21 Inspiring Podcasts Every Small Business Owner Should Download

Today’s small business owner is busier than ever. With crazy work schedules, spending time with family and friends, cooking dinner, and maybe even working out every once and a while, when are you supposed to enjoy a quiet afternoon of reading?

If you’re too busy to read a book, you might want to check out a podcast. Listening to a small business podcast during your commute or even at lunch is a fantastic way to learn something new while you’re on the go.

If you’re looking for a way to get business know-how, inspiration, and ideas—but find you don’t have time to read business books, startup and small business podcasts may be the perfect solution.

1. If you want to grow your business’s social presence: “Social Media Marketing”

Social Media Examiner is one of the most useful, straightforward sites on social media for small businesses and their podcast, “Social Media Marketing,” is just as helpful. Designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works in social media marketing, the podcasts run about an hour as Michael Stelzner interviews social media experts and explores various social media tools. Some of his best business podcasts are those featuring real small business owners sharing how they found success via social media.

2. Learn the tools you can take to building your business: “RISE Podcast”

This podcast from entrepreneur and best-selling author Rachel Hollis takes on all the challenges entrepreneurs face in her podcast “RISE podcast.” She interviews other entrepreneurs and offers applicable advice and tactics for running your business better or being a better entrepreneur.

Through listening to the RISE podcast you’ll learn how to kick that nasty procrastination habit, or how to change your mindset to be more positive.

3. If you want to feel like you’re talking to a smart friend: “Breaking Down Your Business”

On “Breaking Down Your Business,” hosts Brad Farris and Jill Salzman take a chatty, friendly approach to business that acknowledges the problems on small business owners’ minds, such as “How do I make more money without driving myself nuts?” Farris and Salzman know you’re busy, so each episode is short (about 20 minutes) and easy to digest, focusing on a list of “5 Things” (like “5 Things to Look for in a Networking Group”). Most podcasts also feature useful tools for small business owners. This is the perfect one to start out with if you’re looking for a podcast for starting a small business.

4. If you’re looking for an addictive podcast that resets each season: “StartUp”

Who better to host a podcast about startups than a former NPR employee who started his own business? Alex Blumberg’s “StartUp” podcast has a different format than most on this list. The first season followed him through the launch of his startup, Gimlet Media. The second season’s half-hour episodes followed the launch of Dating Ring, a dating company that combines technology with old-fashioned matchmaking and is run by two women in their 20s. We love the focus on the startup world from a woman entrepreneur’s point of view—something you don’t often get in most podcasts—and Blumberg’s willingness to share his own mistakes along the way helps make this one of the best business podcasts.

5. If you’re looking for quick and digestible marketing tips: “Marketing Over Coffee”

This podcast can be for anyone in small business looking to learn more about marketing. The episodes are about 20 minutes each and cover topics like SEO, email marketing, and your old standbys like offline marketing. “Marketing Over Coffee” is hosted by John J. Wall and Christopher S. Penn and new episodes are published once a week.

6. For anyone looking for an overall business briefing, and some wisdom: “Business Casual”

Morning Brew is a daily email that comes with an overview of business news made for millennials. The podcast “Business Casual,” is the new podcast from Morning Brew brought to listeners by host Kinsey Grant. The episodes focus on a range of topics in the news like breaking up big tech and interviewing CEOs and other executives on hot business topics.

The podcast is available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts and the newsletter is also free to sign up for.

7. If you’re a software entrepreneur: “Startups for the Rest of Us”

If you own or want to start a software business, check out “Startups for the Rest of Us.” Between them, the two hosts, Rob Walling and Mike Taber, have more than 20 years of experience as software entrepreneurs. They share their wisdom with the goal of helping “developers, designers, and entrepreneurs be awesome at launching software products.” Weekly podcasts cover everything from lean startups to hiring and managing remote developers and how to use virtual assistants to be more productive.

8. If you’re interested in tech and tech culture: “Product Hunt Radio”

With the near-constant change occurring in the startup and tech space, it can be tough to keep up. “Product Hunt Radio,” hosted by Ryan Hoover, is your answer to staying up-to-date with all things tech through interviews with world-famous investors and entrepreneurs to the reporters covering them. Whether you want to learn about tech that could affect your business, keep up with trends, or apply lessons to your enterprise, this small business podcast will be useful.

9. If you’re looking for better representation: “Brown Ambition”

If women are underrepresented in small business podcasts, women of color are even more so. Enter “Brown Ambition,” a podcast about “career, business, building wealth, and living in this brown skin” hosted by a journalist and an entrepreneur. Both women of color, the hosts post discussions with each other and a range of guests on career advancement, entrepreneurship, and how personal life intersects with both. Topics range from why you need a prenuptial agreement to financial management advice and business startup stories.

10. If you’re a woman in business: “The Strategy Hour Podcast”

The two hosts of “The Strategy Hour Podcast,” Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams, started the successful Think Creative Collective, a company that helps creative entrepreneurs get their business going strong. Their podcast focuses on marketing strategies and helping you grow your business. They also interview top creatives in the industry to offer their listeners even more insight.

11. If you’re looking for some inspiration: “The Goal Digger Podcast”

This podcast focuses on more than just inspiration, “The Goal Digger Podcast” also has episodes on business, branding, and marketing. The host, Jenna Kutcher, has on guests like Barbara Corcoran, and covers topics like being a working mom, or dealing with difficult customers on the job.

12. If you want to make money lying on the couch: “Smart Passive Income”

Creating an online business that brings in consistent passive income sounds like a dream come true. Pat Flynn made it a reality, and each week on his “Smart Passive Income” podcast, he shares tips and advice to help you do the same. Featured interviews include industry experts and other successful entrepreneurs, all armed with practical tips on topics such as getting started in video advertising, selling on Amazon, and building relationships with influencers.

13. If you want to work less and live more: “Youpreneur”

Podcast host Chris Ducker experienced an epiphany when he burned out on his business in 2009. He set a new goal to become a “virtual CEO”—and succeeded. Today, he only works six hours a day, four days a week. “Youpreneur” shares inspiration and ideas on topics such as personal branding, delegating, marketing, outsourcing, and being more productive, all with the goal of helping you do more in less time so you can enjoy life. Solopreneurs will find this small business podcast especially valuable.

14. If you’re looking for something non-traditional: “The Tim Ferriss Show”

You might have heard of Tim Ferriss, his irreverent podcast isn’t for everyone, but since it’s previously reached number one on iTunes’ business podcast charts, we’d say that qualifies as one of the best business podcasts out there. Ferriss gained fame as the author of the bestseller “The 4-Hour Workweek.” (Ironically, listening to one of the podcasts would take up half of that workweek, since most clock in at 2 hours in length.) However, if you’ve got the time, you’ll be rewarded with fascinating interviews. Ferriss buttonholes high achievers in not just business, but investing, music, science, sports and more, to learn their secrets for doing things better. Whether it’s CrossFit or marketing automation, he’s genuinely curious about anything that can improve performance in business or in life.

15. If you’re want to get truly jazzed about business ownership: “Entrepreneur on Fire”

This high-energy podcast runs a few times a week. Host John Lee Dumas aims to inspire by featuring the success stories of entrepreneurs, including Seth Godin, Barbara Corcoran and Tim Ferriss, in an entertaining format: First, he starts by asking each guest about his or her biggest failure; then guests discuss their Aha! moments; finally, the episode ends with a Lightning Round of five rapid-fire questions. If you need something to revitalize your sagging entrepreneurial spirit, this is one of the best business podcasts to get you charged up again (the mere fact Dumas has interviewed over 700 entrepreneurs is inspiring in itself!).

16. If you wish you had a mentor: “Mixergy”

“Mixergy“ is a website where ambitious people can learn from mentors and online courses. With interviews of more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, its podcasts cover a wide variety of topics ranging from case studies of entrepreneurial startups to interviews with business owners who sold their companies or how-tos drawn from personal experiences, such as “How to recover from a cash flow crisis without mortgaging your home.”

17. If you’d like to scale your business: “How I Built This”

Scaling your small business to a New York Stock Exchange-listed corporation is a feat many entrepreneurs dream of without an idea of how to make it a reality. On “How I Built This,” Guy Raz explores the incredible stories of entrepreneurs who have accomplished the seemingly impossible from established figures like Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard to new successes like Betterment’s Jon Stein. Whether you’re interested in expanding your brick-and-mortar business or scaling a new tech startup, you’ll benefit from this impressive library of interviews.

18. If your business is outside of Silicon Valley: “Business Schooled”

If you had to associate one place with business creation, you’d probably choose Silicon Valley—the epicenter of American business innovation. Despite this fact, plenty of cities are housing incredible small businesses worthy of coverage. Reddit co-founder and investor, Alexis Ohanian, has made it his mission to cover these businesses with “Business Schooled,” focusing on unique businesses, non-Silicon Valley locations, and non-millennial entrepreneurs. If you’d like to learn more about businesses outside of the Silicon Valley-bubble or entrepreneurs that don’t fit the dorm-room/college student mold, then check out this small business podcast.

19. If you’re in a creative field: “Being Boss”

If it seems like every business podcast you listen to features a white guy interviewing a bunch of other white guys about software, give “Being Boss” a listen. Hosts Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon have created a small business podcast for creative entrepreneurs, including writers, artists, and graphic designers that acknowledges the “rebel” nature of this tribe. The two hosts specialize in business coaching and business branding, and their podcasts cover everything from “being real” on social media to when you need a lawyer and why it’s important to be humble.

20. If you want to learn more about finance and investing: “Masters in Business”

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Barry Ritholtz discusses financial markets, investing, and business with influential newsmakers from each of these industries. Discussions with guests are often wide-ranging, covering the guests’s careers, thoughts on the future of their space, and insights into what they have accomplished. Listeners of “Masters in Business” will learn a lot whether they’re financial pros or newcomers to this space. Many of the episodes are applicable whether you’re interested in growing your business, investing in new asset classes, or would just like to learn more about a particular industry.

21. If you want to learn about how other people handle their money: “So Money”

This podcast, “So Money,” from Farnoosh Torabi was started in 2014. She brings on guests to talk about their personal stories around money and hopefully to help listeners learn lessons others have already learned the hard way. Her past guests include Jillian Michaels, Tim Gunn, Ariana Huffington, and more successful entrepreneurs and business people alike.