Businesses can change quickly, and it can leave small business owners with major whiplash. Everything from technology to best practices to management strategies can shift overtime, sometimes quickly.
There are, fortunately, resources that can help you stay up to date with all these changes, as well as giving you information about how to handle situations like hiring on contractors instead of employees or helping your company culture to thrive. And some of the best resources out there are actually podcasts.
There are hundreds of outstanding podcasts being published on a regular basis, making it hard to choose what to listen to, especially since no one has time to get through all of them. I’ll make that a little easier for you, sharing the 10 best business podcasts for small business owners that you should start listening to today.
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss is the icon who created “The 4 Hour Work Week,” and it’s no surprise that his business podcast is outstanding. It’s the number one podcast on Apple, and he interviews big names like Jamie Foxx, Tony Robbins, and even Arnold Schwarzenegger on their tricks, ranging from morning habits to time management tricks. The guests are engaging, Ferris is a great host, and each episode comes full of helpful tips.
Masters in Business
Barry Ritholtz is a columnist at the Bloomberg Opinion, and his podcast Masters in Business follows along the same idea as the Tim Ferriss show with big name celebrities like Serena Williams. He also interviews a few non-celebrity experts in their fields, like those who study decision making. This podcast talks a lot about finance side side of the business, with great tips on investing, investors, and startup valuation.
WorkLife
This podcast dives deep into common work life problems and how to solve them, making it valuable for anyone who owns their own business. Host Adam Grant will host interviews with individuals both in the studio and out in the field where they work, divining deep into what makes them successful. Grant is friendly and the podcast is enjoyable to listen to, making it a fun and actionable listen.
The Startup Show
The startup show is an excellent choice for small businesses, with the host Adam Vazquez regularly interviewing people who have been wildly successful in their own field and chatting with them about how they made their specific business work for them. Each episode focuses on specific actionable topics, like how to make B2B ads work for you and even how to start a freelancing business, and this is why we included it here as one of the best business podcasts to listen to.
HBR IdeaCast
The Harvard Business Review is one of the leading business publications out there, and their podcast follows suit. Two senior editors at HBR host the weekly podcast, which analyzes analytical topics with experts in their field and then applies it to the business world. You’ll find episodes discussing why jargon in the workplace isn’t always bad, and how to create a psychologically safe work space.
Masters of Scale
Starting a business is difficult enough. Growing that business can be even more difficult, as it typically requires a change in business structure and so many new challenges to face on a daily basis. Reid Hoffman’s Masters of Scale focuses exclusively on how to grow your own empire, whether you’re starting from scratch or already a fledgling business up and running.
Innovation Ecosystem
The Innovation Ecosystem podcast is one that’s a little different from some of the others on this list, and it focuses on how to enable and inspire innovation in you and any employees that you may have. The idea is that there’s so much room for innovation in a single business that everyone within an organization should be encouraged to help make it something great. They offer great advice for how to do this, and it’s a must-listen podcast in 2019.
The Tony Robbins Podcast
Tony Robbins is a life coach and business strategist who is well known after working with businesses and individuals all over the globe. After years of writing self-help books and hosting seminars, his advice is even more accessible and comes in podcast form. This podcast focuses on more abstract concepts like how to be happy and how a single decision can change your business, and it’s a good one that can give you the motivation you need to power through.
Nir & Far
Nir Eyal is a bestselling author writing about consumer behavior, and he’s applied that same knack for interpreting and predicting behaviors in his podcast. His podcasts are highly actionable, giving specific tactics that you can use to accomplish goals faster, like beating bad tech habits or improving your persuasion skills for the workplace. This is why we’ve included Nir as one of our best business podcasts list that all small business owners should be listening to.
Marketing Trends
This podcast is presented by Salesforce, which creates tools to help businesses make their marketing and communications more effective, so it’s no shock that it’s got invaluable information on the latest marketing tips and tricks. Topics range from beginner-friendly, like how to set up a funnel or hire great marketers, to more complex and advanced subjects like attribution methods.
Even if you’ve hired a marketing team or consultant, having an understanding of what they’re doing and why is so important, and this podcast will give you the information you need to stay on top of all the latest marketing trends.
Conclusion
Everything in the business world can change quickly, so staying on your toes and consistently investing in learning will help you ensure that your business keeps growing steadily. There’s no room for complacency in business, after all, because the second you become passive, someone else will come charging in to change up the game. These 10 incredible business podcasts will help you stay up to date with all the changes in your industry and give you new ideas for how to keep your business thriving, so give them a listen and let us know which is your favorite.
