Best books for solopreneurs
12 books every solopreneur should read, on offers, pricing, cash, focus and staying small on purpose, and who each one is for.
These are the books we keep coming back to for running a business of one. Each pick says what it teaches and who it suits, so you can read the one that fixes the problem you have right now.
| Book | Author | What it teaches | Read it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company of One | Paul Jarvis | Makes the case for staying small on purpose, and how to grow profit without growing headcount. | Anyone unsure whether "solo" is a phase or the plan |
| The Minimalist Entrepreneur | Sahil Lavingia | Start with a community, sell to them early and build only what people pay for. | First-time founders of small online products |
| $100M Offers | Alex Hormozi | How to structure an offer so price becomes less of an objection. | Service sellers stuck competing on price |
| Show Your Work! | Austin Kleon | A short book on sharing your process in public so the right people find you. | Anyone building an audience from zero |
| The E-Myth Revisited | Michael E. Gerber | Why technicians who start businesses get trapped, and how systems get them out. | Freelancers drowning in delivery |
| Profit First | Mike Michalowicz | A cash-management method: take profit first and run the business on the rest. | Anyone whose bank balance surprises them |
| Building a StoryBrand | Donald Miller | A framework for clear website and sales messaging. | Anyone rewriting their homepage |
| Rework | Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson | Short, contrarian essays on calm, small, profitable companies. | People who think they need funding or a big team |
| Deep Work | Cal Newport | How to protect focused time, the scarcest resource a solo founder has. | Anyone whose day is all email and DMs |
| Million Dollar Weekend | Noah Kagan | Validate and sell an idea quickly, before you build it. | Over-planners |
| The Almanack of Naval Ravikant | Eric Jorgenson | Naval's ideas on leverage, specific knowledge and wealth, gathered in one place. | Thinking long-term about leverage |
| The Lean Startup | Eric Ries | Build-measure-learn loops and testing assumptions cheaply. | Product builders |
If you only read three
- Company of One, for the mindset.
- $100M Offers, for what to sell and at what price.
- Profit First, so the business actually pays you.
Check your library app (Libby) first: most of these are free to borrow.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best book for solopreneurs?
Company of One by Paul Jarvis is the most direct book on deliberately running a business of one.
Update history
- : first published; figures checked against the sources listed.