I started my first business when I was 14 years old. During my time as an entrepreneur, I have received numerous gifts, most of which have been utterly useless. As such, I have compiled a list of the best gifts for entrepreneurs!
Whether you are buying a Valentine’s gift, a Christmas gift, or an Anniversary gift, chances are that you don’t want to waste your money.
Personally, I have received all of these gifts, and I have to admit: I’m not how I’d live without them. So here they are…
15. Mobile Data Hotspot
As entrepreneurs, we tend to find ourselves on the road a lot. Most commonly we tend to fly, where we tend to fly either business or first class. Here, we often get free complimentary WIFI, inflight and at the airport.
That sounds all nice, but I’ve found that it generally isn’t very good. In the air, it’s fine, often being some of the fastest internet I’ve ever used. However in the airport lounges, I’ve found it to be quite slow, and rather choppy…
At the same time, there are so many radio signals going around the airport, making my mobile data just as slow, if not slower. Here, I often wish that the WIFI/mobile data was faster, or that I had a mini-WIFI box that only I could use.
This is where a mobile data hotspot would come in handy. Essentially, it is a personal mobile data box, that generates its own signal. And best of all, you can put this in your carryon, and no one will be the wiser!
14. Productivity Planner
Ok, my wife got me some these last Valentine’s Day. Originally, I kind of laughed at them and thought I’d never use them. Since I’ve started using them, I find it hard to believe I ever lived without them.
Depending on who you buy them from, and what design you pick, they could have a number of different uses. It’s really a matter of looking and trying to find which design will be the best gift for your entrepreneur.
For me, mine is a whiteboard that is a “To do list”. I can just write down all the things I need to do on this particular day, and rub them off as I complete them. The best part is, is that I can easily transport this from home to the office and back!
Looking online, the cheapest paper-backed productivity planners retail for only a few dollars. The good ones retail for about $20, whilst the best ones (in my opinion anyway) retail for about $30.
13. Robot Vacuum
As entrepreneurs, we are generally extremely busy people. Most of us tend to forget to eat, let alone do housework! Some of us try to get around this by hiring a maid, but the truth is, that most of us don’t do that.
For some of us, we just leave it, and spend a few hours in the month to do the bear minimum. For others, we have a dedicated time each week/month (for me, it was every Tuesday at 4pm).
Regardless, a robot vacuum will be a welcomed gift!
Most of the brand-name robot vacuums can be programmed to follow a certain path around your house/apartment. As such, they could schedule it whilst they are out in the office, or doing the weekly grocery shopping!
They are also more versatile than regular handheld vacuum cleaners, as they can easily go under most items of furniture. At the same time, they’re about the same price (although are slightly more expensive).
12. Magazine Subscriptions
If you’ve known an entrepreneur for long enough, you’ll likely know that they take the saying: “Knowledge is power” very seriously. They devour books and any other sources of information for breakfast!
Thanks to this, I would say that you’ve found one of the best gifts for entrepreneurs in general: Knowledge. Where’s the best place to find up-to-date business tips? Magazines.
Due to the rise of the internet, you don’t even need to purchase physical magazines. You could get digital ones, which can be sent straight to their emails, or perhaps even to an app on their phone for added efficiency.
My best recommendation would be business-related magazines, such as Bloomberg, Forbes and/or Entrepreneur. However, they could be also about the industry they work in too, or just about a hobby they have.
11. Books
But what if they already have just about every magazine subscription known to man? Or perhaps, what if magazines just aren’t their style? Then I would say, there’s always books…
As with magazines, you’ll have to be careful and make sure that they haven’t already got that book. You may even want to co-ordinate with their significant other, or snoop around their office, just to be sure.
Just as with magazines, they don’t necessarily have to be personal finance or business-related. Personally, that’s what I’d recommend, but every now and again, an industry-specific book is nice to read!
Once again, the internet has made it so you don’t even have to buy a physical book (although many entrepreneurs are still very old-school in this regard!) You could always buy them the e-book form of their book instead…
10. A (Really!) Big Whiteboard
The rise of the internet has been an entrepreneur’s best friend. But no matter how many whiteboard apps I use, I find that they are all no match for a good old-fashioned whiteboard.
For me, they often get buried in the myriad of other tabs I have on my desktop.
However, with a real whiteboard, I can write down whatever I need, with it being right in front of me, best of all, it doesn’t get buried by everything else.
When you look at buying whiteboards on the internet there are often multiple sizes you can choose from. As the old saying goes: “Bigger is always better!” And your entrepreneur will thank you for it…
If you plan on buying one of these, make sure to buy some accompanying whiteboard markers. After all, a whiteboard without any markers in essentially useless. The more markers and the more colors, the merrier!
9. Notebook
When I first started my became an entrepreneur, I would get all this amazing business ideas at the weirdest times. In the middle of conversations, at lunch, in the middle of class (remember, I was 14).
I used to try and remember them, but this always used to result in me forgetting. Then I tried writing them on my hand, only to be told to wash it off by teachers.
Eventually, I began writing these down in a little notebook I won during a French lesson. Once I had filled that, I got another notebook, and another after that. I still do this, well over 15 years later.
With my notebook, I can write down just about anything, be it a random thought for later, a new business ide, or even a new article idea for Finance Friday! I would say that a notebook is the most useful business tool for any entrepreneur!
8. Waterproof Notepad
For those non-entrepreneurs, you’ll probably either be laughing at the concept of this, or are rather perplexed by this. For those entrepreneurs, it will likely seem like a great idea- one you wished you’d come up with!
Whilst a regular notepad might work 99.9% of the time, it’s always that 0.1% that gets you. What I mean is, no matter how good a regular notepad is, you just can’t always use it during those times you desperately need to.
For whatever reason, I seem to get some of my best business ideas whilst I’m showering. Naturally, if I were to try to write these down on my normal notepad, it’d wreck it entirely, whilst on a whiteboard, they’d be rubbed off.
But what if I had a waterproof notepad? I could write it down, and research it later on. At the same time, my notepad wouldn’t be ruined because of the water!
7. Power Bank
I mentioned earlier that entrepreneurs travel a lot. Whilst most large airlines have begun to offer USB ports for you to charge your phone mid-flight, or whilst you’re sat in the business lounge, I find they’re generally slow.
Personally, I have this really bad habit of using my phone until it has maybe 5% left in it, before I put it on charge. If I want to charge my phone and use it at the same time whilst I travel, I often use more power, than what’s being put in.
Because of this, my phone tends to die on me. Often at the worst possible moments.
With a power bank, I have found that I can continue to run my phone down to its 5%, and then put it on charge. Whilst it’s charging, I can still use it, whilst it slowly gains more and more battery!
And the best part about it? The good ones retail for as little as $20, whilst some of the best retailing for only $30.
6. Travel Pillow
If you’ve ever flown on a commercial airliner for more than a few hours, regardless of which class you’re in, your body begins to stiffen up, and sitting becomes quite uncomfortable.
A walk every now and then generally helps to prevent this. So does a pillow.
I’ve found that putting a pillow behind your head, that also reaches to the bottom of your neck as well, not only helps to prevent your body from stiffen up, but is also more relaxing. Thus, I can do more work!
Plus, you can use it at the airport to get some much needed rest before your flight (just don’t forget to set an alarm!) Or in the flight itself (although many airlines offer pillows to those in first and business class.
Best of all, most of them retail for only a few dollars. Even when you buy the more expensive ones, they’re generally only $10 or $15 maximum.
5. Alcohol
Unless your entrepreneur is confined by religious beliefs or a medical condition, you’ll find that probably all of them drink some form of alcohol. They’re not alcoholics by any means, but they enjoy it every now and then.
Sadly, there is no tried-and-trusted type of alcohol that all entrepreneurs seem to enjoy. For some, it’s a light beer, for others a nice glass of wine, whilst for a few, it’s a bottle of vodka.
From my experience, most Western entrepreneurs seem to enjoy some kind of whiskey. But that’s not particularly helpful, as there are quite literally hundreds of types and brands of whiskey to choose from!
Chances are that if you look in their office, or wherever they keep their alcohol, you’ll find the particular type and brand of alcohol they like. Trust me, they’ll certainly like you for it!
4. Coffee
Although not every entrepreneur drinks coffee, the overwhelming majority of them do. It’s practically the only substance on Earth that can keep us awake as we pull all-nighters trying to crack our latest business idea.
If you were to look through a typical entrepreneur’s kitchen, you’d probably think that we only drink alcohol and coffee. And for some, you’d probably be entirely correct.
As with their alcohol, many entrepreneurs prefer a certain brand or blend of coffee over all others. If you can find that, I would say that coffee would be the best gift you could get for them!
Plus, if the entrepreneur is your other half, chances are that he/she will let you drink (some) of it too!
Coffee-related accessories like mugs, flasks and French presses will also go down quite well, especially if you do a combo of coffee and them.
3. A Really Long Charging Cable
If your entrepreneur is anything like me, chances are that they spend more time in their office than they do anywhere else. As such, it’s generally quite large, with my desk being located in the far corner.
For me, I find that if I am trying to charge my phone, and use it at anywhere that’s not my desk, I have to sit rather uncomfortably and lean to the side in order to charge my phone and use it at the same time.
Most entrepreneurs face the same issue. And it’s really, really, really, annoying! I sacrifice most of my productivity because of how painful it is. I only have a standard-issue charging cable that came with my phone.
What I’ve recently found is that most major phone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung produce two meter (six foot) charging cables, which retail at about $30 from the official store, not to mention the numerous knockoffs…
2. High-Quality Briefcase
I did also debate adding laptop case in this article too, although ultimately decided to go with briefcase. However, the reasoning is roughly the same, as are prices (although laptop cases are more or less depending on the store).
As entrepreneurs, we travel a LOT. Although it depends entirely on the entrepreneur, we tend to bring a lot of stuff with us. Cameras, laptops, spare phones, and just a lot of other stuff for whatever we’re doing.
Backpacks are nice, but are generally quite large and clunky, and are rarely have any theft preventions built into them. This means that your expensive business tools and sensitive documents can be easily stolen.
With a briefcase, however, theft preventions are built in, as well as them being designed to carry all the tools essential for an entrepreneur! If you buy them a high quality briefcase, they will thank you later on.
1. USB Drive With LOTS of Space!
A USB drive may not be the most expensive gift on this list. The cheapest retail for only a few dollars, whilst the most expensive tend to retail for $25.
Regardless of what type of entrepreneur they are, chances are that they need do enough work in a week to fill up their hard drive ten times over! I’m hyperbolizing of course, but by that much…
As a decidedly digital entrepreneur, I know this all to well.
For many of us, we buy several USB drives per year, often being the largest available. And when I say “largest” I am talking about one and two terabyte USB drives.
Most entrepreneurs love USB drives because they are so versatile. One use might be storing logos, whilst another might be storing important digital documents, whilst another might be storing digital backups!
Which are your favorite gifts for entrepreneurs? Tell me in the comments!
