For years I’d heard small business owners raving about this excellent book call The E-Myth, but as it was around the time of the dot com hype when everything was ‘e’ something I assumed it was just another book jumping on the bandwagon. In actual fact the title refers to the Michael Gerber’s belief that entrepreneurs make poor business people. Maybe if it had been called The Entrepreneur Myth I’d have read it sooner.
More precisely, Greber believes that most people that start their businesses are technicians and they start a business based on their technical skills - and that’s exactly what I did with my first business - but being a technician with a good understanding the technical work behind a business does not necessarily make us competent to run a business doing that technical work.
He suggests that are three roles in any business; technician, manager and entrepreneur. Initially all three will be played by the business owner but to be successful the business will need to be able to define the work of each role and then employ staff to fill each role, leaving the owner to fulfil the role of entrepreneur developing the business strategy and bringing new ideas into the business.
The The E-Myth Revisited then follows the story of Sarah as she works with him to grow her bakery. Don’t be fooled however the information is applicable to any business.
Greber writes in a clear and well-paced manner, and the story of Sarah gives so life to the information presented.
I believe all entrepreneurs not matter what stage they are at should have read this book, if you haven’t then do so, but please don’t be like the people that raved about the book to me, yet kept on doing the same old thing. Read it, learn from it and action it.
You can buy it from Amazon UK or Amazon USA.
This blog is about business opportunities and ideas that I spot, think of or hear about and think are useful and interesting. It is intended to provide ideas and inspriation for you to help you find the right business idea for you to then grow it into a successful business.
This rates in my top 5 business books read. It takes all the tomes of academic business management stuff, that is as easy to digest as a cardboard box, and strips it down and presents it in a manner mere mortals such as myself can understand. Most importantly, it inspires owners to make change. Nobody should ever be allowed into business before they read it. ( I should be on a commission for this
P.S. john, I love your new theme, very cool and easy to navigate around.
Lindsay,
I have to agree it’s one of my top 5 business books too.
Thanks for the positive feedback on the new theme. I’m much happier with it than the old one.
This is so weird, because I just got around to reading it myself (like you, I was fooled by the “e”) and I keep referring back to it on a daily basis.
Must be the Law of Attraction or something, because I too wrote a post on my blog today about this book. I quoted from chapter 12, Your Primary Aim.
Thanks for putting my exact sentiments about this book so concisely into words.
Great blog!
Cristina,
I actually read it a few years ago but I’ve reviewing it ready for a forthcoming feature on the top ten books for entrepreneurs.
John,
As usual you are right on the money. I am coming back after having bombed out of my second business and what Gerber points out is quite true. It may be a little hard to actually to implement. As for the e thing… I have been lecturing in e-commerce for a while and yes I thought it was a technology book as well.
Thanks!
Luke.
Luke,
Thanks. I agree it’s hard when you’re just trying to make a business work to stop, step back and begin to think about the future. But it’s definitely worthwhile and more often than not begins to relieve the pressure immediately.
[...] I was recently reminded of this book when reading John Cricket’s excellent blog “Business Opportunities and Ideas ” where he explains how: he recently read the book after having put off its reading over the years, and how important he too, thinks it is… [...]
[...] I was recently reminded of this book when reading John Cricket’s excellent blog “Business Opportunities and Ideas ” where he explains how: he recently read the book after having put off its reading over the years, and how important he too, thinks it is… [...]
[...] Say for a moment you have working class values. If you don’t think about what your values are and imagine that you thought about work and it’s value in your life. I am plagued with working class values. I cannot see a way around it. Almost everything I do has to be work. One day I sat back and questioned this after reading an earlier version of Richard Branson’s autobiography. That person worked hard… but he worked smart. He, with the help of thousands of other people, built the Virgin empire which despite it’s critics is very large and very successful. He now spends his time flashing that toothy smile for the cameras and evaluating business plans (reminds me of the e-myth … not not e-commerce). The reality is this simple: the rich don’t make money from hard work… they make money from having a good idea, making it work through collective mobilisation and so on. [...]
I agree that it really is an excellent book and one that I recommend that all my clients read.
The funny thing is that when I first bought it, I didn’t rate it at all.
I didn’t like the writing style and the critical messages whizzed straight past my nose.
That was some years ago now and I’m delighted to say that I saw the light.
Anyone serious about starting or managing a small business has to seek out this book.
Glad you’ve seen the light.
[...] I subscribe to problogger, like I imagine most bloggers do, and I came across this article this morning about full time blogging being a process. In the article it referenced (I am academic what can I say) the article from Get Rich Slowly about finding the guts to follow your dreams. Now, I am reading the E-Myth Revisted by Michael Gerber at the moment and I think he would have something to say about becoming a ‘full time blogger’. Gerber identifies three roles of the business person: The Entrepreneur (visionary), The Manager and The technician. The manager runs the business whilst the Entrepreneur focuses on it’s creative growth when the technician is performing the duties required to get the work done. A friend of mine says it this way. There is the pioneer who blazes the trail and then there’s other people who support that work by being ‘administrators’ and keeping the work going. [...]
Hi John,
I’ve loved this book for many years, probably since I started my business in 1996. I’ve had the book so long and read it so many times I’ve lost track of when I originally bought it. I go back and read chapters that will bring the reason why I started my business in the first place. It’s a wealth of information for the small (and growing) business owner.
FYI: I just finished a great little book along the same line as the classic “Who Moved My Cheese”. It’s called The Go-Giver. The authors are Bob Burg and John David Mann. Michael Gerber gave it a very nice endorsement. Check it out. I think it will be a great addition to your best book list.
Happy New Year!