Book Club – E Myth Revisited
After years of glowing reviews for Michael Gerber’s The E-myth Revisited, I finally bought it and am glad I did. I love reading business books as I find it nice to get fresh ideas from time to time, which helps me learn new things and keeps me motivated as a small business owner. That being said, I often find myself struggling to finish some highly recommended books. Sometimes, I feel I need to put the book down, work on the concept and then return to the book for the next lesson. This requires lots of discipline in order to get back to what you are doing without getting sidetracked.
This book is different. I was able to get through the entire book in just a couple of sittings. That doesn’t mean the book was short on ideas; I just found it to be well written so that it could keep my attention – all while presenting ideas in a digestible format.
How does this book benefit small business owners?
I have two clear takeaways from this book. First is the idea of the technician becoming a small business owner. Being a technician is not enough and the technician that became disillusioned working as a technician for someone else needs to up their game in two other key areas. There are three roles that a small business owner needs to embrace:
- The entrepreneur that brings vision and drives business
- The manager that brings that vision to reality
- The technician that does the operation work
As an accounting firm owner, this hits home. In almost every case, an accounting firm owner started as a technician working for someone else. They prepared tax returns, did small business bookkeeping or payroll. Once you have mastered the technician’s work, it is not unusual to think about doing it for yourself. This is no different in many other industries. You could be a tradesman in construction, a chef in a restaurant or an engineer in a manufacturing company. Knowing the technical aspects is important but running a business is so much more as it includes sales and marketing, human resources, accounting, operations, customer service and more!
What can a small business owner do about this?
That is where my second main takeaway comes in – the idea that we can apply the lessons of how franchises are created and run to make our small business more successful. You do not need to own a franchise or even become one. However, the advantage of a franchise is that they produce a turn-key business model that can be handed over to an operator. With some training, they should be able to produce consistent results. As a business owner for many years now, I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. Every operation of a business should be done in a systematic manner, so it is repeatable for employees and provides a consistent experience for the customer.
The author goes on to provide some guidance for beginning to implement this in your own company, starting with your primary aim – that is, what you want this business to be able to provide to you. He then further expands upon structure and how to define job responsibilities and really get this up and running your own company.
I absolutely recommend this book to any small business owner. I would especially recommend it to business owners that feel stuck working in a business that has them questioning whether being a business owner is worth all the stress. Being a small business owner is a challenging job to tackle, but it can lead to great financial and spiritual rewards. This book can help you find a new path to combat some of the challenges that come with owning a business, and really reap the rewards.