The books that will revolutionise your business

Whether you are looking to innovate, improve your business or simply want to make yourself more productive, we have compiled our favourite five business books from some of today’s most influential thinkers.

The Lean Startup: How today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses

Eric Ries

Many startups fail, however these failures can be avoided. The Lean Startup presents a new method which is changing the way companies of all shapes and sizes operate. By offering businesses ways to continuously adapt and adjust in conditions of extreme uncertainty, this New York Times bestseller, offers a scientific approach that will help you build a sustainable and profitable business before it’s too late.

Perfect, if you: are an aspiring entrepreneur, an existing entrepreneur who wants to create a more successful business, work for an employer but want to make better and faster business decisions in your current role.

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich

Timothy Ferriss

Do you dream of earning five figure sums, flying business class and travelling the world – all by living more and working less? Serial entrepreneur Timothy Ferriss, who went from £25,000 per year working 80 hours a week, to £25,000 per month working 4 hours a week, has written a step-by-step guide that will help you get to this luxury lifestyle sooner rather than later.

Perfect, if you: want tips on how to effectively negotiate with bosses and clients, dream about travelling the world whilst still earning or wish to become more productive in your private and professional life.

Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Jonah Berger

Dubbed as the Best Marketing book of 2014, this book reveals the science and stories behind what makes some things more infectious than others. If you thought advertising was the key, then guess again. The secret lies in the power of word of mouth and social transmission. Berger reveals six basic principles that drive all things, from youtube videos to accountancy software, to become contiguous and dominate the markets.

Perfect, if you: you are a senior at a big organisation, a small business owner trying to raise awareness, or an entrepreneur trying to get the word out about your new start up.

Lean In: Women, Work And The Will To Lead

Sheryl Sandberg

Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Business shares her own experience of working in some of the world’s most successful businesses and offers practical advice to help women ‘lean in’ and challenge the preconceptions that stop women reaching the top, whether this is lack of confidence or anxiety. Sheryl also implores us to work together in creating a more equal world with equal opportunities for all.

Perfect, if you: often feel like a fraud and need a confidence boost at work, are a man or woman who is passionate about reaching gender equality in the workplace.

The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do and how to change

Charles Duhigg

Award-winning business reporter, Charles Duhigg offers a compelling argument to why habits exist and how we can change these to make a difference between failure and success when it comes to business and our personal lives. Taking influential businesses and individuals as examples, this book discovers how the so-called keystone habits were crucial to their success and how we can adapt these practices today.

Perfect, if you: want to become more productive, build revolutionary companies and achieve success simply by transforming your habits.

Have you recently read a groundbreaking business book that has changed the way you approach your everyday life or business? Tell us in the comments below or on our Facebook page.

AAT Comment offers news and opinion on the world of business and finance from the Association of Accounting Technicians.