Warren Buffet invests 80% of each day to reading, Bill Gates commits to reading one book a week, Mark Zuckerberg reads one book every fortnight and shares it in his online book club. Mark Cuban reads for at least 3 hours every day, while Oprah Winfrey reads one book every month for her book club.

It’s no secret, industry-related books are jam-packed with advice on business and marketing strategies, helping entrepreneurs develop necessary skills and gain new business ideas and motivation. But did you know, reading for leisure can also encourage self-improvement and success?

Here are 6 ways leisurely reading helps to improve key business skills and fuels entrepreneurship:

1. Improve Communication

A good vocabulary is vital when interacting with clients, marketing your services and networking at events. And the best way to increase your vocabulary is through reading. Being articulate helps in any industry as it helps an individual speak about their business with self-confidence.

2. Enhanced Reading and Writing Skills

The more books you read, the better you will become at proofreading and writing. Many business catastrophes start with someone misreading an email, phrasing something poorly, or not proofreading well enough. If you’re an avid reader, you’re more likely to pick up on these mistakes.

3. Enriched Analytical Thinking

Reading helps you train your brain to spot complicated patterns and teaches you to solve problems. No matter what industry, every entrepreneur will have to do some problem solving sooner or later.

4. Improved Focus and Concentration

The ordinary entrepreneur has to divide their time wisely. This multitasking can cause stress levels to rise and productivity levels to drop. However, when an individual is engrossed in a book, all attention is focused on the story, helping to improve their focus and concentration levels.

5. Increased Perseverance

If an individual can sit down and read a 600 page novel from cover to cover, they’re likely to have the perseverance needed for success. Perseverance and patience are vital for success, as success requires months, years, of hard work.

6. Improved Memory

When you read a book, you have to remember a whole assortment of characters, backgrounds and history as well as subplots. A good memory is particularly important for entrepreneurs as they're often overloaded with daily to-do lists.