Celebrate #NationalBookWeek With 50 Business Book Recommendations From Real SA Entrepreneurs

Posted on September 8th, 2017
Entrepreneurs

With #NationalBookWeek coming to an end this Sunday, why not use the rest of the week to cultivate a lifelong reading habit?

For recommendations we turned to entrepreneurs who are big readers, often turning to books for ideas, business development and inspiration.

We dug deep into our archives to share their favourites, including Tebogo Ditshego, founder of Ditshego Media, a Johannesburg-based public relations company.

Not only is Ditshego one of South Africa’s most respected entrepreneurs, he is a massive reader who launched one of the country’s biggest online book clubs, Read A Book SA. The platform has over 39,000 followers on Twitter, and over 15,000 books recommended by its followers. Ditshego is also the author of the book, ‘Kasi Nerd’, which he published and distributed through his company.

Need some book inspo? Here are the 50 business must-reads our entrepreneurs have talked about over the years. 

1. David And Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell
2. The Snowball And The Business Of LifeAlice Schroeder
3. The Intelligent EntrepreneurBill Murphy 
4. The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham
5. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building A Business When There Are No Easy AnswersBen Horowitz
6. The Founder’s Dilemmas: Anticipating And Avoiding The Pitfalls That Can Sink A Start-up, Noam Wasserman
7. Built To LastJim Collins
8. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work And What To Do About ItMichael E. Gerber


Some of the many entrepreneurs who have shared what they read (left to right): 1. Tebogo Ditshego recommended the book that prepared him to run his business, ‘The Intelligent Entrepreneur’ by Bill Murphy 2. Azania Mosaka is inspired by Shonda Rhimes’ ‘Year of Yes’ 3. ‘Timothy Maurice’ penned the branding book, ‘Personovation’ 4. Murray Legg has read ‘The Founder’s Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Start-up’.
​9. Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being RemarkableSeth Godin
​10. I’m A Freaking Genius: Why Is This Business So Hard?Mike Campion
11. The Four Purposes Of Life: Finding Meaning and Direction in a Changing WorldDan Millman
​12. Wake Up To The Joy Of YOUAgapi Stasssinopoulos
​13. Year Of YesShonda Rhimes
14. The Book Of Joy: Lasting Happiness In A Changing WorldNobel Prize Laureates – The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
15. Business In Africa: Corporate InsightsDianne Games
16. Africa Rising: How 900 million African Consumers Offer More Than You Think, Vijay Mahajan
17. Doing Business In Africa: A Strategic Guide For Entrepreneurs, Marjolein Lem, Rob van Tulder and Kim Geleynse​
18. What To Do When You Want To Give Up: Help For Entrepreneurs In Tough TimesAllon Raiz
19. Everyone’s Guide To The South African EconomyAndre Roux
20. Relentlessly Relevant: 50 Ways To InnovateDouglas Kruger
21. Principles Of Franchising: A Step By Step Guide To The World Of Franchising, Kurt Illetschko
22. The Art Of Thinking Clearly, Rolf Dobelli
23. The Complete 101 Collection: What Every Leader Needs To KnowJohn C. Maxwell
24. Losing My VirginityRichard Branson
25. Personal Branding IntelligenceTimothy Maurice Webster
26. I’m INGil Oved, Lebo Gunguluza, Polo Leteka, Vusi Thembekwayo
27. What’s Your Moonshot?John Sanei
28. Who Moved My Cheese?John Maxwell
29. Immortal ManNeville Goddard
30. Billions And BillionsCarl Sagan
31. 48 Laws Of PowerRobert Greene


1. Sorbet founder Ian Fuhr wrote the book ‘Get That Feeling’  2. Gil Oved together with other Dragons released the inspirational book, ‘I’M IN’ 3. Lynette Ntuli’s book of choice is ‘The Glass Wall: Success Strategies For Women at Work’ 4. Donna Rachelson from Seed Academy is the author of the book ‘Play To Win’.
32. Think And Grow RichNapoleon Hill
33. The Art Of The DealDonald Trump
34. Screw It Let’s Do It, Richard Branson
35. The Four Hour Work WeekTim Ferris
36. Secret Letters Of The Monk Who Sold His FerrariRobin Sharma
37. The Power of HabitCharles Duhigg
38. The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective PeopleStephen Covey
49. Lean InSheryl Sandberg
40. Shoe DogPhil Knight
41. You Can Have It AllMary Kay
42. Feel The Fear and Do it AnywaySusan Jeffers
43. The WOW FactorFrances Cole Jones
44. Waking The TigerPeter Levine
45. The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws Of Business SuccessBrian Tracy
46. A Hustler’s Bible, Napoleon Hill
47. The Fifth DisciplinePeter Senge
48. The New Small Business HandbookNokwazi Mzobe
​49. The Essential Finance Handbook for Business OwnersPrecious Mvulane 
50. The Startup Funding BookNicolaj Hoejer Nielsen