Arts & Culture
Carrie Green started her first online business at age 20, so she really knows what she's talking about when it comes to launching an online career. She narrates this audiobook, which guides listeners through the process of clarifying their goals and business vision, the nuts and bolts of setting up your business, and the more elusive elements of marketing and finding customers who will go on to sell your business for you. Full of creative inspiration and practical tips, this is the perfect listen for anyone in the idea stage of their entrepreneurial journey, and who need a nudge to take the leap.
If you're starting your own business, then you need to become comfortable with negotiating. For many people, that's a daunting prospect, but in this audiobook, Carter reassures listeners that they don't need to fear the negotiation process. Carter is a Columbia law professor and mediation expert who knows a thing or two about how to negotiate. Spoiler alert: the key to negotiating successfully isn't by being the loudest or most aggressive voice in the room. By asking ten simple questions, Carter gives listeners a framework for rethinking how to reach other people and come to an agreement, all of which will prove beneficial in any business setting.
For many people, the stability (and benefits) of a traditional job are too essential to give up, even to launch their own businesses—but that doesn't mean they can't have a successful and fulfilling side hustle. In this audiobook, Guillebeau walks listeners through how to brainstorm and develop a side hustle, how to launch it, find customers, leverage incentives and discounts, and manage that side hustle business efficiently. Then, once readers have established themselves, he discusses how they can then scale up their side hustle to make more money. This is a really helpful guide for people who need to keep working a job while launching their own business for practical purposes, people who don't have financial backing, and those who want to diversify their income streams, helping to make for a more stable career and livelihood in the long run.
If you're building a business out of nothing, you're going to need lots of passion and perseverance. But how does a person acquire such characteristics? MacArthur Grant-winner Angela Duckworth has studied what it is that endows certain individuals with this so-called grit, and how people may acquire grit. Going beyond talent, she examines the life experiences that give people the tools they need to keep going when the going gets tough. Duckworth narrates this audiobook, which draws upon studies, interviews with successful people, and is also a very human account of her own journey to success.
For the entrepreneurs who are curious about the startup world and the realities of Silicon Valley, this is a painfully honest audiobook from the CEO of Moz, a successful marketing software company that took years to reach success and was often in debt and financial peril. Fishkin reveals that the realities for most startups aren't at all like the genesis of Facebook, and instead involve many more challenges than the overnight success stories reveal. This is a practical, honest, and helpful listen for anyone who wants a realistic look at what it means to be a startup entrepreneur.
Cara Alwill Leyba recognizes that today's entrepreneurs aren't necessarily people looking to build a multi-million-dollar corporation or design the next best selling app. They're people with side hustles and workers in the gig economy who want to make money, have successful careers, and be their own bosses. That's why in this audiobook she offers practical work advice for every woman who wants to take control of her own career and business while also supporting other female entrepreneurs. Narrated by Em Eldridge, Kate Orsini, Kyla Garcia, and Cherise Boothe, this is a short, inspirational audiobook that's less about the nuts and bolts of running a business and more about how to build a sustainable career of one's own.
Let's face it: talking to strangers is inevitable when it comes to starting a new business. You can't just work with and sell to your family and friends. In this fascinating listening, Gladwell talks about how we think about people who are different from us, and how we often misunderstand, mislead, or miscommunicate with one another. Based on extensive research and interviews, this audiobook will hopefully reframe the way we connect with others so that we can communicate more clearly with them—which can have important effects on businesses and entrepreneurs.
Why do some products continue to sell out, year after year? How do you build a company that continues to thrive over decades, or even centuries? In this business audiobook, Holiday takes a deep dive into the most successful products, books, films, and services and examines how they became perennial sellers. This is an excellent listen that is applicable across industries and fields, and contains a nice mix of philosophy, history, and practical advice including knowing when to launch and the value of building an email newsletter list. Narrated by Holiday, this audiobook is a perfect listen if you want to start thinking about the marketability of your product beyond the first year (or five) you're in business: according to Holiday, ten years is the magical threshold
If the idea of putting your career and financial stability on the line for a big, uncertain business venture makes you nervous, consider starting a tiny business. Tiny doesn't mean tiny profits or even part-time, as Rowe demonstrates here. Instead, Rowe defines a tiny business as one that is a focused, targeted business that allows you as an entrepreneur to still have time for the things that matter to you, whether that's your family or a cause you care about. Packed full of practical advice about how to manage your products, money, time, and employees to maximize profits without giving up all of your own time, Rowe demonstrates that you can start a business on your own timeline and schedule without sacrificing your personal priorities.
If you want a no-nonsense guide to building a business that you love and a work life that makes you happy, Carrie Wilkerson has written and narrated a practical pathway for you. She's foregone any inspirational or philosophical musings to instead offer you a series of practical steps to determine what you want your business to look like, the steps you need to get there, and how to stay focused on your goals and connect with the right markets for your business so that you don't waste any time on your path to success. This audiobook is narrated by Wilkerson, and also includes links to her training videos, which offer exercises and even more opportunities to grow your business.
If you want to listen to an audiobook about a woman who was working a series of dead-end jobs and barely making ends meet who managed to make the leap to a successful career of her dreams against all odds, then you need this audiobook narrated by life coach Lisa Nichols herself. Nichols focuses on what she calls the 4E's: Enrichment, Enchantment, Engagement, and Endowment—to transform your life and career into the job of your dreams. Full of practical steps and real life case studies, this listen has the power to help you transform your career and business as well as your personal relationships and finances.
This is the business audiobook for the moms, wives, and women who don't see themselves in more traditional business how-to listens. Written and narrated by a stay-at-home mom who manages a successful business, this audiobook will empower and inspire women to think long-term about their business ideas, cultivate their ambitions, and find success on their own terms and their own timelines. Part motivational memoir and part guidebook, this is a listen that will give you the tools and confidence to launch your business now.
Countering conventional wisdom, popular podcaster Cathy Heller talks about how sometimes you have to quit the job that's holding you back in order to take a risk on your passion. But she knows it's not as simple as leaping and hoping a net will appear—and that's why she's interviewed Jenna Fischer, Jen Sincero, and Gretchen Rubin to talk about how to identify your passion and turn it into a career so that you're contributing to the world in a way that's meaningful to you, and building a career out of it at the same time. Heller narrates this audiobook, which comes with a handy PDF of resources.
You may have heard that being an author is akin to running your own small business, and Maum confirms this in her guide to securing a book deal…and then dealing with all that comes after. The first step to having a career as a writer is to hone your writing skills and write the best novel that you can, but after that Maum offers important insight on agent commissions, how publishers pay writers, taxes, and the work that authors are expected to out into promotion. She weighs the risks and benefits of career investments like getting an MFA or hiring a publicist, and her audiobook is a comprehensive guide for the many different career paths and opportunities for published authors.
If you want a no-nonsense kick in the butt, check out Sincero's approach to making money. In this listen, she combines essays about her own personal experiences with financial insecurity and building her business with practical tips to help you shift your mindset about making money and financial success. Narrated by Sincero herself, this audiobook challenges listeners to confront their misbeliefs about money and success in business to be open to creativity, opportunity, and changing your circumstances.
This audiobook is part memoir, part how-to guide to becoming a #GIRLBOSS. In it, Amoruso recounts how her wayward youth spent shoplifting and selling things on eBay led to her taking a dead-end job that she wasn't passionate about. That's when she got the idea to sell vintage clothes online, which led to her establishing a successful multi-million dollar business with over 350 employees. This is an empowering listen that shows that you don't have to have a business degree or important connections in business—you just have to have passion, drive, and good instincts.
If you want to be an entrepreneur without the stress and anxiety of running a demanding business, then check out this listen. Chillpreneur lays out various business models that will fit with your personality and career visions, and guide you through picking the one that will work for you and your business. This is an audiobook that will help you figure out how to market your work, deal with awkward situations, talk about money without feeling weird about it, and become a successfully chill entrepreneur who loves what they do.
The Best Audiobooks for Entrepreneurs
Whether you're looking to become an entrepreneur or you're already a seasoned professional, these books are must listens for anyone starting a business.Starting a business can be tough. Not only do you have to take your amazing idea from fledgling proposal to working business model, but there are so many little details and unexpected challenges along the way. If you're thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, or if you're in the thick of launching your own business, check out some of these best books for entrepreneurs to help you navigate the uncertain territory of starting a business, marketing your products, balancing your work load with your personal life, and figuring out how to succeed in a busy world. We've compiled a list of some of the best audiobooks on starting a business by successful business people who have been in your shoes, and are happy to offer some advice.
She Means Business
Ask for More
Side Hustle
Grit
Lost and Founder
Girl Code
Talking to Strangers
Perennial Seller
The Magic of Tiny Business: You Don't Have to Go Big to Make a Great Living
The Barefoot Executive
Abundance Now
Boss Up!
Don't Keep Your Day Job
Before and After the Book Deal
You Are a Badass at Making Money
#GIRLBOSS
Chillpreneur
Tirzah Price is a writer and contributing editor at Book Riot.
