100 books like Ethnic Enterprise in America

Professor Walker’s book represents the definitive overview of African American business history.

Her narrative begins on the African continent, where she explodes myths about African Americans not possessing a long-standing business tradition.

Similarly, Walker’s discussion of the entrepreneurial activities of enslaved Africans is a ground-breaking contribution to historical scholarship.

This is at the top of my favorite books list!

Professor Butler’s classic book is a foundational work in the realm of African American business history.

Combining both sociological and historical analysis, Entrepreneurship and Self-Help Among Black Americans includes case studies of notable African American business districts.

For instance, years before recent interest in the horrific destruction of Tulsa’s “Black Wall Street” in 1921, Butler provided an in-depth examination of this phenomenon.

This book is also valuable because it provides an important comparative analysis of historic African American entrepreneurship with that of various nonwhite immigrant groups.  

This classic work, originally published in 1940, provides a panoramic examination of African American insurance companies (including a detailed overview of individual firms).

Although An Economic Detour focuses on black insurers, its’ broader analysis encompassed all black-owned enterprises during this period. Specifically, Stuart declared that, under the dictates of Jim Crow racial segregation, African American entrepreneurs were relegated to only serving African American consumers.

This, necessarily, had an inhibiting impact on their profitability. Especially since non-African American entrepreneurs also had access to the African American consumer market.

As someone who has written extensively on black-owned insurance companies, An Economic Detour has been a long-standing “go-to” resource for me.

Black Business in the New South provides a detailed examination of North Carolina Mutual, the largest African-American-owned insurance company.

Among other things, Weare’s analysis includes a cogent assessment of how black-owned companies, in all industries, compared to their white counterparts. He asserts that African American enterprises, historically, have been economically backward and socially advanced.

Specifically, for a variety of reasons, the profits of black enterprises tend to be smaller than their white counterparts. However, in the realm of corporate social responsibility, black companies have been more community-minded than white companies.

On a personal note, this book served as a template for my first book. 

I would not normally be drawn to a title about being financially capable as I like to think I am already (whether that is true or not)!

It starts with statements about how difficult it is for people to talk about money, and how wary people are of asking questions about managing their finances. A great starting point asks the reader to remember their first memory about money, then discusses how this impacts dealings in later life.

It is well written, easy to follow, with question-and-answer sections at the end of each chapter. While he includes eight key areas of wellbeing, the focus is on managing and improving, if necessary, your own financial position. So yes, I did find it interesting and considered all the points raised to check my own situation. 

As women, we have been primarily taught to save. Investment advice, when given, is usually focused on the stock market. But there are so many other options!

I was in my 50s before I realized I could be an angel investor. When I learned that only 2% of all venture capital invested in the United States goes to female teams, I wanted some of my money to support those women. So, I started educating myself.

Of all the books I read about angel investing, this was my absolute favorite. It was laid out well and introduced me to all the concepts I needed to know to get started as an angel.  

Bigger isn't better – at least not when it comes to lifestyle businesses. 

The “Company of One” mindset is very similar to my own “Ambitious, Lifestyle Business”: deliberately small, and designed to deliver the lifestyle desired by the owner, rather than growth at all costs. It doesn’t necessarily mean one person (personally, I run a Company of One with a team of seven).

There is only one “rule” for a Company of One – you must constantly question the need for growth. People say you should start with the end in mind. I say start with the lifestyle in mind, and then design the business around this.

Company of One will help you do this from day one (and believe me, that's far easier than changing old habits!).

Bo Burlingham is an original editor for Inc. Magazine, leading that publication from its founding in Boston through its acquisition and relocation to New York CIty. This collection of “real life” exiting stories is entertaining and a quick read. The subjects are actual business owners, although most had middle-market companies that attract far more interest than the average Main Street (Under $3,000,000 value) businesses. As the author says, “No two exits are exactly alike.” 

I read this book in 2007 as my life was headed toward significant change as a business owner.

Before I became a partner in the business that my husband and I now own, we were tired of working for someone else, tired of fighting to steer the company in the right direction, and tired of feeling exploited as the only people generating significant revenue for the company. We had even explored buying a Smoothie King franchise and walking away from the business where we had invested so much time and energy.

Michael Gerber took us on a journey that helped us understand where we truly were on our adventure and how much we thrived on creating experiences for our customers. While we are not creating franchises for our business, the advice helped us develop systems in the operation, which greatly improved our success.

Built to Sell is the perfect parable that taught me how to build a scalable business with processes and predictable revenue. I read it, I shared it with our leadership team, who all read it, and then we built and sold a company for 8 figures. Whether or not you plan to sell your company, this is the most important book for all entrepreneurs to read.