The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
From BookJive
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| Author: | Michael Gerber |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Published: | |
| Pages: | 288 |
| ISBN-10: | 887307280 |
| Category: | Array |
Contents |
The E-Myth Revisited is paramount for any would-be entrepreneur. Many entrepreneurs are so busy working in their business that they never get the chance to work on their business. Michael Gerber gives entrepreneurs a fresh perspective on ways to automate or systemize their business and give them the free time needed to work on the business.
The book sets the stage with a dialogue between the book's author and Sarah, an entrepreneur who owns a small pie shop. The book's underlying theme is that even though people know the technical aspect of running a business, they often don't understand the business side. Sarah understands how to make a great pie, but she needs to systemize her pie-making process and let others make the pie while she focuses on the business side--hiring the right people, marketing, management, making a profit, growth, etc.
[edit] PartI: The E-Myth and American Small Business
[edit] Chapter 1. The Entrepreneurial Myth
Every year around a million people start a new business and over 40 percent will fail within the first year. Within 5 years 80 percent will fail. Why does this happen? Here are four ideas:
- Idea #1 The "E-Myth" is the false belief that businesses are started by entreprenuers who have raised capital to make a profit. This is not true. This is the root of our problem.
- Idea #2 The Turn-Key Revolution is changing the way businesses are started, finished, and how they survive.
- Idea #3 Business Developement Process. When this process is applied, it creates a system for success for any small business owner.
- Idea #4 The Business Development Process will create stable predictable results and, with attentive care, will flourish.
There is no "magical bullet" for creating a business. Creating a business is hard work and requires hard work. It is important to realize that your business is a reflection of you. If you are sloppy, your business is sloppy; if you are a poor salesman, your business is not selling.
[edit] Chapter 2. The Entrepreneur, the Manager, and the Technician
When people go into business they become three people in one: the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. These three different roles cause conflict because their are fundamtental differences between these identities.
The Entreprenuer
This personality is the energizer, the visionary, and the dreamer. He lives in the future, always dealing with "what if" and "if when". He has a strong need for control. He has to control the present to create the future that he is living in.
The Manager
The Manager is pragmatic. He creates order and predictability and lives in the past. He needs order, he holds strong to the status quo. The manager runs behind the entrepreneur to clean up the mess. Without the entrepreneur, there would be no mess to clean. Between the conflict of the entrepreneur's vision and the managers pragmatism, we find the creation of all great work.
The Technician
The Technician is the doer of the vision and slave of the order. He isn't interested in ideas, he is interested in how to do it. To the technician, thinking is unproductive unless it is thinking about the job that needs to be done. Without the technician, nothing would get done, but a lot of people would be thinking about it.
"The entrepreneur dreams, the manager frets, the technician ruminates". The average small business owner is only 10 percent Entrepreneur, 20 percent manager, and 70 percent Techinician. Balance needs to be created within these three to create success.
[edit] Chapter 3. Infancy: The Technician's Phase
With growth comes change. As a business grows, the owner needs to grow as well. In the infancy stage the owner is the business. Eventually he falls behind, he can't keep up with all the work that's coming. He then realizes the business has become the boss and he is a slave to the increasing demands of his customers. The problem evolves because the Technician has been ignoring the roles of the Manager and the Entrepreneur and the strategic and the entrepreneurial work are not being done. Without a guide, you often get lost. Without a manager and entrepreneur your business is lost.
All too often, the business owner focuses on what he wants instead of what the business needs. Infancy ends when the owner realizes things have to change.
[edit] Chapter 4. Adolescence: Getting Some Help
In order to begin to fulfill the roles of the manager and entrepreneur you will need to get some help. You need to hire technicians to do the busy work. One of the hardest parts of bringing in help is that someone is going to know your secret, know how you are running the business, and know how much you are making. This can be very exposing. Having an employee, however, allows you to start being the boss. This is a new area. Becoming a boss may be outside of your comfort zone. The technician inside of you wants to work in the business—he's not sure how to do anything else.
[edit] Chapter 5. Beyond the Comfort Zone
The key to progressing is to be willing to move out of your comfort zone. The Technican's boundary is determined by how much work he can do alone. The Manager's boundaries are determined by how many workers he can effectively manage. The Entrepreneur's boundary is the amount of managers he can rally behind his cause.
[edit] Chapter 6. Maturity and the Entrepreneurial Perspective
[edit] Part II: The Turn-Key Revolution: A New View of Business
[edit] Chapter 7. The Turn-Key Revolution
[edit] Chapter 8. The Franchise Prototype
[edit] Chapter 9. Working On Your Business, Not In It
a. Constant Value “Do what you do so well that they want to see it again and bring their friends.” Walt Disney b. Operated by the people with the lowest possible skill Idiot proof it c. Stand out as a place of impeccable order Everyone has a job and does it d. Everything is documented It is all planned e. Uniformly Predictable f. Uniforms
[edit] Part III: Building a Small Business That Works!
[edit] Chapter 10. The Business Development Process
[edit] Chapter 11. Your Business Development Program
[edit] Chapter 12. Your Primary Aim
[edit] Chapter 13. Your Strategic Objective
[edit] Chapter 14. Your Organizational Strategy
[edit] Chapter 15. Your Management Strategy
[edit] Chapter 16. Your People Strategy
[edit] References
Categories: Business | Book | Nonfiction
