If you look at some of the biggest and most successful business owners in the world – Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk – what do they have in common except tremendously successful businesses? They are all avid readers.
That’s true. Even the most successful businessmen in the world make it a point to refer to Amazon to find and read books. But why? Why is reading so important to people who want to make it big in the business world? There are several reasons for this. Primarily, books written by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, work like manuals. The experiences of the established business owners may serve to inspire and educate those who are just starting.
When it comes to business, books help us in more ways than one.
Of course, when we say books, we do not mean novels and fiction. We refer to biographies or autobiographies of successful business people who have made a name and fortune for themselves before us. We read about their lives, how they conducted their business, the highs and lows of their career to develop a holistic understanding of how the market functions.
Most business books written by entrepreneurs themselves contain tips and tricks on how one can flourish in the business they have stepped into.
From business strategies to investment advice- these books contain almost everything under the sun to help the budding entrepreneurs find a footing for themselves. Because this is practical information gathered from regular experiences.
It is understandable by people who do not come from a business background, yet want to launch their own start-up or business venture.
The tips and advice provided in these books give them a fair chance to survive and make a mark for themselves in the same market as their trained competitors.
One should remember that entrepreneurship is not a god-gifted skill- it is largely an acquired talent. It is a subject taught in business schools by mentors, teachers, and guides. This may be the primary and most conventional way in which business is taught and learned, however, the truth is that these mentors are not always available when you may need them.
Once you finish business school and step out into the real world, it’s you against a heavily competitive market. And you will soon find out that the rules you learned in business school may not always be applicable in real-life situations.
So how do you learn to deal with unexpected situations that may crop up?
Experiencing a certain mishap is indeed the best way of avoiding it in the future, but there is one way in which you can bypass a crisis even before it comes your way, and that is by reading about the experiences of other established entrepreneurs.
While reading about their experiences, you will know how to tackle a difficult situation, either by doing what they did or by avoiding the mistakes they made.
Thus, you will learn vicariously through other lived situations, which will make you better and more competent in tackling business situations.
Are you skeptical about the theory we proposed?
What if you come across a situation that no one has ever faced before? Well, that’s simply not possible. Businesses and businessmen have been around from times immemorial, which means every probability of any crisis has already been dealt with and solved.
No innovative crisis can arise in business, so it’s absolutely okay to read and learn from other people’s successes and failures.
Sometimes, we aren’t even aware of the different skills that we need to be developing to become a business person. Yes, indeed, business is largely about decision making and handling finances, but some requirements go largely beyond that.
There are some skills that every businessperson should acquire that are not regularly taught in business and economics schools. Reading about these skills in the works of businessmen help us develop these skills. Not only this, but we also learn about the specific ways in which these skills can actually benefit us in our practical lives.
For example, the necessity of proper diction, impressive language, sharp memory and a relaxed lifestyle– mentions of these can be found in the works of almost every business person all over the world.
It is important to understand that reading about another businessperson’s economic experiences does not translate into us copying exactly what they did. Obviously, situations do not replicate themselves in their entirety.
However, what it does ensure that we will know how to approach similar situations in our own lives in the future. We may not be able to take the same decisions as the author took, but knowing what they did may work as a guideline for us to take our own decisions.
Business books also help us to stay motivated and positive, which is a requirement in every field and industry of entrepreneurship.
There may come certain times when business is slow, or when it’s not raking in a lot of profit. It’s easy to become demotivated in these situations. However, when you read about these entrepreneurs, you may find out that they have gone through similar situations in their lives and careers.
Knowing how they dealt with these spells of regression, and how they kept their hopes and spirits up can help you do the same. You may even find some golden advice on how to de-stress yourself, take a break and unwind.
For any successful enterprise, the experience is key. Unfortunately in business, sometimes practical experiences may come at an economical cost.
Books provide an alternative way of gathering knowledge and entrepreneurial wisdom without the risks of a loss attached. The experiences of the author enrich our own knowledge about business management and provide valuable insight into the inner workings of the industry.
From the comfort of your own home, you will be able to learn about how to run a successful company from some of the best business talents of the world- only if you invest some time and patience into picking up a book written by them.
