Starting A Side Hustle
Recommended Reading
Starting a business is one of the most thrilling and exhilarating things you can do in your lifetime. It’s a journey that is unique to each one of us, as we pave it our own.
Because the path is never the same for any two people, it can get lonely and a lot of entrepreneurs start to second guess themselves. For this reason, I love to read. Reading books from successful entrepreneurs helps to keep you sharp, learn new things and feel connected.
Here are the books I recommend to my clients when they are just starting out building their side hustle.
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz is one of my all time favorite books. If you have just started a business, or have been a business owner for decades, Profit First should be at the top of your list. The methodology is so simple, yet so powerful for any entrepreneur that has ever struggled to keep their finances in check.
Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield Thomas is just one of those books that makes you feel awesome about money. Denise’s tactics are some I still follow today and have made a world of difference in how I approach money. We all have money hangups, but if we can recognize them and move past them, we can get to the success we’re looking for. I recommend listening to the audio book because you can literally hear Denise smiling.
Measure What Matters by John Doerr is a fantastic book to help you define your goals. The framework is a powerful tool to help you and everyone you work with create a strategic plan for achieving your goals. The best part about the OKR system, is that it keeps everyone aligned on the same vision. Even if you don’t have a team and you are working solo – creating OKRs for yourself can help you stay true to the original vision you’ve set for yourself.
A cult favorite written by Kevin Kelly in 2008, almost every entrepreneur has read this short but powerful blog post. Getting to 1,000 true fans can be a game changer for your business, you don’t have to serve millions. It’s a must read for anyone creating a side hustle.
I once got the opportunity to hear Charlotte Beers speak in New York and I immediately got a copy of her book, I’d Rather Be In Charge: A Legendary Business Leader’s Roadmap for Achieving Pride, Power, and Joy at Work. As the first woman to appear on the cover of Fortune magazine, Beers’ career is very impressive. She gives a voice to that feeling we have as women, when we know we have more power within us. When we feel our inner leader needing to step out. If you struggle with confidence or unsure of your own personal power, this book is for you.
Emyth Revisited by Michael Gerber is also a book you don’t want to skip over. The importance of creating systems in your business is monumental. When you don’t keep a sharp eye on ways to create efficiency and reduce redundancy in your day to day – you are on the path to burn out and exhaustion. It’s downright dangerous. Emyth illustrates this beautifully and gives you the tools to keep things under control.
Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff, as well as Flip The Script, might be two of the most fascinating non-fiction books I’ve ever read. Klaff works with clients to help them pitch investors. Companies who are going after big investments, to the tune of millions. A lot of the time, he’s the one doing the pitching. Securing millions of dollars for his clients is pretty cool, but the lessons he’s learned from making those big asks is even cooler. Your jaw will drop on multiple occasions from the stories he tells and the lessons he teaches will never leave you.
