Do you have a business owner or entrepreneur on your gift list? With the holidays fast approaching, you may be struggling to find that perfect item. Here are five gift ideas that can inspire and help the recipient to achieve a more profitable and successful new year.

1 A one-year subscription to Inc. and Fast Company magazines This gift keeps on giving year round! Both publications are packed full of articles and explore an at-times pragmatic, at times unconventional perspective of operating a business. Inc. focuses primarily on growing businesses and the entrepreneurial perspective while Fast Company leans more towards innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design and social responsibility.

Inc. and Fast Company can be difficult to obtain regularly on the local newsstand; but are worth their weight in gold. You can have subscriptions delivered to the island by a US mail forwarding service or access their websites at www.inc.com and www.fastcompany.com

2 "The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up" by Norm Brodsky

Norm Brodsky is hands-down my most admired entrepreneurial author. His advice can be extremely valuable to owners of start-up or private companies. His writing is atypical of the pundit or academic who provides ideas from a theoretical viewpoint. He expresses his ideas simply and clearly, avoiding the dreaded 'corporate-speak'. When exploring issues, he is not afraid to look at things from a personal perspective. This focus on the human element is what sets him apart.

Norm has extensive business experience from the perspective of an owner-operator. Although he began his career as a lawyer, he has eight successful start-up companies to his record and has invested in or advised many others - from restaurants to gift shops to document destruction companies.

In addition to The Knack, I recommend the archive of Norm's monthly column, Street Smarts, published in Inc. magazine (www.inc.com/magazine/columns/streetsmarts). I have found this archive so personally useful that I have had the articles compiled and bound into a book, which I use as a reference text.

3 "Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar & Co." by Gary Erickson

Gary Erickson's background is that of a wanderer on a prolonged 'walkabout' into his 30's - cycling in exotic locations, surviving and living on a shoestring budget, doing 'ridiculous things' like hiking mountains in dance shoes. His lack of formal business education and training is not what most of us would associate with a conventional success.

In the face of major competition from food giants Kraft and Nestle, Gary founded the nutrition bar company Clif Bar and battled his way through adversity to keep his company privately-owned. Raising the Bar tells his inspiring story and encourages entrepreneurs to keep going - no matter what they face. This is much more than a business book. It speaks about life, exploring different paths, the importance of decisions on a human level, responsibility, and figuring out what is most personally important to us. It is ideal for the business owner or entrepreneur who has had their fill of spreadsheets, management recommendations, projections and the like.

4. "How to Raise Capital: Techniques and Strategies for Financing and Valuing your Small Business" by Timmons, Spinelli, and Zacharakis

I am fortunate to have been educated by and able to use these three veteran entrepreneurs as resources while obtaining my MBA. The 'Johnny Appleseed' of American entrepreneurship, the founder of Jiffy Lube International and the VC veteran explore the financing needs of different companies. They look at companies throughout the business cycle from start-up to stability, maintaining focus on the premise that 'cash is critical', as Professor Spinelli used to say.

The book explores the premise that every small business needs capital in order to grow and survive in today's market; but fewer than 40 percent of entrepreneurs seeking funding actually receive it. Whether you're asking your bank for a business loan or seeking help from investors, there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to ask for financing. How to Raise Capital gives you the real-world knowledge and perspective to help you prepare an effective loan proposal, find a suitable investor, negotiate and close the deal, and more.

5 "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It" by Michael Gerber

A review on Amazon.com perfectly summarises my thoughts: "This book is a guide to success for small business owners. Gerber is the founder of a consulting company for small businesses. In the beginning of the book, Gerber cites the well-known failure-rate statistics for small business: 40 percent fail in one year. Of those who survive one year, 80 percent fail in five years, and of those who survive five years, another 80 percent fail. Over the years, Gerber has observed that the small business owners who fail often share a number of characteristics, while those who succeed do so not by luck, brains, or perseverance, but by taking a different approach. This book explains the approach that is necessary for a business to survive and thrive."

I was first introduced to the concept of the 'Entrepreneurial Myth' in the late 90s and have found a number of successful business people and mentors who also view this book as invaluable. The E-Myth can best be described as the assumption (incorrect) that people who are expert at a certain technical skill will be inherently successful at running a business. To be brutally honest, despite a solid business education as well as assorted successes and failures, every time I review Gerber's concepts I am reminded that I still have much to learn.

Holiday shopping for entrepreneurs doesn't have to be a challenge. These five suggestions will not only make ideal gifts, but also provide the entrepreneur in your life with valuable resources to help them succeed.

This article is part of a series reflecting on some of the 'best practice' issues and considerations relevant to owners of privately held companies.

Kumi Bradshaw is a co-founder of Asgill Post, which provides Business Intermediary Services: Business Valuation and M&A Assistance. For comments or queries, contact Kumi Bradshaw MBA, CBA, BVAL via e-mail at kumi@asgillpost.com