-to-fill-in-the-blanks business plan outline makes the process fast and easy. The book is divided into 5 unique sections… Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans providing a useful and complete business plan format that will show you step-by-step how to write a business plan.

Tim Berry is a globally known expert on business planning, and this book is his latest one that will help you get your business up and running. “Hurdle” extensively explains each and every step of a solid business plan in a way that anyone can understand. Also, note that you will see many examples of how to calculate profit and keep track of your cash flow.

Complete with a 53-page workbook, have it in mind you will be constructing your business plan as you read the book rather than trying to understand the fundamentals of business planning and applying them later. After you must have written a workable business plan, you will find yourself turning back to this book for advice on the everyday management and implementation of your business as well.

The Secrets to Writing a Successful Business Plan

If you want a step-by-step guide, then opt for this book. Hal Shelton will expertly take you on a journey of putting together a well arranged plan. Understand what your personal style is, where to go for help and the simple errors people make when putting together a plan.

Note that putting together a marketing plan and establishing a strong management team are also topics covered in this short and simple guide. Hal’s secrets to success will ensure you spend less time putting together a business plan, freeing up time for you to focus on other aspects of your business. In addition, you will learn how to acquire a bank loan and get proven strategies for attracting investors.

The Successful Business Plan

Note that this is a well detailed step-by-step guide for anyone eager to start or grow a business, and has been used over the years by close to two million entrepreneurs. It comes with expert help, worksheets to jumpstart the process, a sample business plan, tips on attracting funders, winning tips for competitions, secrets to successful crowdfunding, building a global business, and much more.

Well recognized in over 1000 business schools globally and appreciated by entrepreneurs; this guide touches every aspect of a successful business plan, from business strategy, winning over investors or lenders, and much more.

Hit The Deck

Have it in mind that this book shows entrepreneurs the perfect way to create business plans, leveraging best practices used at top business schools, and with leading angel and venture capital investors. Also note that the book provides step-by-step instructions on how to think through new business ideas and prepare concise, compelling business plan presentations .

Owning to its comprehensive content, founders can plan faster, pitch more effectively, and modify their plans more easily as they get feedback from advisors and investors. Hit the Deck includes interviews with sophisticated investors, like Ted Schlein at Kleiner Perkins, and with successful entrepreneurs, like Tommy Hilfiger.

Writing a Convincing Business Plan

First and foremost, this book was written by the company that has aided generations of students to prepare for standardized tests. Note that it approaches the challenge of putting together a business plan in the same straightforward, system-minded way.

Have it in mind that this book is no-nonsense: you will have to analyze your business structure, your goals, and your forecasts, and no amount of mantras will help you do so like good old-fashioned hard work. According to reviews, this is a thought-provoking book that ensures you take a closer look at different aspects of your business with plenty of questions to ask yourself. It also guides you in finding supporting data that justifies and promotes your business.

How to Write a Business Plan

Regardless of what your intentions are, be it starting or selling your own business, business plans are a vital and pertinent part of the business cycle. How to Write a Business Plan offers you the expert guidance you require to make an impact with your plan, including advice on researching competitors, presenting your management skills, and successfully communicating your strategic vision.

Be it is to source funds, sell a business or develop a particular project, this is your one-stop guide to putting together the most professional and convincing business plan for a new venture. How to Write a Business Plan offers priceless help with sales, cash, and profit forecasts and is supported by the inclusion of full-length plans available to download online. This new edition has been enhanced to cover digital developments like crowdfunding, online retailing, and digital marketing.

The Founder’s Dilemmas

While putting together your business plan, you will also have to bother about who will run your organization coupled with all of the other information contained inside. While the “who” of your organization can be less exciting than the “what” and “how,” staffing and leadership decisions are definitely not to be ignored.

Notably, when you are considering whether to start a business on your own, with friends or relatives, or with trusted colleagues, it is pertinent to consider extensively the decision — and this book helps you do so by analyzing why these decisions matter so much. Noam Wasserman, leveraging a decade of research, educates you on how to shape the leadership section of your business plan in order to make your company as successful as earthly possible.

Burn the Business Plan

This book dissects the myth of the cool, tech-savvy twenty-something entrepreneur with nothing to lose and venture capital to burn. Notably, a good number of people who start businesses are juggling careers and mortgages. Note that the average entrepreneur is actually thirty-nine years old, and the success rate of entrepreneurs over forty is five times higher than that of those under age thirty.

Also, note that entrepreneurs who come out of the corporate world often have discovered a need for a product or service and have priceless contacts to help them get started. Well stocked with stories of successful entrepreneurs who drew on real-life experience rather than academic coursework, Burn the Business Plan is the guide to starting and running a business that will actually work for any willing soul.

The Art of the Start 2.0

With this wonderful book, you can learn about perfecting your pitch, get real-world advice on bootstrapping, and obtain advice on building your team. The author Guy Kawasaki is behind the wildly successful online design service Canva. He wrote this guide extolled as the “essential guide for anyone starting anything,” to help young entrepreneurs separate the fluff from the foundation and build your business plan into one that really works for you.

Coupled with the old standards, this book seems to extensively discuss crowdfunding, social media, and other digital revolutions as well. With the knowledge imbibed in this book, you will be ahead of the competition — and much calmer, too, because you will know how to position your product with stories that create a personal connection with potential customers.

Pulling Together

This book come well recommended for the leader of any team. Pulling Together is the unbelievable list of advice for achieving greatness on a team. From “Respecting Diversity” to “Building Trust,” the rules for teamwork contained in this book will inspire camaraderie and demand excellence.

Also note that what makes this book astonishing is its depth of content coupled with its gift-sized packaging. Every rule for “pulling together” is complemented with photographs, quotations, thought-provoking questions, and smart insight. Notably, it is the perfect size to be given as a gift to each person on the team and could be given as a gift to coaches, athletes, business leaders, or co-workers.

Business Model Generation

Note that this is a handbook for visionaries, game-changers, and challengers eager to defy outmoded business models and create tomorrow’s ventures. If your business needs to adapt to harsh new realities, but you lack the strategy that will get you out in front of your competitors, you need Business Model Generation.

Co-created by 470 “Business Model Canvas” practitioners from 45 countries, the book comes with a wonderful, highly visual, 4-color design that leverages unique strategic ideas and tools and makes them easy to use in your organization. You will learn how to systematically understand, design, and implement a game-changing business model–or analyze and renovate an old one. In addition, you’ll have a much deeper understanding of your customers, distribution channels, partners, revenue streams, costs, and your core value proposition.

Starting a Business Quick Start Guide

In his comprehensive Starting a Business Quick Start Guide, Ken Colwell explicitly noted the core fundamentals that all new entrepreneurs have to understand to get started, find success, and live the life of their dreams. Business and entrepreneurship students, small business owners, managers, and soon-to-be entrepreneurs will indeed find enormous value within the pages of the Starting a Business Quick Start Guide.

Colwell’s clear voice, extensive experience, and easy-to-understand presentation all come together to make this book a must-have resource in the library of every budding entrepreneur!

The Lean Startup

According to reviews, the Lean Startup approach helps to build companies that are both more capital efficient and that use human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it depends on “validated learning,” steady scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that reduce product development cycles, measure actual progress without using vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want.

Also note that it enables a company to shift directions with eagerness, changing plans inch by inch, minute by minute. So, instead of wasting time establishing elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup provides entrepreneurs—in companies of all sizes—an avenue to test their vision continuously, to adapt, and adjust before it is too late.

The Complete Book of Business Plans

Inside this staple of the business world, you’ll find plenty of business plan templates you can leverage to boost your business and attract investors quickly. Also note that you will find advice on ensuring and sustaining motivation, how to make sure you are bringing the best possible partners onto your project, and how to push your business forward for years to come.

Have it in mind that a good part of the book is set up like a workbook and asks highly detailed questions that are expected to be answered before writing can start. These questions will also force the would-be entrepreneur to analyze and address a series of questions that many first-timers would forget or not even know to ask or consider.

The 1-Page Marketing Plan

To establish and run a successful business, you have to stop doing random acts of marketing and start leveraging a well articulated plan for rapid business growth . Ideally, creating a marketing plan has been a daunting and time-consuming process, which is why it rarely gets done.

In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and rebellious marketer Allan Dib explicitly states marketing implementation breakthrough that makes putting together a marketing plan simple and quick. It is more or less a single page, divided up into nine squares. Note that you’ll be able to map out your own sophisticated marketing plan and go from zero to marketing hero.

Mind Your Business

Mind Your Business remains one of the top books that teaches you everything you need to know about how to create a successful business from scratch. Right from building your brand to designing products to identifying your legal and tax needs, note that this well detailed guide will take you through every step of the process and help you create a unique and well noted roadmap for your business.

Mind Your Business is for aspiring entrepreneurs who are savvy, ambitious, creative, and eager to establish a business and life they love. Author Ilana Griffo shares the formula that turned her creative hobby into a six-figure design studio.

Creating a Business Plan for Dummies

Irrespective of what you intend to do, be it starting a new business or trading for a while, Creating a Business Plan For Dummies puts into consideration everything you need to know. In this book, you will find out whether your business idea is likely to work, how to identify your strategic advantage, and what you can do to gain an advantage over the competition.

Also, note that you will discover why a business plan doesn’t have to be a thirty-page document that takes centuries to put together but can be a simple process that you do in stages as you work through your business concept. Also know how to make an elevator pitch, create a start-up budget, and establish realistic sales projections. Also discover how to predict and manage expenses, and assemble a financial forecast that enables you to calculate your break-even.

Writing Winning Business Plans

Clearly written and featuring real-life illustrative stories, Writing Winning Business Plans extensively discusses all the major elements of a successful plan. Topics include focusing on your business vision, analyzing your financials, and knowing your competition. In addition, you will learn how to really use your business plan as a tool and how to attract funding for your new or existing businesses.

Note that as business plan competitions become more intense around the world, Writing Winning Business Plans also explains how to enter and how to win these ever lucrative contests. Furthermore, how to quickly interest a potential investor, also known as the elevator pitch, is well discussed. And, as opportunities arise around the world, how to present your plan in various countries is explained extensively.

Documentation: Anatomy of a Business Plan

According to experts, this book will help you create a well articulated business plan that is sure to lead you towards success. If you require some additional hand-holding to get started, this book is for you: You will understand how best to choose an organizational structure that is ideal for your business, learn how to market that business well using means and strategies that helps your business grow, and learn how to organize your business plan into the traditional sections.

Also, note that the marketing strategies in this book are priceless and you will be happy to see financial documentation reviewed deeply. Howbeit, it is not the most glamorous part of your business, but it is vital to your business success. This book will also walk you through five sample business plans and also provides helpful hints to accompany the worksheets provided for drafting your own project.

More on Business Plan Tips

The 30 Best Business Books of 2023

Published: May 22, 2023

When did you last invest time or money into your personal or business development?

Reading business books will improve your mindset, teach you new skills, or allow you to think outside the box. It’s also a great way to become the best version of yourself and inspire others to do the same.

There’s no better time to curl up in a comfortable armchair with your favorite pet in your lap, drink a cup of tea, and dive into some of the best business books of 2023.

Table of Contents

The Benefits of Reading Business Books

Best business books for startups, best business leadership books, best business management books, best books on business strategy, best books about dei in business, best innovation books, best business books for agencies.

No matter how successful you’ve been in your business or job, how much time you spent in school, or how amazing your team might be, you’re bound to face challenges as you move through your career.

Business books — whether they be about starting a business, leading or managing a business, or improving your business — can help you see the problems ahead and create strategies to overcome them.

Most of these books are written by people who have experienced challenges in the business world and lived to tell the tales. Who better to learn from than someone who has already beaten whatever you’re dealing with (or will deal with in the future)?

There are books for every stage of your career, and here are our favorite reads for those interested in startups, management, DEI, and more.

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1. Trajectory: Startup: Ideation to Product/Market Fit by Dave Parker

• Rating: 4.7
• Available on Amazon

This book promises to remove the mystery from the startup process. It offers a path from ideation to launch and revenue in six months with easy-to-follow tasks and timeframes.

What we love: Parker provides a practical guide for aspiring entrepreneurs. You can learn how to turn your ideas into successful products that prospective buyers will love.

Best for: Entrepreneurs

2. The Minimalist Entrepreneur: How Great Founders Do More with Less by Sahil Lavingia

• Rating: 4.5

The Minimalist Entrepreneur is written for a new generation of founders who would rather build great companies than big ones. Lavingia uses his experience building his company, Gumroad , to help entrepreneurs make smart investments, manage remote workers and gig workers, develop and release products quickly and successfully, and become profitable.

What we love: The idea of achieving more with fewer resources is highly desirable in this digital age.

Best for: Startups with lower budgets and few resources

3. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

• Rating: 4.6

When starting out, you might get caught up spending months building your product or service — only to find that no one wants to buy it. The Lean Startup will help you create a product that customers want (and are happy to pay for) quickly by identifying and testing key assumptions early on. Why waste valuable time, energy, and money when you could avoid the hassle?

What we love: Ries is a founder and CTO of startups. His practical guidance comes from experience and true customer feedback.

Best for: Startups and entrepreneurs

4. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

Want to start a business without capital? This is the book for you.

Guillebeau provides a roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to identify a profitable niche, create a simple business plan, and launch a business with little financial risk. If you’ve got a passion, Guillebeau believes you can turn it into a business idea.

What we love: Guillebeau emphasizes the role of passion rather than building businesses solely to make money.

Best for: Freelancers, entrepreneurs, graduates

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5. Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact by Jenn Lim

• Rating: 4.3

Named a Top Business Book of 2021 by Forbes, Beyond Happiness draws on the science of happiness to show readers that true joy comes from living your true purpose. The book shows company leadership how to help individuals align their purpose with the company mission.

What we love: Beyond Happiness is a refreshing read with a great perspective. We love the emphasis on connection and sustainable contentment.

Best for: Company leadership

6. Trusted Leader: 8 Pillars That Drive Results by David Horsager

Horsager uses his research and experience to teach the Eight Pillars of Trust — clarity, compassion, character, competency, commitment, connection, contribution, and consistency.

He sees trust as an asset and believes that you lose influence when you don't have it. Readers will learn strategies to increase alignment, overcome attrition, and clarify their priorities.

What we love: This book is full of practical and actionable insights. The eight fundamental principles keep the teachings succinct and enriching.

7. Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams

• Rating: 4.8

With a mixture of memoir and instruction, Abrams argues that knowing your own passion is the key to success. Minority Leader speaks to anyone who exists beyond the structure of traditional systemic power and encourages them to make a difference.

What we love: It’s no surprise that Minority Leader is one of the highest-rated books in this roundup. Abrams considers minorities and their challenges, giving the topic a unique perspective.

Best for: Leaders from underrepresented backgrounds

8. Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success by Gary Vaynerchuk

For too long, leaders have relied on "hard skills" to make decisions and ignored the importance of emotional intelligence. In his sixth business book, Vaynerchuk focuses on soft skills like self-awareness and curiosity to accelerate business success.

What we love: High levels of emotional intelligence are crucial for business success. We love Vaynerchuk’s unique perspective and focus on soft skills.

Best for: Leaders, entrepreneurs, graduates

9. MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins

At 688 pages, Tony Robbins’ MONEY Master the Game is the longest book in this roundup, but it covers a lot. That includes asset allocation, diversification, tax planning, and how to manage risks.

What we love: Robbins interviewed over 50 of the world's top investors to uncover their strategies for achieving success in the financial markets.

Best for: Leaders and entrepreneurs

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10. Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People by Renee Evenson

Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People promises to create a more harmonious work environment by learning how to deal with difficult personalities — whether they're employees, colleagues, or bosses.

In this book, you’ll learn thirty common personality traits and behaviors. Then, you'll get the best phrases to use with each. Evenson also outlines a five-step process for moving from conflict to resolution. This book will help you stay calm and diffuse conflict in the workplace.

What we love: Business is all about relationships, and building better relationships is key. We love Evenson’s vision and approach to resolving conflict.

Best for: Leaders

11. The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo

You’ve been promoted to management… Now what? After struggling as a brand new manager at the age of 25, Zhuo now believes that great managers are made — not born.

This field guide provides insights on what it takes to be a great manager, how to build trust and rapport with your team, what to focus on in the first few months, and how to deal with the increased responsibility. This book is everything Zhuo wished she had known when she accepted her promotion.

What we love: Zhuo shares practical advice and leads with examples through her own stories.

Best for: New managers

12. Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman

As a manager, you have two options for how you’d like to lead your team. You could be the genius that everyone turns to in a bind — or you can unlock the genius in each of your employees.

Multipliers is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller that helps you take the latter approach. Become the manager who makes everyone around them smarter, more capable, and more effective. You can achieve amazing results when you tap into the multiplier mindset.

What we love: Multipliers encourages leaders to amplify the intelligence and capabilities of their teams, leading to increased productivity and success.

13. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

Discover practical and effective strategies for negotiating in both personal and professional contexts. Voss stresses the importance of empathy, active listening, and building rapport in negotiations.

What we love: As a former FBI hostage negotiator, Chris Voss knows what it takes to be adequately persuasive for optimal negotiation.

Best for: Leaders and salespeople

14. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Read How to Win Friends & Influence People and expect to improve your interpersonal relationships in your business and personal life. Carnegie gives you the tools to make people like you and become more influential while gracefully handling difficult situations.

What we love: This book will help you endlessly in both your personal and professional life.

When was the last time you took a bird’s eye view of your business, got out of the daily grind, and focused on your organization’s strategy?

15. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant

What if the most important skill is no longer to think and learn but to r ethink and unlearn ? Grant argues that too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt.

We entertain opinions that make us feel good, rather than ideas that make us think hard. Rather than surrounding yourself with people who agree with our opinions and conclusions, it’s time to look for those who challenge our thought processes.

Grant invites us to release the views that no longer serve us and position ourselves for excellence at work.

What we love: Grant offers insightful strategies for improving critical thinking skills. Expect to have your assumptions challenged so you can foster a growth mindset.

16. Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy by Patrick Bet-David

What if you approached business like a grandmaster in chess? Bet-David invites business strategists to plan five moves ahead — the sweet spot of thoughtful strategy and swift action. Readers will learn to master knowing themselves, building the right team, crafting a strategy to scale, and making power plays.

What we love: Your Next Five Moves offers practical, actionable advice for developing a winning business strategy, backed by real-world examples and insights from successful entrepreneurs.

17. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

How’s this for strategy? If you’re lucky, you’ll live to be around 80 years old. That means that you’ve got 4,000 weeks on this earth. Knowing that your time is finite, what will you do with it? How will you spend your days?

Will you cram in as much work as possible — even if it’s unnecessary — or will you fill your time with what matters? This book offers a fresh perspective on managing your time and, more importantly, how to strategize your life.

What we love: We all have a limited time on earth, and Burkeman offers a thought-provoking perspective on time management. Read this book, and you can expect to make the most of your time by prioritizing what truly matters in life.

Best for: Entrepreneurs, graduates, and leaders

18. Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

Blue Ocean Strategy separates markets with little to no competition (blue oceans) from crowded, highly competitive markets (red oceans) and advises that businesses can create new blue oceans by focusing on innovation instead of blending into existing markets.

What we love: This book offers case studies and examples of successful blue ocean strategies, as well as practical tools and frameworks.

Best for: Entrepreneurs and business strategists

19. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

Clear introduces the concept of "atomic habits," which are tiny changes in behavior that can significantly impact long-term success. He argues that the key to changing behavior lies in focusing on small, incremental improvements that compound over time.

What we love: Clear interviews business leaders in Atomic Habits . However, the lessons learned can be valuable for anyone in the business world. You’ll find practical tips that you can apply in your day-to-day life.

Best for: Entrepreneurs and leaders

20. Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari

• Rating: 4.4

It’s no secret that lots of us struggle to pay attention in today's fast-paced world. Stolen Focus offers practical solutions for developing deeper thinking skills. Hari explores how technology and constant distractions (like text messages and emails) make it difficult to focus for extended periods.

What we love: Stolen Focus was voted Business Book of the Year by Porchlight . This book is a great read for anyone in business and can transform all aspects of your life.

Best for: Anyone who wants to improve focus

21. We Can't Talk about That at Work!: How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics by Mary-Frances Winters

Conversations on race, religion, and politics are happening at work. The goal should be for these conversations to take place in a way that is effective and not polarizing. In her book, Winters provides the exercises and tools to help leaders and organizations become aware of their cultural backgrounds and increase their understanding of others.

What we love about it: Winters draws on her 36 years of experience to help readers gain skills and understanding for optimal communication and conflict resolution.

Best for: All readers can benefit from Winters’ book and the included self-assessment

22. Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces by Karen Catlin

If your goal is building a more inclusive, engaging workplace, Karen Catlin’s Better Allies is the book for you. In just 282 pages you can expect to find out how you can become a better ally. And better, how you can build a creative and inclusive culture within your business.

What we love about it: Catlin has over 25 years in tech, including a role as the vice president of engineering at Adobe. During her 25 years, Catlin noticed a sharp decline in women working in tech. Catlin sets out to encourage others to become better allies.

Best for: Those in managerial positions who want to better DEI in their teams and organizations

23. Inclusify: The Power of Uniqueness and Belonging to Build Innovative Teams by Stefanie K. Johnson

It’s not uncommon for companies to create a culture where inclusivity isn’t at its core, but it should be. In her book, Johnson challenges companies to take sustainable efforts to help everyone feel engaged and included in the workplace.

Johnson’s research finds that leaders who embrace DEI have better relationships and stronger and more cohesive teams. Clearly, there’s a lot to gain from Inclusify .

What we love about it: Johnson lives and breathes inclusivity. She has experience working for some of the biggest companies in the world.

Best for: Team leaders looking to improve workplace relationships and team cohesion

24. The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

Explore how cultural differences impact international business in The Culture Map. Throughout the book, you will decode the nuances of language and cultural expression through research, anecdotes, and examples.

What we love about it: The special focus on international communication.

Best for: International businesses or businesses thinking about expansion

25. Company of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing for Business by Paul Jarvis

Jarvis believes that staying small has advantages. He shares his own experiences and those of other successful entrepreneurs in Company of One .

He demonstrates how smaller businesses can thrive in today's fast-paced and competitive business landscape through greater flexibility, increased autonomy, and the ability to focus on delivering exceptional products or services to a niche audience.

What we love: Jarvis challenges the traditional idea of business growth. Company of One encourages entrepreneurs to build sustainable, profitable businesses that prioritize quality over quantity.

Best for: Startups, freelancers, and entrepreneurs

26. Freelance Your Way to Freedom: How to Free Yourself from the Corporate World and Build the Life of Your Dreams by Alex Fasulo

The book also has real-life examples, practical tips, and advice for getting your mindset geared for success.

What we love: Alex Fasulo has more than eight year’s experience working in the freelance gig economy. She made her first million on Fiverr and has since shared her freelancing insights on social media.

Best for: Freelancers, graduates, and entrepreneurs

27. The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen

Sometimes staying small is advantageous, but why? Clayton Christensen argues that established companies fail to innovate, allowing smaller, more agile competitors to disrupt their industries.

Christensen provides reasons for this and encourages companies to focus less on optimizing existing products and processes. Instead, he inspires the reader to pursue new and untested ideas.

What we love: This classic business book explores why successful companies often fail to innovate and adapt to disruptive technologies and offers strategies for avoiding this dilemma.

28. $100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No by Alex Hormozi

This is the comprehensive guide for entrepreneurs and business owners on how to create irresistible offers that customers can't refuse. Hormozi draws on his own experience as a successful entrepreneur.

You will also learn how to craft compelling offers that drive sales and growth. Plus, you'll find out what it takes to charge what you’re worth and have the courage to ask for it.

What we love: In just 161 pages, Hormozi teaches you how to price products and services so that your customers can’t resist saying yes.

Best for: Entrepreneurs and agency owners

29. Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow

Warrillow provides a step-by-step guide to transforming a service-based business into a product-based one. This book guides you in identifying your agency's unique selling proposition and creating a repeatable sales process.

Plus, this book offers insights into building a management team that can run the business without the owner's constant involvement, making it attractive to potential buyers.

What we love: This book offers advice to agency owners on how to create a sellable and scalable business.

30. T he New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott

Learn how to navigate the marketing and public relations landscape, which is essential and inevitable for every business. Scott emphasizes the importance of using digital tools to engage with customers directly, build brand awareness, and drive revenue.

What we love: This book offers practical advice on creating compelling content that resonates with customers, leveraging search engine optimization (SEO) to improve visibility, and measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Stocking Your Library

If you’re ready to up your business game and be the best you possible, it’s time to update your reading list and get started. There’s a world of wisdom in these books, and it’s yours for the taking.

Don't forget to share this post!

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16 Best Business Strategy Books to Read

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: August 28, 2022

You discovered our list of the best business strategy books .

Business strategy books are guides to developing strategic corporate plans. These books cover topics like scaling operating, marketing growth, outpacing competitors, and achieving longevity. People read these books for insights on how to create and improve businesses.

These books are a type of business books and are similar to CEO books,   project management books , marketing books and books on startups .

This post contains:

• the best business strategy books of all time
• top books on business strategy
• strategic management books
• corporate strategy books
• strategic planning books

Let’s get to it!

List of business strategy books

Here is a list of some of the best books about business strategy, with both new releases and best sellers.

1. Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy by Patrick Bet-David and Greg Dinkin

Your Next Five Moves is one of the best new strategic planning books. The book challenges readers to think like chess grandmasters and anticipate chains of events. The author urges business strategists to plan their next moves in succession instead of treating each as an individual decision. The book also gives advice on clarifying company missions, developing team building skills , and gaining the upper hand against powerful players.

Notable Quote: “Those who have a system for making better decisions win. Some decisions are quick, while others take time. You need a specific methodology to attack any issue, the same way a chess master knows how to play any opening or defend against one once the match starts.”

Buy Your Next Five Moves .

2. Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt

Good Strategy Bad Strategy is one of the best books on strategic thinking. Richard Rumelt dissects effective strategies and points out qualities that make these plans succeed. The author also identifies the markings of poor plans, and gives tips for spotting bad strategies. The book also covers topics such as leverage, proximate objectives, and chain link systems. Each section contains stories from companies like Apple, Wal-Mart, Toyota, and Roche to serve as examples. Good Strategy Bad Strategy is a field guide for crafting and evaluating strategic systems. The book helps readers see past the fluff and draw up better gameplans.

Notable Quote: “Good strategy works by focusing energy and resources on one, or a very few, pivotal objectives whose accomplishment will lead to a cascade of favorable outcomes.”

Buy Good Strategy Bad Strategy .

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3. Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works by by A. G. Lafley, Roger L. Martin et al

Playing to Win describes how A. G. Lafley drastically improved Procter & Gamble’s sales and profitability by basing operational strategy on five key questions:

• What is our winning aspiration?
• Where will we play?
• How will we win?
• What capabilities must we have in place to win?
• What management systems are required to support our choices?

The book shows how this repeatable method can benefit other companies and business leaders. Playing to Win provides a practical formula for strengthening your band and organization through a series of educated and deliberate choices.

Notable Quote: “Strategy needn’t be mysterious. Conceptually, it is simple and straightforward. It requires clear and hard thinking, real creativity, courage, and personal leadership.”

Buy Playing to Win .

4. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry I Porras

Built to Last examines the characteristics and behaviors of innovative and long-lasting companies. Drawing on extensive research, the authors analyze the factors that lead companies to survive and thrive through tough times and competitive landscapes. The book compares companies like Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney, and Marriott with lesser competitors and outlines the keys to industry leaders’ success and longevity. Built to Last covers topics such as setting goals, building a cult-like culture, and managing change, and lays out a framework for creating enduring enterprises.

Notable Quote: “Visionary companies pursue a cluster of objectives, of which making money is only one—and not necessarily the primary one.”

Buy Built to Last .

5. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins

Good to Great is one of the most popular books on business strategy. A companion to Built to Last, this bestseller examines what qualities differentiate mediocre companies from industry legends. The book hones in on concepts like leadership competencies, cultures of discipline, and technology, and shows how each factor helps organizations excel. Good to Great is a lesson on how to not only survive in the business world, but dominate it for extended periods of time.

Notable Quote: “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.”

Buy Good to Great .

6. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

While many business strategy books explain how to dominate crowded markets, Blue Ocean Strategy takes the opposite approach. The book advocates for finding and seizing untapped opportunities. In other words, the best way to eliminate competition is to pursue a lesser-traveled path. The authors demonstrate how to identify previously neglected needs and generate new demand. Blue Ocean Strategy lays out a system for achieving this result, complete with frameworks and analytical tools.

Notable Quote: “Value innovation requires companies to orient the whole system toward achieving a leap in value for both buyers and themselves.”

Buy Blue Ocean Strategy .

7. The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life by Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff

The Art of Strategy is one of the best business strategy books for beginners. Drawing on the principles of game theory , the book explains how to guess and prepare for competitors’ next moves. Through mathematical and scientific logic, the authors show how to find patterns in seemingly random occurrences and illogical behavior. The book is rich with case studies and concrete examples that make game theory easy to understand and applicable to a wide range of situations.

Notable Quote: “It may not be enough to play a game well—you must also be sure you are playing the right game.”

Buy The Art of Strategy .

8. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Michael E. Porter

Two decades after its initial publication, Competitive Strategy is still relevant. Michael E. Porter shows readers how to sum up and surpass rivals by performing in-depth industry analyses and taking appropriate actions. The book consists of three sections: General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions. Each chapter examines a different aspect of studying and challenging opposition. The prose is dense, but the exploration of the topic is exhaustive. Competitive Strategy reads like a market advantage encyclopedia.

Notable Quote: “From my examination of many declining industries, the firms that seem to be the most objective about managing the decline process are those that also participate in the substitute industry. They have a clearer perception concerning the prospects of the substitute product and the threat of decline.”

Buy Competitive Strategy .

9. Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr

Measure What Matters shows how businesses can achieve impressive growth by selecting smart objectives and key results, or OKRs. The book breaks down the process of choosing, tracking, and accomplishing goals through best practices like committing to priorities, aligning teams, and monitoring progress. Chapters illustrate these principles with examples from leading organizations like Google, The Gates Foundation, and Intel.

Notable Quote: “Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.”

Buy Measure What Matters .

10. The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen

The Innovator’s Dilemma offers a new approach to business strategy. Instead of advocating for following tried-and-tested formulas, the book insists that experimentation is often the best strategy. Clayton Christensen argues that organizations cannot always rely on proven methods. Companies need to forge new paths to remain relevant and competitive. The Innovator’s Dilemma illustrates this concept by sharing anecdotes of triumphant and tragic companies while offering advice for navigating disruptive change.

Notable Quote: “To succeed consistently, good managers need to be skilled not just in choosing, training, and motivating the right people for the right job, but in choosing, building, and preparing the right organization for the job as well.”

Buy The Innovator’s Dilemma .

11. HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy by Harvard Business Review

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy collects the ten best Harvard Business Reviews essays on business strategy into one helpful anthology. The book explores topics such as clarifying the company mission, standing out amongst competitors, and measuring strategies with Balanced Scorecards. This collection contains valuable insight from industry experts, including the authors of top selling business strategy books.

Notable Quote: “Operational effectiveness and strategy are both essential to superior performance, which, after all, is the primary goal of any enterprise. But they work in very different ways.”

Buy HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy .

12. Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen by Rita McGrath

Seeing Around Corners concentrates on inflection points, or major shifts in industry. Rita McGrath explains how to predict these changes and prepare for them. Changes in customer needs or expectations, competitor evolution, and technological advancement can shake up market rankings. Smart companies expect these challenges and are ready to adapt. The book outlines techniques for anticipating and overcoming industry curveballs. Seeing Around Corners is a guide to disruption-proofing your business.

Notable Quote: “The very concept of “industry” is an artificial categorization. Often the most important competition any business will face is from entrants who are not hamstrung by assumptions about what their “industry” expects of them.”

Buy Seeing Around Corners .

13. Your Strategy Needs a Strategy: How to Choose and Execute the Right Approach by Martin Reeves, Knut Haanaes, et al

Your Strategy Needs a Strategy is a masterclass in business plan execution. The book gives readers advice on how to select the best course of action and bring plans to fruition.

It breaks strategy down into five main categories:

• Be the Orchestrator

The book analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of these methods and recommends the ideal circumstances and conditions for each. Your Strategy Needs a Strategy shows readers how to align strategy with the business environment and choose the best-suited approach.

Notable Quote: “Strategy is, in essence, problem solving, and the best approach depends upon the specific problem at hand. Your environment dictates your approach to strategy.”

Buy Your Strategy Needs a Strategy .

14. The Invincible Company: How to Constantly Reinvent Your Organization with Inspiration From the World’s Best Business Models by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, et al

The Invincible Company analyzes how winning corporations are able to disrupt industries and dominate markets. The authors examine the practices of leading companies like Microsoft, IKEA, and Amazon and explore successful business models throughout history. The book includes many visuals and charts, as well as tools like strategy frameworks, innovation metrics, and culture maps. The Invincible Company is a blueprint for becoming an industry titan.

Notable Quote: “The Invincible Company explores the future, while excelling at exploiting the present.”

Buy The Invincible Company .

15. Competing in the Age of AI: Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World by Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Competing in the Age of AI asserts that artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the business landscape. To keep up with the algorithm revolution, business leaders must employ new approaches. This book outlines techniques to incorporate AI into operational strategy. Competing in the Age of AI shows businesses how to come out ahead in a world where machine learning increasingly affects business’ bottom lines.

Notable Quote: “We are moving from an era of core competencies, differing from firm to firm and embedded deep in each organization, to an age shaped by data and analytics, powered by algorithms and hosted in the computing cloud for anyone to use.”

Buy Competing in the Age of AI .

16. Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal

Hooked lays out strategies for generating market popularity and user loyalty. The book explains how to design products that consumers will use repeatedly. Nir Eyal relies on case studies and scientific research to explore the nature of habit. Hooked suggests steps to make customers return, remain active, and keep singing product praises.

Notable Quote: “To change behavior, products must ensure the user feels in control. People must want to use the service, not feel they have to.”

Buy Hooked .

Books on business strategy provide a roadmap for achieving goals and favorable results. Devising a foolproof plan is not easy, and there are many factors to consider. Luckily, there is no shortage of experts willing to share experiences and observations to help current and future leaders pick smart and sustainable paths.

For more reading suggestions, check out our lists of books on innovation , books on creativity , leadership books , small business books and  management books .

We also have a list of books on product design , books on growth hacking and customer service books .

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FAQ: Business strategy books

Here are answers to common questions about business strategy books.

What are business strategy books?

Business strategy books are guides that help leaders form actionable plans. These books cover topics like analyzing competition, scaling growth, and overcoming industry disruption. The purpose of these books is to help leaders prepare for likely developments.

What are the best business strategy books of all time?

Some of the best business strategy books of all time include Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt, Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, and Competitive Strategy by Michael E. Porter.

Why should you read books on business strategy?

Books on business strategy help companies anticipate potential challenges and take reasonable precautions. These books examine corporate operations from multiple standpoints and enable leaders to make smart choices that lead to sustained success.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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Business Plan Books

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4 Essential Start-Your-Business Books

3 min. read

Updated October 25, 2023

Books: falling out of fashion, perhaps, but – business books, for sure – still so amazingly practical. What’s an hour of your time worth? How much time can a business book save? I posted here last week, in this context, about John Jantsch’s new book on referral marketing.  And today it’s Melinda Emerson’s  Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months . I love the book, I’ve got mixed feelings about its title, and I particularly like its real-world common sense.

Real-world common sense like starting at the beginning, not how to go out on your own, precisely, but on whether you want to: Melinda starts with a chapter called “So You Think You Want to be an Entrepreneur.” That’s right, really, and very important in this topic area. So she challenges you to think about what you really want, and whether your idea will work, and do you love what you want to do.

Here’s a great quote from that chapter:

Suddenly becoming a one-salary family is tricky. Make sure that your spouse is behind your decision. If not, your dream can turn into a nightmare.

And another, highlighting Melinda’s offering of real-world hard-nosed “been there done that” insight:

Of course, the best business idea in the world isn’t worth anything if you run out of money. There’s no way around it: starting a business is expensive. It will be a while before you see a return on your investment. That’s why, before you hand the boss your walking papers and box up the personal things in your cubicle, you’d better make sure you and your family are on solid financial ground.

So what don’t I like? Nothing serious; actually, I admit it, these are petty complaints:

• The phrase “become your own boss” in the title. It’s actually a pet peeve of mine: you start a business, you aren’t going to be your own boss; your customers become your boss. But that really has nothing to do with the book. That’s just me.
• The 12-months time frame: Sabrina Parsons and I wrote  3 Weeks to Startup  (2008, Entrepreneur Press), so I feel like I have to say that. Still Melinda explains the 12 months extremely well in her second chapter (titled “Why Does it Take Twelve Months”). And I really like the way she schedules the tasks through the months, giving things time to simmer. It goes very well with her overall tone of good practical advice.

What do I like? Lots:

• Melinda is extremely good at keeping the business in the larger context of your whole life. That’s an excellent reminder. Her third chapter focuses on “your life plan” and it’s dripping with good advice, things you really should be considering.
• Her 12-month plan presents a process very well. At the beginning, three months of getting reading, including your life plan in the first, then financial plan, business model, lawyer, accountant. I’ve been there. This is how things really work. Then nine months of getting set, including focus, niche marketing, of course  business planning , financing, building a team, recruiting, branding, and so on. Then comes the actual launch, with good discussions of bookkeeping, maintaining marketing, and so on. Throughout, it’s good advice, well organized, clearly written.

So where do I get to the post title above about 4 essential books? This post is about the newest of the four, Melinda Emerson’s  Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months . And I’ve already mentioned the one I co-authored,  3 Weeks to Startup . So the other two are two books I like so much I can’t post on this topic without including them. I’ve posted on both of these before: Pamela Slim’s  Escape From Cubicle Nation  and Guy Kawasaki’s  The Art of the Start . Each has a different point of view, each covers different elements.

Starting a business is a big deal. If you’re serious about it, read all four of these books.

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Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

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Business Plan Development Guide

(6 reviews)

Lee Swanson, University of Saskatchewan

Copyright Year: 2017

Publisher: OPENPRESS.USASK.CA

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Kevin Heupel, Affiliate Faculty, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 3/4/20

The text does a good job of providing a general outline about writing and developing a written business plan. All of the important steps and components are included. However, the text is light on details, examples, and rationale for each element... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The text does a good job of providing a general outline about writing and developing a written business plan. All of the important steps and components are included. However, the text is light on details, examples, and rationale for each element of the business plan. Some examples from actual business plans would be helpful.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

For the most part, the content is accurate. The content covers all important aspects of drafting a business plan. I thought the industry analysis could use more information about collecting primary and secondary sources; instead, this information was referenced in the marketing plan section.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Most of the content relies on cites as far back as 2006; however, when it comes to developing and writing a business plan nothing has changed. Thus, the content is current and there is no concern about it becoming obsolete in the near future.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is clear. There are no difficult terms used and the writing is simple. The text uses a lot of bullet points though, which gets tedious to read for a few pages.

Consistency rating: 5

The text does a good job of maintaining consistency in terms of framework and terminology. The text is organized where it's easy to find the information you want in a quick manner.

Modularity rating: 3

The text has a lot of bullet points and the paragraphs are dense. However, the use of subheading is excellent.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is organized as if you're writing a business plan from start to finish, which is helpful as a practical guide.

Interface rating: 5

There are no navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, or any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is free of grammatical errors. The sentence structure is simple with many bullet points, which helps to avoid any grammatical issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book was written by a Canadian professor and provides references to Canadian sources. However, the information in this text can be used for U.S. schools.

This book is very short and provides a good, general overview about the process of creating and writing a business plan. It won't help a reader if he/she is confused about a certain part of the business plan. The reader will have to find another source, such as "Preparing Effective Business Plans" by Bruce Barringer, Ph.D. The book provides links to good resources and a finished business plan that the reader can reference. I would recommend the book for undergraduate courses.

Reviewed by Kenneth Lacho, Professor of Management, The University of New Orleans on 6/19/18

1. Text is relevant to Canada. Not the United States 2. Needs to cover resources available to entrepreneur, e.g., federal government agencies, trade associations, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies. 3. Discuss local economy or... read more

1. Text is relevant to Canada. Not the United States 2. Needs to cover resources available to entrepreneur, e.g., federal government agencies, trade associations, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies. 3. Discuss local economy or economic area relevant to this proposed business. 4. Business model ok as a guide. 5. Suggested mission statement to cover: product/business, target customer, geographical area covered. 6. Need detailed promotion plan, e.g., personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, networking publicity, and social media. 7. How do you find the target market? 8. Chapter 6 too much detail on debt and equity financing. 9. Discuss how to find sources of financing, e.g., angels. 10. Expand coverage of bootstring, crowdfunding. 11. Chapter 4 – good checklist. 12. Chapter 3 - overlaps. 13. Chapter 7 – 3 pages of executive summary – double or single spaced typing. Number all tables, graphs. 14. Some references out-of-date, mostly academic. Bring in trade magazines such as Entrepreneur.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

In my opinion, the content is accurate and error free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The material is relevant to writing a business plan. I wonder if the Porter, SWOT VRIO, etc. material is too high level for students who may not be seniors or have non-business degrees (e.g., liberal arts). Porter has been around for a while and does have longevity. The author has to be more alert to changes in promotion, e.g., social media and sources of financing, e.g., crowdfunding.

Clarity rating: 3

As noted in No. 9, the tone of the writing is too academic, thus making the material difficult to understand. Paragraphs are too long. Need to define: Porter, TOWS Matrix, VRIO, PESTEL. A student less from a senior or a non-business major would not be familiar with these terms.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is internally consistent. The model approach helps keep the process consistent.

Modularity rating: 4

The process of developing a business plan is divided into blocks which are parts of the business plan. Paragraphs tend to be too long in some spots.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The topics are presented in a logical step-wise flow. The language style is too academic in parts, paragraphs too long. Leaves out the citations. Provides excellent check lists.

There are no display features which confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The text has no grammatical errors. On the other hand, I found the writing to be too academic in nature. Some paragraphs are too long. The material is more like an academic conference paper or journal submission. Academic citations references are not needed. The material is not exciting to read.

The text is culturally neutral. There are no examples which are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

This book best for a graduate class.

Reviewed by Louis Bruneau, Part Time Faculty, Portland Community College on 6/19/18

The text provides appropriate discussion and illustration of all major concepts and useful references to source and resource materials. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text provides appropriate discussion and illustration of all major concepts and useful references to source and resource materials.

Contents of the book were accurate, although it could have benefited from editing/proofreading; there was no evidence of bias. As to editing/proofreading, a couple of examples: A. “Figure 1 – Business Plan… “ is shown at the top of the page following the diagram vs. the bottom of the page the diagram is on. (There are other problems with what is placed on each page.) B. First paragraph under heading “Essential Initial Research” there is reference to pages 21 to 30 though page numbering is missing from the book. (Page numbers are used in the Table of Contents.)

The book is current in that business planning has been stable for sometime. The references and resources will age in time, but are limited and look easy to update.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written in a straightforward way, technical terms that needed explanations got them, jargon was avoided and generally it was an easy read.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

The book lends itself to a multi-week course. A chapter could be presented and students could work on that stage of Plan development. It could also be pre-meeting reading for a workshop presentation. Reorganizing the book would be inappropriate.

The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion.

Generally, the book is free of interface problems. The financial tables in the Sample Plan were turned 90° to maintain legibility. One potential problem was with Figure 6 – Business Model Canvas. The print within the cells was too small to read; the author mitigated the problem by presenting the information, following Figure 6, in the type font of the text.

I found no grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.

I require a business plan in a course I teach; for most of the students the assignment is a course project that they do not intend to pursue in real life. I shared the book with five students that intended to develop an actual start-up business; three of them found it helpful while the other two decided not to do that much work on their plans. If I were planning a start-up, I would use/follow the book.

Reviewed by Todd Johnson, Faculty of Business, North Hennepin Community College on 5/21/18

The text is a thorough overview of all elements of a business plan. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text is a thorough overview of all elements of a business plan.

The content is accurate and seems to lack bias.

Content seems relevant and useful . It does not help an entrepreneur generate ideas, and is very light on crowdfunding and other novel funding source content. It is more traditional. This can be easily updated in future versions, however. "Social Media" appears once in the book, as does "Crowd Funding".

The book is comprehensive, but perhaps not written in the most lucid, accessible prose. I am not sure any college student could pick this up and just read and learn. It would be best used as a "teach along guide" for students to process with an instructor.

The text seems consistent. The author does a nice job of consistently staying on task and using bullets and brevity.

Here I am not so certain. The table of contents is not a good guide for this book. It does make the book look nicely laid out, but there is a lot of complexity within these sections. I read it uncertain that it was well organized. Yes there are many good bits of information, however it is not as if I could spend time on one swathe of text at a time. I would need to go back and forth throughout the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

Similar to the above. I did not like the flow and organization of this. An editor would help things be in a more logical order.

Interface rating: 2

The interface is just OK. It is not an attractice interface, as it presents text in a very dense manner. The images and charts are hard to follow.

I did not find any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I a not certain of the origins of Saskatchewan, but I do feel this is a different read. It is more formal and dense than it has to be. This would be a difficult read for my students. I do not feel it is insensitive in any way, or offensive in any way.

I would not adopt this book if given the chance. It is too dense, and not organized very well, even though the information is very good. The density and lack of modularity are barriers to understanding what is obviously very good information.

Reviewed by Mariana Mitova, Lecturer, Bowling Green State University on 2/1/18

Though this textbook has a prescriptive nature, it is quite comprehensive. The author strikes a good balance between presenting concepts in a concise way and providing enough information to explain them. Many every-day examples and live links to... read more

Though this textbook has a prescriptive nature, it is quite comprehensive. The author strikes a good balance between presenting concepts in a concise way and providing enough information to explain them. Many every-day examples and live links to other resources add to the completeness of the textbook.

Content seems accurate.

Since the content is somewhat conceptual, the text will not become obsolete quickly. In addition, the author seems to be updating and editing content often hence the relevance to current developments is on target.

The text is very clear, written in clear and straight-to-the point language.

The organization of content is consistent throughout the entire text.

The textbook is organized by chapters, beginning with overview of the model used and followed by chapters for each concept within the model. Nicely done.

The flow is clear, logical and easy to follow.

Overall, images, links, and text are well organized. Some headlines were misaligned but still easy to follow.

No concerns for grammar.

No concerns for cultural irrelevance.

Reviewed by Darlene Weibye, Cosmetology Instructor, Minnesota State Community and Technical College on 2/1/18

The text is comprehensive and covers the information needed to develop a business plan. The book provides all the means necessary in business planning. read more

The text is comprehensive and covers the information needed to develop a business plan. The book provides all the means necessary in business planning.

The text was accurate, and error-free. I did not find the book to be biased.

The content is up-to-date. I am reviewing the book in 2017, the same year the book was published.

The content was very clear. A business plan sample included operation timelines, start up costs, and all relevant material in starting a business.

The book is very consistent and is well organized.

The book has a table of contents and is broken down into specific chapters. The chapters are not divided into sub topics. I do not feel it is necessary for sub topics because the chapters are brief and to the point.

There is a great flow from chapter to chapter. One topic clearly leads into the next without repeating.

The table of contents has direct links to each chapter. The appearance of the chapters are easy to read and the charts are very beneficial.

Does not appear to have any grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.

I am incorporating some of the text into the salon business course. Very well written book.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Chapter 1 – Developing a Business Plan
• Chapter 2 – Essential Initial Research
• Chapter 3 – Business Models
• Chapter 4 – Initial Business Plan Draft
• Chapter 5 – Making the Business Plan Realistic
• Chapter 6 – Making the Plan Appeal to Stakeholders and Desirable to the Entrepreneur
• Chapter 7 – Finishing the Business Plan
• Chapter 8 – Business Plan Pitches

References Appendix A – Business Plan Development Checklist and Project Planner Appendix B – Fashion Importers Inc. Business Plan Business Plan Excel Template

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This textbook and its accompanying spreadsheet templates were designed with and for students wanting a practical and easy-to-follow guide for developing a business plan. It follows a unique format that both explains what to do and demonstrates how to do it.

About the Contributors

Dr. Lee Swanson is an Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. His research focuses on entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, Aboriginal entrepreneurship, community capacity-building through entrepreneurship, and institutional-stakeholder engagement. Dr. Swanson’s current research is funded through a Social Sciences Humanities Research Council grant and focuses on social and economic capacity building in Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Scandinavia. He is also actively studying Aboriginal community partnerships with resource based companies, entrepreneurship centres at universities, community-based entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. He teaches upper-year and MBA entrepreneurship classes and conducts seminars on business planning and business development.

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From Zero to Hero: The Best Business Books for Beginners

A re you someone who wants to start a business but has no idea where to begin? Are you an aspiring entrepreneur looking for guidance and inspiration?

Starting a new venture can seem overwhelming. However, the right knowledge can simplify the journey. Business literature for beginners provides that knowledge. They offer valuable insights and lessons from seasoned professionals.

We’ve curated a list of the best business books for beginners that will help you navigate through the complex world of entrepreneurship. Keep reading.

“The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries

This book is a must-read for any aspiring entrepreneur. The book provides a fresh approach to starting a company. It’s not about making a detailed business plan. It’s about learning what your customers really want.

Ries introduces a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups. He emphasizes the need to test your ideas early and often. This way, you can adapt and adjust before it’s too late.

The goal is to reduce waste and increase the value of your work. If you’re just starting, “The Lean Startup” is a great guide to help you avoid common mistakes.

“The $100 Startup” by Chris Guillebeau

For those who want to start a business but feel like they don’t have the resources to do so, “The $100 Startup” is a must-read. It tells the stories of ordinary people who turned their passion into income.

The author, Chris Guillebeau, traveled the world to meet these people. He shares their secrets to success. The book shows you don’t need a lot of money to start a business. It tells you how to make use of your skills.

The key is to have the right mindset and a good idea. This book is a guide for anyone wanting to start a business on a budget. It’s not just about making money; it’s about creating a life of freedom.

Guillebeau’s book is practical, inspiring, and easy to understand. It’s a great read for every beginner.

“Start with Why” by Simon Sinek

This book teaches aspiring entrepreneurs the importance of having a clear purpose for their business. It’s not a book about what to do, but why to do it. The ‘Why’ shapes your business. It fuels passion, shapes identity, and creates true value.

Sinek’s idea is simple yet powerful. It’s called the ‘Golden Circle’. The ‘Golden Circle’ has three parts: Why, How, and What. Most companies know ‘What’ they do and ‘How’ they do it. But the ‘why’ is often unclear. This is where Sinek’s book helps.

This book is a must-read for beginners. It gives a new perspective on business. It shows that business isn’t just about profit. It’s about purpose.

“The Farm Program” by T.H. Harbinger

Harbinger’s book, “The Farm Program,” is a practical guide for anyone venturing into the agricultural business. The author uses simple language to explain complex farming techniques, strategies, and insights on innovation . This makes it a good pick for beginners. The book covers everything from crop rotation to livestock rearing.

Harbinger shares stories from his own experiences. He turned a small farm into a profitable venture. His tips are easy to follow and implement. The book also discusses how to create a business plan for a farm and manage finances wisely.

The book is interesting and informative. It will help you understand the nuances of the farming business. It’s a must-read for anyone planning to start a farm.

“The Power of Broke” by Daymond John

“The Power of Broke” is an empowering read. It’s about making the most of what you have. John says that starting with little can be your biggest strength. He calls this the ‘power of broke.’

The book shows that you don’t need money to start a business. What you need is a strong will.

John shares his own journey in this book. He started with just $40. He faced many challenges. But he never gave up. His story shows that success is possible, no matter your start.

The book also shares stories of other successful people. These people also started with nothing. But they used their ‘broke’ as a driving force. They turned their lack into success.

“The Power of Broke” is a very inspiring book. It teaches that being ‘broke’ is not a barrier. It’s an opportunity to think differently.

“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

“Think and Grow Rich” is a classic and a guide to success. The book is based on Hill’s study of over 500 self-made millionaires. It was published during the Great Depression. Even today, it’s very popular.

Hill teaches that success is about mindset. It’s about believing you can achieve your goals. The book shares 13 steps to riches. These steps are not about money; they are about personal development.

“Think and Grow Rich” is a powerful book. It has changed many lives. It can change yours, too.

“Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk is a successful businessman. He knows about building a brand online. His book, “Crush It!” is a guide for others. It’s a roadmap for online success.

Vaynerchuk started in the wine business. He turned his family’s store into a big online seller. His secret was using the internet smartly. He used social media to connect with customers.

“Crush It!” is about this journey. Vaynerchuk shares his insights. He talks about the power of the internet and how to build a brand .

His main point is about passion, and you should love what you do. This book is inspiring and practical. Vaynerchuk’s advice can help you start your own online business.

The Power of Business Books for Beginners

Starting a business is not easy. But with the right knowledge and guidance, it can be a fulfilling and rewarding journey. The business books for beginners mentioned above cover various aspects of entrepreneurship, from mindset to marketing to finance.

Each book offers unique insights and perspectives that can help you navigate through challenges and make informed decisions for your business. So if you’re a beginner looking for some inspiration or business reads, pick up one of these books and start reading. Who knows, it might just be the key to your success!

Did this article help you? If so, take a look at some of our other blog posts for more informative reads.

This article is published by NYTech in collaboration with Syndication Cloud.

Top 11 Little Business Books With Big Impact

Use These Short Books to Master Topics that Will Improve Your Career

• Management Careers
• Job Search Resources
• Hiring Best Practices
• Employment Law
• Employee Motivation
• Employee Management
• Management & Leadership
• Employee Benefits

Susan Heathfield is an HR and management consultant with an MS degree. She has decades of experience writing about human resources.

One trend in business books is the short management book, often written as a story or fable. These business books are approachable, useful, and may help encourage more people to read. And, as an employer, that's what you'd like to see—right? You're in favor of ongoing career development.

These business books pack a solid punch in a small package. Read some of the favorites that managers and HR staff recommend. You'll quickly agree with their assessment and understand why they have such universal appeal.

High Five! The Magic of Working Together

by Kenneth V. Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles, others (Morrow/Avon) ISBN: 0688170366 -

Fired from his job for failure to be a team player, Alan Foster helps a boy's hockey team learn both team secrets and hockey. Help from a retired girl's basketball coach, chants, cheers, focus, skill development, and knowing that, "None of us is as good as all of us," help Alan learn so he can teach. I love this book.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

by Patrick Lencioni (Jossey-Bass) ISBN-13: 978-0787960759 -

Assigned to lead a dysfunctional Silicon Valley executive committee, Kathryn Petersen, a traditional manager, appointed CEO, watches and observes the effect of the group's interactions on its members and on the company's progress and results.

Following her instinctive knowledge about people and using her skill in building teams, she identifies the factors that are undermining the group's effectiveness. In story-style,

Lencioni tells how to overcome the human behaviors that corrupt this executive team's success: the lack of trust , fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of personal accountability, and inattention to results. A must-read for teams that strive for optimum success.

The 1% Solution for Work and Life

by: Tom Connellan (Peak Performance Press) ISBN-13: 978-0-9769506-2-2

Feeling a bit discouraged about your life and work? Not getting as excited as you once were? You can change this by doing one small thing just 1% differently than you are right now. Sound easy? It's not, but if you do one small thing differently for thirty days, it becomes part of your available toolkit.

And, 1% plus 1% plus 1% adds up. Follow Ken on his journey as he meets and learns from six One-Percenters, people who have transformed their lives using the ideas shared in this book. Even if you're after just a small improvement, each chapter gives you ideas that you can adapt now. For me, my new 1% shift? No email in the morning until I have published something. I am on the path.

Just Do Your Best

by Chuck Harwood (Group Fare Productions) ISBN - 13:978-0881971019

In just 108 pages, the essence of performing successfully on your job is distilled and shared. In an out-of-the-ordinary management setting: a visit to a cattle ranch, Mr. Harwood identifies the five critical factors in job success.

Knowing your job well, and continuously improving what you know, is the first. The second factor is making good decisions. Enjoy attending the management meeting with the ranch employees - the daily lunch table at the ranch. Visit 15 additional workplaces he uses as examples for the five factors. Insightful, fun book.

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

by Harry Paul, Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen (Hyperion) ISBN: 0786866020

Based on the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market, a supervisor learns how to create an environment in which employees are excited to serve customers and each other. Find out how she transformed a toxic work environment!

The One Minute Manager

by Spencer Johnson, Kenneth H. Blanchard (Morrow/Avon) ISBN: 0688014291

Can several million people be wrong? Read the book that spawned the dynasty! Timeless tips for supervisors and others who want to increase their effectiveness with people. Learn how to catch people doing something right and the power of clear, understandable goals. Though deceptively simple, this is a great read!

Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment

by William C. Byham (Development Dimensions International) ISBN: 0962348317

This continuing favorite may be hard to find but it's worth the search. Join a supervisor who is transported to a state in which he can suddenly "see" the real impact his actions have on whether staff is enabled to think, contribute, and find meaning in work. Experiment and learn with him as he changes.

Please Don't Just Do What I Tell You: Do What Needs to Be Done

by Bob Nelson (Hyperion) ISBN: 0786867299

Written directly for employees, the book has great tips about how to express individual initiative and self-empowerment at work. "Doing what you're told," no longer brings success for the individual or the organization - if it ever did! Everyone has the capacity to fulfill this "ultimate expectation." Share this book to help people find out how!

Gung Ho! Turn on the People in Any Organization

by Kenneth Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles (Morrow/Avon) ISBN: 068815428X

The story, told as a fable, provides a three-part strategy for motivating employees. Make sure people know why their work is important, give them control over how they do their jobs, and provide encouragement are the success factors. The story is told by a plant manager who learned these truths from a Native American manager.

The Peon Book

by Dave Haynes, Chief Executive Peon (Berrett-Koehler) ISBN: 1576752852

Not just a regular management book, written by an executive or a consultant, The Peon Book recommends you get the information you need to lead and manage people from the people you are trying to lead and manage. If all else fails, ask! What a concept!

Who Moved My Cheese?

by Spencer Johnson (Penguin Putnam, Inc.) ISBN: 0399144463

Explores positively approaching change through a parable populated by mice and "littlepeople," mouse-sized people. If you're an expert in change management , give it a chance; the book will make you smile and remind you of key change issues.

Others will find change management tips, real encouragement, and the sense that change is "doable." It's a book for everyone. Enjoy!

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15+ Business Plan Books for Free! [PDF]

* If you have doubts about how to download free books from InfoBooks, visit our guide to downloading books .

Planning in business is of vital importance for the founding of any type of company. This is why we bring you this collection of business plan books in PDF format so you can start your adventure as it should be, with foresight and order.

Business plans were born in the mid-20th century, but it was in the 1970s, with the rise of the entrepreneurial sector, when the need to develop them became popular and grew. Today it is a widely used resource that improves the chances of success of any company. Therefore, we know that this selection of business plan books will be very useful for our community interested in its elaboration.

A business plan is a written document, of a formal nature, with a logical, coherent and progressive order that has the purpose of carrying out a set of actions indicated in it. It is a kind of guide or map that takes into account current and future opportunities and obstacles that may arise in the specific context of the business .

It includes the ideas of the entrepreneur or business group undertaking the project, the way in which they will be carried out, the proposed objectives and the strategies to achieve them. At the same time, an exercise of reflection and interpretation of the market in which the company will operate is carried out, as well as an evaluation of the future results in that market, the variables and the allocation of resources to develop the project are determined.

The benefits of a business plan are innumerable, since it is a firm beginning, it allows foreseeing difficulties and how to face them, defining how to participate in a specific market, knowing the competition, having clear objectives and strategies and many others that we would not finish listing in this section.

Therefore, we invite you to learn how to make one successfully, using as a guide our selection of more than 15 books of business plans in PDF format , to which you have immediate and free access, below.

Here we present our complete selection of Business Plan Books:

Business Plan

South Dublin County Enterprise Board

The Importance of a Good Business Plan

Les Nunn and Brian McGuire

The Elements of a Business Plan First Steps for New Entrepreneur

Cole Ehmke,Jay Akridge

Business Plan Guide

Donald J Reilly

Effective Business Planning A Key to Successful Enterprises

Dongol Rina,Neupane Basudha

A Sample Business Plan for Small Food Businesses

Rodney B Holcomb,Philip Kenkel,Linda Blan Byford

How to Write a Business Plan

University of Cambridge

Topic Business Plan (Article)

Rajdhani College

Preparing a Business Plan (Presentation)

Smt Therese Francis

Business Plan Guidelines

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Business Plan Guideline for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises

Dr Babafemi Oyewole

Preparing a Business Plan

The Gauteng Enterprise Propeller

Development of Business Plan

The Role of Business Planning

Texas A and M AgriLife

Esade Library

Elements of a Business Plan (Article)

Beef Cattle Research Council

Business Plan A practical guide to help you develop a business plan

Community Business Development Corporation

The Business Plan and Its Parts (Article)

Lake Agassiz Development Group

Here ends our selection of free Business Plan books in PDF format. We hope you liked it and already have your next book!

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Garden tours, plants sales and more ways to spend time among flowers

Visit Maine's botanical gardens or get a sneak peek of what your neighbors are growing in their back yards.

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One of the loveliest ways to ease yourself fully out of the post-winter blahs and into springtime is to quit being a wallflower and instead surround yourself with living, blooming plants.

From botanical gardens to plant sales and garden tours, it’s time to make like the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” and while away the hours, conferring with flowers.

The waterfall at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. Photo by Tory Paxson, Courtesy of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

TOTALLY BOTANICAL

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay is open for the season, daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Maine Days are May 31 to June 2, when anyone with a Maine driver’s license or state ID gets in for free. Ditto for dads/father figures on Father’s Day (June 16). Advance registration is required. With more than 300 acres of gardens and natural spaces, including a waterfall, there will be plenty to see, smell and bask in the scenery.

Here are more things to do in Boothbay

A tour group walks on the boardwalk at Viles Arboretum in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Viles Arboretum is a botanical garden in Augusta with 6 miles of trails and more than 20 botanical collections. It’s open daily from sunrise to sunset, and admission is free. There are 224 acres with all sorts of flora and fauna to discover. Leashed dogs are welcome, and the visitor center is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Viles Arboretum offers medicinal plant walks, and although the May 18 session is full, you can still register for the June 15 and Sept. 14 events, lead by herbalist, homeopath and flower essence practitioner Debra Bluth. Tickets are $25. Advertisement

The Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve has four areas to explore on its property in Northeast Harbor: the Asticou Azelea Garden (dawn to dusk daily), the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden (noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday from July 9 to Sept. 8, reservations required), Thuya Garden (dawn to dusk daily, June 15 to Oct. 14) and Little Long Pond Natural Lands (hiking trails and carriage roads open dawn to dusk daily). On June 26, at the Wildflowers of Little Long Pond event, participants can wander around the garden’s fields and forest, spotting wildflowers along the way while practicing how to identify them.

Joyce Saltman, right, and Beth Anisbeck embrace a tree for 60 seconds during a tree hugging event sponsored by Portland Parks and Recreation, at Deering Oaks Park last year. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

TOURS AND MORE

2nd Annual Tree Hugging 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Deering Oaks Park, Portland. portlandmaine.gov The tree hugging is a family-friendly community gathering to celebrate Portland’s many trees. Park ranger Liz Collado will lead a sensory awakening and forest bathing session. Along with tree hugging, there will be a storytime, and you can touch a forestry truck and meet naturalist Noah Querido and Portland city arborist Mark Reiland. Just down the road, you’ll find Fessenden Park, on the corner of Brighton and Deering Avenues. The tulips have arrived, and it’s worth a visit to see them.

McLaughlin Garden Lilac Festival 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 24. McLaughlin Garden and Homestead, 97 Main St., South Paris, $5. mclaughlingardens.org You’ll find more than 125 varieties of lilacs at the McLaughlin Garden Lilac Festival. Explore on your own or take a guided tour led by a horticulturist. There will also be family-friendly activities, and you can shop for native and unusual plants.

4th annual Woodfords Community Garden Tour 1-4 p.m. June 8. Woodfords Corner Community in Back Cove, Deering Highlands, Oakdale and Deering Center, $20 suggested donation. woodfordscorner.org Presented by Friends of Woodfords Corner, this self-guided tour features at least 10 gardens. As you make your way down the list, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by all of the hidden havens bursting with flowers, plants and impressive yardscaping elements.

Peony Society of Maine 23rd annual Garden Tour 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 8 and 15. Both tours start at 1348 Ohio St., Bangor, $5 donation. peonysocietyofmaine.net You’ll visit multiple gardens in Bangor, Winterport, Ripley and St. Albans, and your senses will be filled with countless peonies. A peony plant will be raffled off at the end of each tour. Advertisement

Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 22. Sagadahoc Preservation Inc., 880 Washington St., Bath, $40. sagadahocpreservation.org The Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath house and garden tour features several homes in North Bath. Every stop on the tour will be a treat for your senses and may motivate you to make some of your own magic when you get back home.

Garden Conservancy Open Garden Days 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 29. Beckett Castle Rose Garden, Singles Road, Cape Elizabeth, $10. gardenconservancy.org You’ll see plenty of roses as well as ocean views at Beckett Castle, which sits right on the water, with views of five lighthouses. The castle was built in 1871, and its rose garden features more than 70 varieties of heirloom roses. A 50-foot stone tower doubles as the rose arbor entrance to the castle.

PICK A PLANT SALE

Tate House Museum’s Annual Plant and Herb Sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 18. Tate House Museum, 1267 Westbrook St., Portland, 207-774-6177.  tatehouse.org The wide selection includes perennials divided from the museum’s 18th century reproduction garden. Visitors can also make their own “seed bombs” and get a sneak peak at a new installation by artist Ashley Page from 10 a.m. to noon.

Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland Spring Plant S ale 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. May 18, Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, 217 Landing Road, Westbrook, 207-854-9771.  arlgp.org   Perennials, house plants and more will be on sale, and plants that don’t have specific pricing are “name your own fee.” Anyone interested in donating plants or pots to the sale should send a message to [email protected] .

Taking Root Plant Sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1, Tom Settlemire Community Garden, Maurice Drive, Brunswick, 207-729-7694.  btlt.org This annual sale is organized by the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust. Proceeds benefit the Common Good Garden, which provides food and gardening education for the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program. Master gardeners will be on hand to help shoppers choose their best options.

Scarborough Land Trust Native Plant Sale and Spring Festival 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1, Broadturn Farm, 388 Broadturn Road, Scarborough, 207-289-1199.  scarboroughlandtrust.org Visitors will find native plants, food vendors, local artisans, guided nature walks and activities for kids. To preorder plants, visit the Scarborough Land Trust website.

Maine Audubon Society Native Plants Sale and Festival 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., June 8, Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, 20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, 207-781-2330.  maineaudubon.org More than 75 species of native wildflowers, shrubs and tree seedlings will be available, along with workshops, info tables and experts.

Staff writer Megan Gray contributed to this report.

Related Headlines

Headed to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens? Here’s what else to check out in Boothbay

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