The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber The E-Myth is a classic in the field of small business. I have both the original E-Myth and the Revisited version, I find the Revisited slightly more approachable. Gerber splits the business owner personality into three competing identities: The Entrepreneur, who looks to the future and comes up with the big ideas, the Technician, who actually does the work (and who can prevent you from owning a business instead of owning a job), and the Manager who follows up, organizes and creates systems. He says you need a balance of all three.     The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki Cashflow Quadrant is becoming a “new classic” with Kiyosaki’s approach to two things: the definition of an asset, and the focus split into four quadrants: E, S, B and I. His assets are things that generate cash—so not your car and usually not your house. He encourages you to get more assets and fewer liabilities. The four quadrants are Employee, Self-Employed, Business Owner and Investor. He suggests each level offers a greater degree of control and freedom in your life. Gerber is trying to get you to the Business Owner stage at least.     The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch I love this book because it encourages lazyness! Koch’s idea is that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your efforts. I first heard this as applied to writers: 3% of all writers make 97% of the money. Koch advocates doing tasks you’re particularly suited to, and not doing other tasks. My personal example is that it is much more effective for me to prepare another tax return than to do laundry—and I can make much more money working than I spend by “sending it out.”     Purple Cow by Seth Godin Godin has produced many marketing books, and I like this one because it encourages you to differentiate your business. In a sea of brown cows, a purple cow is remarkable, will cause people to sit up and take notice, and be interested against the background “noise” we all encounter in daily life.     Your Money or Your Life by Dominguez and Robin Another classic, this one on evaluating what it takes to feel “rich” and what you give up to blindly follow the herd. A primer to 80/20 in a way, they ask you to evaluate the time you're spending working so you can afford the fancy car you need to drive to work.     God Wants you to be Rich by Paul Pilzer A book on what I’d call “abundance economics” with a different look at prosperity. His salient example is the $20,000 car that now costs $15,000 to buy, but instead of buying the comforts of 10 years ago, people opt to purchase a new $20,000 car—seems statistically to be the same price, but you get a “better” car for the same money. Pilzer also says there are unreported gains in fuel efficiency—you can drive much further for the same gallon of gas.