Whether you are starting up a new business (new entrepreneur), are an old hat at business (old hat entrepreneur), or wanting to find out more about sales, marketing, advertising or looking to starting up a franchise, one is never too experienced or knowledgeable to not want to improve or broaden one’s knowledge base, and what better way than to expand those tired brain cells by reading up on how you can become a better entrepreneur.

Sourcing a couple of entrepreneurial books, I came upon a mixture of humour, inspiration and a little bit of serious entrepreneurial advice.

A “must read” is “Bill and Dave – How Hewlett and Packard Built the World’s Greatest Company”, which is written by Michael. Malone.

The theme of integrity and ethics that helped the company grow into a giant makes this book stand out amongst other books written on corporate giants. This book points out the refreshing change that integrity and honesty win hands down every time, in a world of corruption.

“Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing” written by Peter Gloor and Scott Cooper is another good read. If you tend to be a follower of trends, then “Coolhunting” will change that. According to the authors, anyone can predict the next big trend even before it is launched, according to the authors Peter Gloor, and Scott Cooper, no matter how cool you think you might be. Company leaders involved in social networking will benefit from this book, as MySpace and also Friendster are frequently used in this book. Visiting books on the www.entrepreneur.co.za/ site will point you in the right direction, if you would like to brush up on your reading.

And if you are looking for inspiration other than reading a book, then you might want to get it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Mike Michalowicz, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, who is the author of “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur”, said during an interview “tell it- like- it- is guide to cleaning up after your business even if you’re at the end of your roll”. He has a ‘get real’ approach which is targeted at millions of entrepreneurs who believe they can succeed, even if they are not typically the run of the mill personality type that becomes entrepreneurs.

CEO of JibberJobber, Jason Alba, describes his site as “your personal relationship manager for your career.” He has become a strong supporter of personal branding and also social networking for both job seekers and entrepreneurs.

Anyone read any of these fantastic and inspirational entrepreneurial books? Let me know your thoughts!