Advertisement

20 Great Books No Ecommerce Entrepreneur Should Miss

nabin paudyal
Updated ·6 min read
0


"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."
― Charles William Eliot

Reading expands our horizon and makes us resourceful- which we most certainly need to be if we are to thrive in this era. Thus, reading is important for entrepreneurs who are in a dire need of motivations, ideas, advices, and any kind of lift up they can get to turn their entrepreneurial idea into a successful business.

By putting together great ideas and hard work you can make your business successful and excel in your ecommerce entrepreneurial career. Here below, we have put up a list of 20 great books for ecommerce entrepreneurs which could be 'the wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers' for their entrepreneurial journey in ecommerce.

1. The Lean Startup (Eric Ries)

This book has become a sort of Bible in the startup world, which presents a scientific approach to create and manage startups. The lean startup method is a guide for entrepreneurs to allocate resources as efficiently as possible and grow the business with maximum acceleration. Although it primarily applies to software startups, this would be a great book to start with for any ecommerce entrepreneurs.

2. Convert (Ben Hunt)

The book shares easily implementable techniques to design and develop ecommerce sites that converts browsers into buyers. Since choosing the best ecommerce software only is not going to guarantee you success, Ben Hunt also shares his insights of ecommerce marketing.

3. Think And Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)

Napoleon Hill came up with this inspirational classic after over 20 years of research on the accomplishments and attributes of 500 of the most successful people in business. He lays out in this book the 13 key principles of success he identified through his research. Sold over 15 million of copies worldwide, this is one timeless guide to success.

4. The Startup Owner's Manual (Steve Blank and Bob Dorf)

This book is a complete guide that teaches how to create a successful company using business model canvas, covers 'new math' for startups and everything you need to know about it.

5. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, And Join The New Rich (Timothy Ferriss)

This groundbreaking classic explains how to work smarter rather than hard long hours to live a low-stress high income life. Drawing from real life experiences, Ferriss explains in this book how to improve efficiency of your ecommerce business and free up time to invest in other things.

6. Getting Things Done (David Allen)

This is yet another book about the art of stress-free productivity that stresses on the fact that our ability to relax determines our productivity. From fundamental philosophies to verified tricks, Getting Things Done can change the way you work, presenting you how to pick up the speed without getting yourself down.

7. Don't Make Me Think (Steve Krug)

This book basically says "If a customer arrives on your online store and has to think about what-s and where-s that does not bode well for your sales". In this book, Steve Krug talks about techniques and ideas to design your web store so that you won't lose customers on account of your website's poor design and usability.

8. Screw Business As Usual (Richard Branson)

Richard Branson founded the Virgin group and turned it into a billion dollar company. He sounds like a guy who could give some advice on how to run a business and grow it to billions. In this book, he shares his experiences on building something new and making it big.

9. Zero To One (Peter Thiel)

Peter Thiel is one among the founders of PayPal. He along with Elon Musk (Tesla Motors), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), and the YouTube founders are considered as the "PayPal Mafia" in Silicon Valley who has built multiple successful companies. In this book he explains, the importance of being innovative; thinking differently to do something that's never been done before instead of doing more of what's already been done.

10. In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works And Shapes Our Lives (Steven Levy)

When talking about ecommerce, Google most definitely won't be left out. Steven Levy conducted a research on Google and presents his findings in the book. This book most certainly should not be missed by any ecommerce entrepreneurs.

11. Lean Analytics (Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz)

This book gives you the understanding of what metrics matter to your ecommerce business and guidance to measure progress through the lean startup process. A good foundation builder for the newbies.

12. The Ultimate Marketing Plan (Dan Kennedy)

This book lays down the marketing techniques you need to know in today's world with examples. It might not actually be the ultimate plan, but it certainly does provide you guidance to build a foundation for your marketing strategy

13. One Click: Jeff Bezos And The Rise Of Amazon.com (Richard Brandt)

Considering how Amazon is the one of the largest ecommerce website in the world, this book would be a nice source of inspiration for anyone looking to venture into the ecommerce world. Plus, it provides an insight into Amazon's largely successful business model and describes how Jeff Bezos's Amazon rose to become one of the billion dollar companies.

14. Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide To Making Money On The Internet (Marc Ostrofsky)

Marc Ostrofsky has put together stories of many entrepreneurs to show how they made money online with digital products. This book also demonstrates how entrepreneurs can use social media platforms to their advantage.

15. Likable Social Media (Dave Kerpen)

Social media have outgrown any other kind of websites on the web and has become a fertile land for ecommerce marketing. This book teaches the entrepreneurs, skills to tap into the potential of social media for marketing.

16. The Complete E-Commerce Book: Design, Build And Maintain A Successful Web-Based Business (Janice Reynolds)

If you are looking for a step by step guide on setting up an ecommerce business, then this is the book you should look for. It is a complete guide that takes you from the most basic concepts of building an ecommerce store to taking it to the pinnacle of success.

17. The $100 Startup (Chris Guillebeau)

Chris Guillebeau has put together stories of many real startups after hundreds of interviews and surveys to discuss the challenges of starting a successful business and offers a guide to overcome these challenges. This book delivers exactly what a promising entrepreneur needs: road-tested, effective and a matter-of-fact advice for starting a new ecommerce business.

18. The New Rules Of Marketing And PR (David Meerman Scott)

David Meerman Scott is a marketing expert and has written multiple books on the topic. This book shows his expertise as he presents in the book a step by step plan to take advantage of today's marketing dynamics with the most relevant tools and strategies.

19. The Complete Guide To B2B Marketing (Kim Ann King)

This book teaches you the art of making effective marketing strategies for your ecommerce ventures. It provides you a complete guide to make your business grow in the B2B world.

20. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, And The Quest For A Fantastic Future (Ashlee Vance)

Elon Musk, the founder of companies like PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and SolarCity, is one of the greatest entrepreneurs and visionaries of this era with lots of world changing ideas. Vance, after spending 40 hours in conversation with him and interviewing close to 300 people, wrote this book to tell his inspirational story to the world.