Best Gifts for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

By Lea Hensel, UNI Business and Community Services

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? If you’re stuck on what to get your boss, friend who’s a business owner, or sibling that’s a budding entrepreneur, we’ve got you covered. We’re kicking off the list with some of the more common and functional gifts leading into the ones that, shall we say, are more on the zany side.

Portable backup phone battery charger

Whether it’s conference calls, emails or text messages, our phones get a workout daily. It may not be needed every day, but at that fateful time when the phone shuts off right in the middle of attempting to fix a shipment problem, a backup battery charger will be a lifesaver, especially one that’s portable. Plus you’ll get the kudos for a great gift! Of course, there are tons of options out there but this Anker Astro is currently the #1 best seller on Amazon.

Coffee making set up

Running on all cylinders every day leaves business owners and entrepreneurs needing frequent pick-me-ups. A great coffee making set up can be essential and something that will definitely be used. Of course, there are multiple options whether you go with instant coffee options like the Keurig or make your own using a french press or pour over filters. There’s also an all-in-one option of the Presse Coffee Brewer which actually brews your coffee right in the travel mug. Plus, you can always round out the gift by picking up some locally roasted coffee at the nearest coffee shop. On the same note, Tea to Go provides the same ease for the tea drinking .

An Iowa-themed gift basket

Speaking of local, this idea keeps it in Iowa. The Heart of Iowa offers a wide array of business gifts including gift baskets, collections and individual gifts, all Iowa themed. You can choose from the Amana Meat Lover’s Box, Corn Lover’s Tote, Iowa Hawkeye Fan Bucket or even Iowa shaped chocolate bars. Plus, you can also get items personalized with a logo. Every business owner or entrepreneur loves seeing their logo someplace unexpected!

Intangible items

I’m thinking gift cards and subscriptions. For those who have a regular commute, an Audible subscription would be a great way for them to get some additional business insight or catch up on the latest fiction novel they haven’t gotten to yet.

Along the same lines, get them a subscription or upgrade their plan on Evernote so they have access to their notes on all devices all the time. Similarly, other cloud storage and sharing programs like Google Drive or Dropbox can help them stay organized. The paid plans for these programs provide more storage and capabilities to make things easier.

An upgrade from the Magic 8 Ball

Remember when we were young and nearly every major life decision was made by shaking a Magic 8 Ball? It only seems fitting that our decision making capabilities grow up with us. Instead of a shake, spinning this Bey-Berk Decision Maker still leaves our decisions up to chance (or to tomorrow) and makes for a great paperweight on our desks.

A place for those business cards                                                                        

We may live in a digital world but how many of us still carry and keep business cards around? And how many times do you get back to the office and they get shoved in a desk drawer only to be found years later?

    At only 6.5” tall, this Mini Business Card File Cabinet will fit right in next to your stapler and three-hole punch that you continue to keep for the rare occasions when paper is used.

Something to hold pens, tape and more

Full disclaimer – I have one of these on my desk that I received as a Christmas gift a few years ago. If you’re looking for a goofy gift for that business owner or entrepreneur in your life, this is a good one. It’s multi-functional in that it holds tape, pens, memos and even paper clips and it almost always gets a chuckle.

Desktop games

Because, why not? We all need to take a step away from time to time and relax. Why not do so with desktop skee ball, bowling or air hockey.

Now we’re going to turn the tables over to you. Do you have any of these items? What else would you add to the list?