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Starting an ecommerce business

5 Books for Aspiring E-Commerce Business Owners

By June 5, 2018September 20th, 2023No Comments

We all know that successful people read! Bill Gates even swears by his reading list, which he releases yearly.

As an aspiring online business owner you probably have a great idea for an online store and you want to know how to make a living out of it. Reading is a great way to learn from those gone before you so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Here is our list of the top 5 books an aspiring e-commerce business owner should read.

1. Tim Ferris- The Four Hour Work Week

The perfect appetizer for the first time E-commerce business owner. It’s what inspires many entrepreneurs to start their e-commerce journey. Tim Ferriss’s classic will open your eyes to a new world of possibilities. Be warned though, This book does paint a pretty picture about eCommerce, and there’s definitely more to it if you want to build a real business. So take the inspiration you will get from this book and run with it.

2. Denise Lee Yohn- What Great Brands Do

Denise Lee Yohn spent years as a consultant for some of the worlds top brands such as Sony and Frito-Lay. In this book, Denise lays out 7 key principles of great branding. If you want to learn how to create a brand that stands out from the crowd then read this book.

3. Walter Isaacson- Steve Jobs

This book serves as inspiration for when you and your business are going through a rough period. The book talks about Steve Jobs’ story of how he started Apple, how he got kicked out but came back to turn the company into one of the worlds biggest and most successful. So when you’re feeling like quitting pick up this book and get inspired by Steve’s resilience and get back at it.

4. Ryan Holiday- Growth Hacker Marketing

If there are any apparel entrepreneurs reading this you have probably heard of Ryan Holiday. The former head of marketing at American Apparel offers this entry into the world growth hacker marketing. Although it’s targeted toward software startups the concepts are still relevant for E-Commerce businesses.

5. Eric Ries- The Lean Startup

This is the first business book I ever bought and a personal classic. I bought it during my final year of business school in 2015 when studying entrepreneurship. The Lean Startup talks about the value of validating your product and getting feedback before investing money into it. Many eCommerce companies have put these principles into practice through the use of crowdfunding which is a great way of validating your product.

How many of these have you read? Are there any books that you think should be on the list.

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