The E Myth Revisited Book Review
Originally published in 1986 and then revised 15 years later, this book is a must-read for any small business owner. It will help you understand why 80% of small businesses fail and how to prevent your own from being among them.
What is the key idea of the E-Myth book? It’s the belief that skillful technical work and a good idea are sufficient ingredients for business success.
The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
Michael Gerber’s E-Myth is a legendary book that has been read and used by a huge number of business owners. This book can help you shatter some myths and get a fresh perspective on how to become successful in your own business. It is in line with a variety of books like Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour Workweek and will surely give you a lot to think about.
This is a unique book in that it uses the story of Sarah, a fictional small business owner to illustrate the principles. Although some may find this distracting, it is a brilliant way to convey the ideas of the book. In this book, the reader will not only learn how to build a successful business but also how to turn it into a machine that would run smoothly even without the owner.
This is based on the same approach that Ray Kroc took to build McDonalds. In this book, the author explains how to create an organizational structure in which the entrepreneur concentrates on vision, the managers focus on order and consistency, and the technicians carry out the day-to-day operations. This is a highly relevant and valuable concept that should be applied by all business owners. It will help you to break free from doing everything yourself and allow your company to grow and thrive.
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
The E-Myth Revisited is Michael Gerber’s update of his original book that first came out in 1985. Despite being over 30 years old, this book is still relevant today. This is because the main message of the book is that most business owners misunderstand how to run a business. This leads to 80% of businesses failing in their first five years.
The book explains that the typical small business owner gets into the business because they have technical skills but do not understand how to run a business. Then they work in the business all day and at night, making it dependent on them to survive. Gerber teaches how to break free from this trap and build a business that is based on systems rather than people.
The book is a valuable read for anyone who owns or wants to start a small business. It is especially helpful for those who want to make their business saleable or scaleable. Its discussion of building your business as a franchise is foundational to this. Think of McDonalds, for example: every detail from how long french fries are left in the oven to how pickles are placed is tested and standardized before being deployed in the field. In this way, every location of the franchise delivers a consistent value to its customers.
Michael Gerber
Michael Gerber plunged into the world of business over 40 years ago, and has since helped countless entrepreneurs transform their businesses into world-class operations. In this book, he dispels the myths that many people have about starting and running a business. He explains that business failures are not due to bad luck, economic conditions or poor management. They are the result of common mistakes and false assumptions made by small business owners. He also teaches readers how to apply the lessons of franchising to any type of business, whether or not it’s a franchise. This is a must-read for anyone serious about owning and operating a successful long-term business.
Gerber’s main point is that your business is an extension of you, and transforming it starts by transforming yourself. He uses the example of a woman who runs a bakery to show that she should stop thinking of herself as a baker and start thinking of herself as a manager and entrepreneur. He explains that in order to grow her business, she must systematize it so it can run without her and provide consistent value to customers.
He outlines a 7-step business development program and demonstrates the importance of working on your business instead of in it. This is in line with other popular books like Tim Ferriss’ ‘4-Hour Workweek’, which are aimed at helping people review their work routine.