Women remain underrepresented among the ranks of entrepreneurs. But the number of women entrepreneurs has been growing strong. In fact, according to the “2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report” commissioned by American Express Open, the number of women-owned businesses grew by 74% between 1997 and 2015.
If you are a woman entrepreneur, or just thinking of starting a business, below are some books inspired by successful women for women entrepreneurs:
What can you learn from other successful women business owners and entrepreneurs? A lot more than you think. Don’t you wish you could find the equivalent of Glamour magazine’s “Dos and Don’ts” section on business? Most advice on small business and entrepreneurship focuses on the tactical and strategic aspects of starting a venture, often leaving the individual out of the equation. And yet, it’s the underlying personal foundation that is so critical to success. By gleaning insights from others and knowing the traits that successful businesswomen have in common, you will be firmly on the road to wild success. This book takes a fresh and creative look at how identifying and utilizing role models can greatly benefit your business and life. Through interviews and research, author Jenn Aubert has identified the juicy traits, motivations, and personal styles of empowered women entrepreneurs and has distilled it down to what it takes to be a savvy and successful businesswoman on your own terms. Part reference toolkit, guidepost, and friendly travel companion, this book will see you through the ups and downs of building your business and will serve as a constant reminder that if you can dream it, you can undoubtedly achieve it.
Million Dollar Women: The Essential Guide for Female Entrepreneurs Who Want to Go Big
The essential guide for female entrepreneurs who want to “go big,” which shows you how to turn that creative idea into a million-dollar-plus business.
American women are starting businesses at nearly twice the rate that men are, but only three percent of female business owners have revenues of over one million dollars. Most women entrepreneurs are stuck at the “mom and pop” level, just getting by, or in many cases, running out of cash. Julia Pimsleur shares her inspiring story of building her own company and raising millions in capital in a guide for women like her who have a great idea and need to find the resources to take it into the big leagues.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.
Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TEDTalk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which became a phenomenon and has been viewed more than two million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto.
The Artisan Food Entrepreneur (Where Woman Create Business)
Come along on an artisan food journey with thirty of the top “foodie” entrepreneurs in the industry. Chapter by chapter, you’ll be carried away with beautiful photography, delicious recipes, and inspiring stories from restaurant owners, farmers, beekeepers, bakers, and more. Get valuable advice for your own business along the way. This wonderful collection is sure to nourish your body and your soul with over thirty recipes that you will want to make again and again.
Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity, and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur
I am witnessing a phenomenon. It seems as though a growing group women entrepreneurs all around the world has discovered the secret to success and happiness in both their lives and careers. It’s almost as though there is a hidden, underground world of power playing females who have all cracked a magical code: they think positively, they support one another, and they truly believe they can have it all —and you can, too. There is something dynamic that happens when women genuinely show up for each other. When we lose the facades, when we cut the bullsh*t, and when we truly have each others backs. When we stop pretending everything is perfect, and we show the messy, beautiful parts of ourselves and our work that all look awfully similar. When we talk about our fears, our missteps, and our breakdowns. And most importantly, when we share our celebrations, our breakthroughs, and dish on what works.
The Conquer Kit: A Creative Business Planner for Women Entrepreneurs
The Conquer Kit is a canvas for your dreams and goals. You are invited to sketch, scribble, collage, and write all over these pages, all while developing an airtight business plan with proven strategies for success.
Author and entrepreneur Natalie MacNeil guides you to tap into your creative genius, build a strong foundation with the four pillars that hold up every thriving business, create heart-centric product and marketing plans, put together your A-team, envision the bigger picture, map your next steps, and ultimately bring your dream business to life.
So what are you waiting for? Dive in. Explore. Envision. Create. CONQUER.
In the New York Times bestseller that the Washington Post called “Lean In for misfits,” Sophia Amoruso shares how she went from dumpster diving to founding one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world.
Sophia Amoruso spent her teens hitchhiking, committing petty theft, and scrounging in dumpsters for leftover bagels. By age twenty-two she had dropped out of school, and was broke, directionless, and checking IDs in the lobby of an art school— a job she’d taken for the health insurance. It was in that lobby that Sophia decided to start selling vintage clothes on eBay.
Women Entrepreneurs: Inspiring Stories from Emerging Economies and Developing Countries
Women Entrepreneurs offers a collection of almost two dozen cases that explore the process by which women become entrepreneurs, as well as the opportunities and challenges they face in growing their businesses.
With a particular focus on the intersection between entrepreneurship and economic development, the cases are drawn from across a range of industries and countries. They offer insights into a number of issues women entrepreneurs face, such as launching a business, diversification and internationalization, as well as covering a number of business functions, including finance, marketing and human resource management. Each case is presented with a summary highlighting the themes it covers, and ends with a set of questions to guide classroom discussion. The book also includes a summary of existing literature on entrepreneurship to help contextualize the cases.
Feminine Capital: Unlocking the Power of Women Entrepreneurs
Today, there are over 200,000,000 women business owners around the world. Many of these entrepreneurs are not doing business as usual, nor are they simply leaning in. Rather, they are tapping into feminine capital—the unique skills and sensibilities that they have cultivated as women—to create enviable successes.
Drawing on four decades of award-winning research, Feminine Capital reveals how women are harnessing different approaches to doing business. Barbara Orser and Catherine Elliott detail the pillars of feminine capital and offer new insight into the ways that gender can influence entrepreneurial decision-making. They find that leveraging feminine capital can help women to create distinctive brands, build new markets, and drive profits—all while leveling the playing field in business. In doing so, women are changing our social and economic landscape, one venture at a time.
Using journal entries, letters home, and song lyrics, the women of the West speak for themselves in these tales of courage, enduring spirit, and adventure. Women such as Amelia Stewart Knight traveling on the Oregon Trail, homesteader Miriam Colt, entrepreneur Clara Brown, army wife Frances Grummond, actress Adah Isaacs Menken, naturalist Martha Maxwell, missionary Narcissa Whitman, and political activist Mary Lease are introduced to readers through their harrowing stories of journeying across the plains and mountains to unknown land. Recounting the impact pioneers had on those who were already living in the region as well as how they adapted to their new lives and the rugged, often dangerous landscape, this exploration also offers resources for further study and reveals how these influential women tamed the Wild West.
