After a traumatic 2020, the coming year holds a great deal of potential excitement for entrepreneurs. Moving forward, entrepreneurs will play a key role in economic recovery from the pandemic, and new opportunities are continuously coming available as the needs and expectations of people across the country shift.

Entrepreneurs need to remain vigilant and prepared to adapt to new situations quickly. One of the best ways to keep ideas flowing and to continue thinking about contingencies is by reading books. In recent years, a number of exciting books with cutting-edge business ideas have hit the shelves. People who pay close attention to these books and their innovative approaches put themselves at a strategic advantage.

Some of the key books you may want to consider reading include:

1. More Good Jobs: An Entrepreneur’s Action Plan to Create Change in Your Community by Martin Babinec

This book focuses on the role that entrepreneurs can play in community growth. No entrepreneur stands alone, and success depends largely on the opportunities that exist in one’s immediate vicinity. Wishing that a community was more accepting of startups will not get you anywhere.

Instead, you need to take action to make your area more conducive to new business. By opening these doors, you invite other people into the mix and generate the type of excitement that drives real change and creates lasting wealth. This book provides a solid game plan for accomplishing this goal.

2. Courage to Lose Sight of Shore: How to Partner with Private Equity to Grow Your Business with Confidence by Kelley W. Powell

This book teaches readers how they can achieve sustainable company growth. Creating a successful company is only half the battle. Once the company exists, entrepreneurs need to figure out how to scale up in a way that is controlled and strategic.

Powell possesses a remarkable amount of experience achieving sustainable growth and she shares her insights in this book. The read is ideal for anyone who feels nervous about growing a startup, especially in terms of partnering with investors to accomplish those growth goals.

3. Move Fast. Break Shit. Burn Out: The Catalyst’s Guide to Working Well by Tracey Lovejoy and Shannon Lucas

While this book is not going to appeal to every entrepreneur, it is a great call to action for people who want to be true catalysts in the market. Moving into 2021 and beyond, these are the exact kind of people the field of entrepreneurship needs.

Tracey Lovejoy and Shannon Lucas systematically validate anyone who might have heard that they come on too strong or push too hard and give advice for channeling that energy into constructive endeavors. We will need people with this attitude more now than ever before, which is what makes this book so important.

4. A CEO Only Does Three Things: Finding Your Focus in the C-Suite by Trey Taylor

This book breaks down the real role of the CEO at a company. Entrepreneurs can often feel pulled in different directions, especially in the early stages when they need to wear many hats. However, over time, CEOs need to focus their energy and delegate some of the work.

Ultimately, the job of the CEO boils down to culture, people, and number, Taylor argues. The book serves as a how-to for navigating these three roles in both good times and bad ones. Any entrepreneur who struggles with focus will learn a lot from this read.

5. Becoming MindStrong: The Truth About Health, Fitness, and the Bullsh*t That’s Holding You Back by Rachel Freiman

The pandemic has started new conversations about mental and physical health. Success in entrepreneurship depends on holistic health. Otherwise, you will run yourself into the ground. Rachel Freiman’s book shows readers how to cultivate a holistic lifestyle that takes into account both physical and emotional wellbeing.

Importantly, this book is not meant as a quick fix to the problem. Instead, it shows people how to create a new foundation for success. While you will need to invest a lot into the book, the payoff is worth the time.

6. Assemble the Tribe: Believe in Your Value. Find Belonging. Be Different by Leah J. M. Dean

Female entrepreneurs face a number of hurdles in the business world, as author Leah J. M. Dean knows too well. In this book, Dean shows women how to channel all the times they felt isolated or helpless in the business world into true resiliency.

The power of this book is in showing women how they can create strong entrepreneurial alliances to help each other as they grow their independent businesses. With this system, women create their own safety net while also getting the opportunity to support other entrepreneurs in the same position.

7. Get Rooted!: Growing People and Companies Through Change by Stacy Henry

If any book seems written specifically for entrepreneurs working today, it is this one from Stacy Henry. The pandemic has shown us that we need to be prepared for change to come at virtually any time. This book provides a guide for reframing change from an obstacle to an opportunity.

Often, change is the exact thing that a struggling business needs to survive and then thrive. Henry teaches entrepreneurs how they can use change to push for positive growth.