Books like that are my favorite. Built to Sell by John Warrillow is a perfect example, and one that I really enjoyed. It teaches the reader how not to run a business via a fictitious story and really opened my eyes to all the things I was doing wrong in my business.

That's a pretty good book, although in some ways it recapitulates a lot of this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=de...

Here's my summary of Built to Sell, fwiw:

http://journal.dedasys.com/2011/05/23/summary-built-to-sell-...

There's a wonderful book about this, Built to Sell, written as a story but based on a business seller's experiences:

http://www.builttosell.com/

It's a good read even if you're not thinking of selling because it covers creating efficient processes, delegation and general streamlining. (No affiliation, by the way)

Two good books on the subject...

First read "The E-myth".

Then read "Built to Sell".

It's aimed a bit more at small businesses, perhaps even service businesses, but I liked this book:

"Built to Sell": http://journal.dedasys.com/2011/05/23/summary-built-to-sell-...

It's a bit on the fluffy side, and I've summarized the main points which he lists at the end of the book.

Have a read of "Built to Sell". I have no experience in this area, but found that book eye opening. One example: expect to have to work for the buyer for at least a year as part of the contract of sale, part of the payment is vested.

Have not read the "Built to Sell", yet the "E-Myth" is spot on. At least the first half of it.

Do you recommend reading the newer books by John Warrillow? Or should I just read the classic Built to Sell?

In a similar vein, Built To Sell (John Warrillow) was eye-opening for me when I first read it, focusing on building processes and systems so that you can remove yourself as a roadblock to increase chances of success. Almost an “if you love them, set them free” philosophy and written in a very readable style.

I second this recommendation... I found that the story-based format of Built to Sell made it much more interesting than other business books, so while I can see the "fluffy" critique, I think the message stuck with me more than other books. It's worth reading to understand the context for these bullet points. Great summary of the key points on your blog.

Check out Predictable Revenue - I was spinning my wheels as a technical guy for many years, and that book really clicked for me:

https://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practice...

Also, stay away from comment boards online that denigrate sales and other normal, necessary activities for your business. If you can find a community of folks doing the same thing, that is also very helpful to keep your head in the game.

For others who are reading who may not be in SaaS yet, or who are in more services-oriented businesses, check out Built to Sell:

https://www.amazon.com/Built-Sell-Creating-Business-Without/...

Sales is a skill, like programming, running, or playing an instrument. Anything learn to do it, and if you can tie decent sales ability to good technical chops to build and create, you'll be unstoppable.

Oooh 2017 has been a year of heavy reading. There's a few for very different reasons:

- Albert Einstein by Walter Isaacson

- Functional Programming in JS by Michael Fogus

- The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes

- Why the Tories Won by Tim Ross

- The Game by Neil Strauss (as a story of self-destruction and a guide on how not to treat women).

- Built to Sell by John Warrilow

- The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

I'm currently reading a handful of books on statistics and UX. This may change before the end of the year.

I think there's a few I might return to that are half done but I guess the fact I've put them down half way through disqualifies from being "the best".

Amd just to finish: I love these book posts. A good deal of books I read come from these :)

For revenue specifically - we built it to sell from the outset (A book called "Built to sell" where the author speaks on Mixergy is a good primer). Specifically, we priced high (base package was $150/mo), recurring revenue (SaaS), focused on a few pains until we found the biggest one, only contacted clients that had large bases (eg: 1 decision maker could purchase it for 30 franchises), and marketed and spoke directly with the decision makers. (Getting in front of them in their offices and at conferences,and doing "gratis" learning sessions at one of their locations.) For meeting the decision makers - we found one influential person at a well known industry client, and give it to them for 80% off for few months and worked out the bugs. Then we leveraged them as social proof to go to the larger clients. Then the smaller guys will see the larger players using it, and follow suit.

You might want to have a look at the book "Built to Sell" http://www.amazon.com/Built-Sell-Creating-Business-Without/d...

This book talks about one approach to converting an existing business into a more sellable one. Judging by some of the other posts, there's some concern about what you'll get for a sale price. One of the tips in this book is to take a piece of paper and write down your immediate thought on how much money you'd like to get for the business - stick this in an envelope; down the road, once you have been negotiating and are starting to get emotionally attached to the process, open the envelope and see how the current offer compares to what you'd originally thought. That should help bring some perspective to the whole process.