Ecommerce has broken barriers to bring abysmal changes that are accompanied by great opportunities for new entrepreneurs and veterans in the market.
If you want to learn everything about eCommerce to launch yourself in the professional or business field, it’s time to start reading some of the essential eCommerce books. No matter where you stand in your eCommerce career, there will always be something you can learn from a book, good or bad.
The possibility of having time to sit and read may seem impossible if you are running your empire 24/7. However, allowing space for your personal development is paramount for long-term success. Remember that we are the result of what we read.
In Episode 338: Mike and Dave’s favourite Business Books, Mike and Dave dive into the business books that shaped them into the people who they are today. You can hear how highly influential these books were for their businesses.
In this article, we will also show you some of the best books about the world of eCommerce and business, with which you can collect new information and apply it to your business to help it grow, in addition to taking a step ahead of your competition.
Best Ecommerce and Business books
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
All entrepreneurs should have this book on their radar, Shoe Dog, written by the founder of the famous brand of sneakers and sportswear, Phil Knight.
What is so fascinating about this book? Knight shares the inside story of the multinational, its creation and evolution in the midst of a constantly changing world in which brands must be strong enough to compete and be profitable (something that every company and entrepreneur deals with every day to day). This book reflects the vulnerable side of building a business, and that you don't necessarily need to be a smart entrepreneur. Knight highlights the value of how important is the people that surround you, hard work and why not say it? good luck.
Why is it great? Nike founder Phil Knight's autobiography on Nike's scrappy beginnings as a Japanese shoe import. Funny and candid.
Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson
All people go through some point in their life when something doesn't go as expected when things don't go well and it falters. At that moment in life, you have to stop and think, know how to react in time and make the most appropriate decisions to face these problems to move forward.
Who Moved My Cheese? is very focused on the professional area, trying to help both bosses and employees to get ahead and face change in a positive way.
How much time does each of you spend looking for “the cheese”?
Why is it great? This book assumes that a great way to send a message is through a fable and a metaphor. A short book with a lot of wisdom.
The One Thing by Gary Keller
Purpose, priority and productivity, are the three words with which the book could be defined. Gary Keller provides a very powerful narrative framework to achieve extraordinary results in all aspects of your life.
Success comes from focusing on the activities that matter most and deliver the most results. Success is not necessarily accompanied by disciplined people, but by those who have better habits.
Everyone has a list of a hundred goals to do a week/month/year. Make sure you focus on one thing that is really valuable on your to-do list. Tie up all the long never-ending listings of to do, instead of trying to do everything (which never works), and pick the one thing that is going to move the needle and focus on that.
Why is it great? The main idea of the book is to pick one thing to focus on and not be distracted by a never-ending-to-do list of non-important tasks that might be holding you back from success.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
This book highlights the value of hard work, discipline, and persistence. For this author, our mentality and daily actions are the determining elements for us to achieve our goals.
Covey addresses ideas about success and how this concept has evolved over time, to then explain the importance of habits and how to adopt the seven that he considers most important to build a full and satisfying life.
In recent years, everyone believes that success is related to the ability to show outwards the symbols that characterize a successful person (appearance and image towards the outside), however, this is not true. In this book Covey defends the opposite theory, based on an approach that emanates from the inside out, working and promoting the values of each individual and achieving “private victory” in order to triumph in public.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a “win/win” for anyone looking to develop personal growth.
Why is it great? The 7 Habits offered in this book are a gradual and integrated approach to the development of personal and interpersonal effectiveness, thus learning to cope with challenges and opportunities more effectively.
The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell
In this book, Maxwell shows us a way on how to build leadership qualities. Being an effective leader, it’s essential when driving a company. You need to be aware when interacting with people and managing people of the things that are important if you want to have people get behind you. Enumerating essential qualities to stand out as a good leader, there are 3 of which we would especially like to emphasize: generosity (not always is being about you), responsibility and listening.
Why is it great? Each chapter is a faithful reflection of reality and is based on universal laws or principles of leadership that will never expire.
No Man’s Land by Doug Tatum
Every entrepreneur knows that starting a business is difficult and requires sweat and sacrifice, and running the company once it has taken shape is even more difficult.
In all companies, there are stages of “transition” where sometimes we don’t know very well where we are or how we have gotten here. It’s important to consider that you, as a company owner, decide if you're a small or a big company. Why do you need to decide this? It’s nothing bad to be a small company or nothing great to be a big company, but what you don’t want to do is find yourself between being a big company or being a small company but not going in the direction that requires either one of those things, it won’t strengthen you, on the contrary, and it is there when you find yourself in No Man’s Land. How I would say “all have to happen at its proper time”.
Why is it great? With many examples from real business life, this book provides a real inside look at the obstacles of any growing company.
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
Running a business is not easy. The main problem is that in many cases management is based on intuition, the opinion of the employer and an inconsistent criterion. EOS, the methodology that Wickman presents to us in this book, is perhaps the step-by-step guide to follow to establish efficient management in the company.
Following this author's approach, entrepreneurs achieve traction when we can connect our vision of the future (what we want to achieve) with the capacities, structures, processes and decisions of our organization, in such a way that they are executed, on the day by day, the actions that generate the results and benefits.
Just as a political system is fundamental to trying to sustain and satisfy the needs of a population, you need a system in which to support the management of the company.
Inspired by this book, Ecomcrew created a podcast series called Traction, dedicated to the tremendous impact this book has had on Mike's business. Mike documents the process in this podcast series of episodes, so that way you and your business could benefit from his experience.
- Episode 138: Traction Part 1 – Company Core Values
- Episode 140: Traction Part 2 – Company Core Focus and 10 Year Goal
- Episode 143: Traction Part 3 – Marketing Strategy and 3-Year Plan
- Episode 149: Traction Part 4 – One Year Plan and Quarterly Rocks
Why is it great? You've heard of EOS. You've thought about implementing it. This is your holy text.
Amazon Domination: Product Launch Strategy by Michael Jackness and Dave Bryant
Everyone seems to be talking about selling on Amazon these days. The challenge is, how to do it?
If you're an Amazon seller, you must have asked how to pick the right product or how to make sure you have the highest chance of being successful. Amazon Domination book is all about creating new best selling products on Amazon through a 3-step process: short-listing products, validating products and launching your products.
Mike and Dave show us a completely white hat system for launching new products and getting immediate traction and sales.
Why is it great? It’s a 100% white hat system and is the same method Mike and Dave used to build multiple 7-figure brands and sell over $10mm of products on Amazon. So looking at the numbers and the real examples, you won't want to miss this book.
China is the factory of the world with tons of opportunities for ecommerce sellers, but let's face it, the scariest part of being a new ecommerce seller is placing that first big order with China.
Import From China Like a Pro is a book for those who are looking to import a product from China for the first time or for those who have already started an importing business but need more guidance and better strategies. This book has everything an importer needs, from finding the right suppliers to making sure their inventory arrives on time. In just 120 pages, Dave Bryant covers all the practical aspects of the process.
Dave has spent over a decade being exposed to, dealing with, and writing about the process, that's why he decided to share all his experiences in this book and the mistakes that he doesn’t want you to repeat.
Why is it great? If you want to create a profitable business while importing from China, this book, whether you are a newbie or an advanced importer, will be your ultimate blueprint.
