Karpeo · Business in Switzerland
Four books for entrepreneurs—and how to put them into practice
Validate demand, clarify your business model or delegate more effectively: choose a book that matches the problem you face, then turn the reading into a practical action. These four books serve different purposes and can support decisions at different stages of a business.
By Sarah Prieur · Swiss certified public accountant
Which entrepreneurship book will help with your next decision?
A useful business book helps solve a concrete problem: understanding customers, designing the economics, testing an idea or organising operations. Start with the decision you need to make, rather than the best-known title.
This selection is neither a sales ranking nor a promise of success. The exercises below are suggested applications for your business, not quotations or instructions reproduced word for word from the authors.
| Your current difficulty | Book | Author or authors |
|---|---|---|
| Prospects praise the idea but do not buy | The Mom Test | Rob Fitzpatrick |
| The project exists but its economic logic is unclear | Business Model Generation | Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur |
| You invest heavily before knowing what works | The Lean Startup | Eric Ries |
| The business depends too much on its founder | The E-Myth Revisited | Michael E. Gerber |
The original titles identify the books precisely. When borrowing or buying, check the language, edition and any translated title. Official author or publisher references appear at the end.
The Mom Test: understand your customers’ real problems
Rob Fitzpatrick’s book focuses on conversations with prospective customers. It helps distinguish useful evidence from compliments, polite opinions and hypothetical intentions.
An encouraging reaction is not proof of demand. Someone can like an idea without experiencing the problem, having a budget or intending to switch from their current solution.
When is it useful?
Before developing an offer, launching a product or committing to a major campaign. It can also help an established business understand why enquiries do not become orders.
An exercise to adapt to your activity
Choose five people matching your target customer profile. Prepare a conversation about their current behaviour: how they perform the task, how often they encounter the problem, what they already use and who approves a purchase.
Record observable facts, reported statements and your interpretations separately. A prospect who paid a provider last month provides different evidence from someone who thinks they might pay one day.
After the interviews, look for contradictions. If each person describes a different problem, you may need to narrow the customer segment before developing a broad solution.
Keep the limitations in view
Interviews do not replace a sale or representative research. They improve hypotheses. Do not turn five conversations into a market-share estimate or revenue forecast.
Business Model Generation: make the business model visible
Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur present a visual framework for describing a business model. It helps connect customers, value proposition, resources, partners, revenue and costs.
The value lies in seeing dependencies. An attractive offer may still be difficult to run if customer acquisition is expensive, a key resource is missing or the price does not cover delivery work.
When is it useful?
When founders describe the same project differently, when a new offer changes several parts of the business, or when you want to compare two ways to serve a market.
A clarification exercise
Describe the current business on one page without making it look ideal. Identify who pays, what they pay for, the channel used, necessary resources and the cost of delivery.
Label each assumption as demonstrated in actual sales, partly tested or still untested. This is more useful than a polished diagram whose boxes all appear equally certain.
For an accounting firm or agency, a recurring monthly service and a one-off assignment can create different demands on sales, staffing and cash. Comparing invoice prices alone misses those differences.
Keep the limitations in view
A business model diagram is not a complete budget. Add numerical assumptions and an income statement analysis. Coherence on one page does not establish profitability.
The Lean Startup: test before committing too much
Eric Ries describes learning through experimentation. The approach tests assumptions against observations and adapts decisions to what the team has actually learned.
It helps you design an initial test whose investment is proportionate to uncertainty. The first version need not include every feature you can imagine.
When is it useful?
Before developing software, adding a service line or redesigning an offer. It is also relevant when a team keeps adding features without knowing which meet a real need.
An experimentation exercise
Choose a decisive assumption, such as whether customers in a defined segment will pay a particular price for a result. Before starting, specify a feasible test, spending limit and decision rule.
You might offer a pilot service with a clear scope and contract, then measure actual delivery time, problems and willingness to continue. The criterion could concern a sale, use or margin, depending on the stage.
Avoid measuring only visits or positive reactions. The result should help decide what changes in the product, price or customer segment. Link the test budget to your overall financing requirement.
Keep the limitations in view
Fast testing does not remove safety, contractual or legal obligations. A financial or medical service, or one handling sensitive data, cannot treat customers simply as experimental subjects. Keep tests compatible with the business’s responsibilities.
The E-Myth Revisited: reduce dependence on the founder
Michael E. Gerber examines the difference between practising a trade and organising a business that can operate consistently. The book encourages attention to processes and the owner’s role beyond technical expertise.
This can resonate with founders handling production, customer relations, invoicing and every approval themselves. Growth becomes fragile when each step depends on one person.
When is it useful?
As the business expands, before the first hires or when you want to delegate without losing quality. It can also support preparation for a future business sale or succession.
A delegation exercise
Choose a recurring task that often takes your time. Describe its trigger, required information, steps, checks and expected output. Ask another person to follow the procedure on a suitable case.
Observe where they still need your decision. Interruptions often reveal an unwritten rule, missing information or unclear responsibility.
The document does not need to become an enormous manual. A short procedure that is used and improved is more useful than an exhaustive file no one reads.
Keep the limitations in view
Standardisation does not eliminate professional judgement. Some cases need experience or specific approval. Define routine situations and those that must be escalated to the responsible person.
Turn reading into a practical business decision
Reading four books without changing a practice may achieve less than applying one chapter carefully. Try a four-stage month, adapted to your workload.
- Week one: define a specific problem.
- Week two: choose an exercise and gather the information.
- Week three: run a limited test.
- Week four: compare the results with the original hypothesis and decide whether to continue, change or stop.
Keep a short learning record
One page can capture the question, observed facts, decision and next step. Distinguish what the book suggests, what your company has tested and what remains an assumption.
This avoids treating an idea you have read as a fact already established in your business. It also helps partners and employees discuss the reasoning.
Support the reading with financial evidence
An offer must meet demand and fund the business. Review expected profit, necessary expenditure and cash flow needs.
These books are not references for Swiss law, VAT or social security. Use current official sources and appropriate advice for those questions. An entrepreneurial method can improve thinking without answering every administrative or tax issue.
Frequently asked questions about books for entrepreneurs
Which book should I start with if I have no customers?
The Mom Test can help you prepare conversations with prospects. Follow those discussions with practical tests: a positive opinion is not an order.
Which book helps organise an established business?
The E-Myth Revisited addresses business systems and dependence on the owner. Its value comes from application: documenting a task, clarifying responsibilities and testing delegation.
Do I need to read all four before starting a business?
No. Choose according to your current difficulty. Reading should support a decision or learning process, not indefinitely postpone contact with the market.
Do these books replace a business plan?
No. They provide ways to think about a business. A business plan also needs project-specific financial assumptions, financing, organisation and risks.
Are these books specific to Switzerland?
No. Their approaches can be adapted to a Swiss business, but they do not replace local rules on incorporation, taxation, employment or pensions. Check those separately.
Book references
References checked on 10 October 2026. The proposed exercises are editorial applications, not reproduced extracts from the books.
About the author
Sarah Prieur
Sarah Prieur is a Swiss certified public accountant, a partner and head of operations at Karpeo. She supports businesses, self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs with accounting, tax and VAT matters. Before joining Karpeo, she spent eight years in financial audit at PwC Switzerland, progressing to manager.
Read more about Sarah Prieur →