As a small-business owner for most of my life, just about everything I’ve learned about running a business came from experience. There was a lot of trial and error, lessons learned from what worked well, but even more taught from the mistakes that I made. It’s a really hard way to learn, but it’s how most of us do it.
As part of the Seller Community’s Small Business Month, I'm ecstatic to share the story behind the new Square Readers Book Club and hopefully provide some inspiration and motivation for sellers to get involved! I believe that reading and discussing business books can help you to learn new strategies and skills to reach your goals.
Most of us don’t have advisors or mentors to teach us how to navigate complex situations or help us through difficult decisions. There is a lot of knowledge out there, but without access to it, every business owner would need to start from scratch and reinvent the wheel. This is not a great way to run an effective business.
Why Business Books?
There is a lot we can learn by reading business books, but I personally never really thought about reading them when I had my shop. I opened the business with my father who was an entrepreneur his whole life, too. He was never a reader, so business books were just not a part of running our businesses.
Even if I did consider reading some of them along the way, that thought would have quickly disappeared. I never really had the time or energy to read, and I wouldn’t even know where to start to find books that were relevant to my needs.
The Square Readers Book Club was born out of this need. By curating a list of business books that are written for us, and coming together to read and discuss them as a group, we can be better equipped with the knowledge, skills, and strategies to navigate challenges and run our businesses more effectively.
About our Book Club
Every two months, we vote on one book to read that aligns with our goals as business owners. In the group forum along with a live video discussion, we talk through the theories and practices presented and see how we can incorporate them. We share our own experiences and best practices, make connections, and learn from the authors and each other. We motivate each other to stay on top of the reading and to constantly work to better our businesses.
So far we have over 2,000 members from around the world, all excited to learn more. We’ve talked about which book subjects we’re interested in, announced our first book, shared about ourselves, our businesses, and our core values as owners, our thoughts on the first book so far, and so much more. Thank you to everyone who has participated, including @DLRosenberg, @Moreplease, @Doran, @JUYBoutique20, @YBF, @CareyJo; and so many more. We love seeing your thoughts in our discussions!
Become a Square Reader & Join us LIVE on May 23
Does this sound like it’s up your alley? Join the Square Readers Book Club and be a part of the excitement and experience!
Join the first book club Live Discussion on Tuesday, May 23, at 4 p.m. (U.S. and CA Eastern) for a conversation about our first book, Start with Why, by Simon Sinek.
Aylon Pesso is a former small-business owner, consultant, and Square Super Seller in New York. In his role as Small Business Evangelist at Square, Pesso works to understand and assist sellers’ business needs, including creating and running the Square Readers Book Club.