Business Coaching

Michael Gerber Awakening The Entrepreneur Within 2 Stars

I am a big fan of Michael Gerber and the ideas that have built E Myth Worldwide into one of the largest and most respecting business coaching firms in the world.

In March 2008 Michael Gerber released his new book, "Awakening The Entrepreneur Within: How Ordinary People Can Create Extraordinary Companies" and it is released in the UK in June.

I am very disappointed in "Awakening The Entrepreneur Within".

I expected a great book. I had attended a Dreaming Room back in October 2006 and expected the book to have a clear process for helping entrepreneurs to find and develop their dream. I also expected stories of success from the Dreaming Rooms.

Instead we had a few ideas that have been applied to the creation of E Myth Worldwide and a made up story of "Who Is Manny Espanosa?"

Find out why the book made me angry but I still think that you have to read it.

See my Awakening The Entrepreneur Within review

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for the customer focused entrepreneur

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Entrepreneurs: If You Are Good Enough You're Old Enough

Recently I have found myself thinking about "what is the right age to start a business?" I've come to the conclusion that if you are good enough, you are old enough.

Starting a business in your late teens or early twenties

You have bags of energy and enthusiasm but you are short of experience of working for other people. You may not have seen how established businesses handle various issues and you may not have much team management experience.

Finance may be very tight at this age unless you have benefited from an inheritance or you are able to borrow money from wealthy family members prepared to take a risk in your success.

Is this the time to become an entrepreneur and start a new business?

Starting a business in your thirties

You have years of experience and have moved up the management ladder with your employer. You have developed some of the business and management skills needed to succeed in business.

But you now have responsibilities - perhaps a spouse, children, a huge mortgage on your house.

Is this the time to become an entrepreneur and start a new business?

Starting a business in your late forties or early fifties

The kids have now left home, your mortgage payments are a much smaller proportion of your salary and you have some money put to one side.

You have thirty years of work experience, much of it in management but your job is well paid, you enjoy it and if your new business fails you doubt whether you could get another job that paid 70% of your currently salary. Everything is so comfortable but you still yearn to be your own boss.

Is this the time to become an entrepreneur and start a new business?

Starting a business in retirement

You've been employed all your working life but you still want to prove to yourself that you have what it takes to make it on your own.

Is this the time to become an entrepreneur and start a new business?

What Actually Happens - How Old Are Entrepreneurs When They Start A Business

A search on the Internet has failed to come up with definitive answers or a reliable source across different countries (but if you know of one, please let me know).

I have seen various statistics quoted - 36, 42 or 26 to 35

I also found one interesting article but my computer crashed so I lost it and my first version of this posting that talked about the fact the two types of people start their own businesses:

• The people with a brilliant idea who just have to do it
• The people who find it difficult to get or keep a job

This suggests that it is the people with average ability who are employed but the entrepreneurs are likely to be both sides of average. You can see it in some famous entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson but you can't dismiss the management greats like Jack Welch as average.

You can also see that sometimes necessity is the driver of entrepreneurship. If you can't find a job, you only have two choices - start your own business or become a burden on the state and that's where pride kicks in.

My Own Story

I started my own business when I was 35 when I was just so sick of being employed after working for six different chief executives in six years in the same company.

I've never regretted it for a moment and certainly never applied for a job in the last thirteen years since I made the decision.

If You Are Good Enough You Are Old Enough

It was Robert Kiyosaki in the Rich Dad Poor Dad books which showed how the traditional advice given to children is "work hard at school, go to university and get a good degree, get a good job and work your way up the career ladder" but that's the story of the Poor Dad.

The Rich Dad knows there is a better way and that is to start a successful business.

But here's the kicker.

Many small businesses start and fail.

People don't have what it takes to be successful or they fail to identify an idea which really provides an opportunity for profit.

Full marks to the people behind Starbucks but you wouldn't start up a rival firm now would you?

I stand by the "if you are good enough, you are old enough" but hwo do you make sure that you have the skills that you need to succeed?

There is my blog of course and a wide range of business books. Some of you may even become clients.

Training For Young Entrepreneurs

In recent weeks I have learnt of two schemes in the UK to help young people learn how to be entrepreneurs.

Michael Gerber, DreamStart and Pracademic Degree

World famous small business guru and author of the E Myth books, Michael Gerber has combined with DreamStart and Huddersfield University have created a uniquely practical degree.

It is my understanding that students will be taught how to create and management a business and do it in the real world so that when they receive their degree, they also have a flourishing business.

You can read more about the Pracademic Degree

Michael Gerber is making one of his rare trips to the UK in June at the DreamStart Conference at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on 24 June 2008.

I have negotiated a special price for the readers of my blog and email newsletter. The normal price is £99 per ticket which looks a great deal anyway to feel the special aura around a business guru like Michael Gerber. The special Your Profit Coach price is just £75 per ticket. I don't know how long this special offer will last so take this opportunity to book because I am sure the event will be a sell out.

To take advantage of this special deal, all you have to do is book the Dream Start tickets through this link and enter Your Profit Coach as the booking reference in the space provided. You will then be invoiced at the lower price.

Peter Jones & the National Enterprise Academy

Serial entrepreneur Peter Jones, famous from his appearances on Dragons Den and Tycoon television programmes, launched the National Enterprise Academy and has received from the UK's Prime Minster Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling.

Peter Jones launches Enterprise Academy

The first venture is in London but there are advanced talks with my MBA school, the Manchester Business School and then the program will be rolled out around the country.

Peter Jones explains "The academy’s mission is to be a catalyst for cultural change in the UK, encouraging and stimulating more entrepreneurial activity – as well as providing young people with the skills and confidence to aim higher and be more successful in relation to enterprise in the workplace or starting their own businesses."

Help For The Older Entrepreneurs

Fortunately it is not just the young who are receiving help.

PRIME (the Prince's Initiative for Mature Enterprises) helps people over the age of 50 to start a new business.

So if you are too young to retire, you can find out more about PRIME and how they can help you to start a new business.

There is also a network forum, the Olderpreneur network for people over 50 who want to start a business or are already running a business.

The Age of the Entrepreneur

The "age of the entrepreneur" which I first heard Michel Gerber mention and I believe that it really is the time to make that break from an employed wage slave to being an entrepreneur, living off your own wits and hard work.

To help I have put together a New Business Start Up Kit of free reports to help you to think about what it takes to start a successful business.

[These reports are written for the UK market and while much of the advice is relevant to entrepreneurs in any country, the legal compliance based information only fits the UK. You need to check facts with an experienced and qualified adviser.]

Name:

Email:

I don't pass on your email details to anyone else - I hate spam - and you can unsubscribe from the email list at any time.

But if you fill in your details, subscribe and confirm your email address on my follow up email you will receive:

Five reports to help you make the jump to being an entrepreneur by starting your new business:

1. Advice on starting in business... ideas that work
    
2. Getting the best possible start - business startup checklists
    
3. Quick tips for starting a business
    
4. Understanding what makes an entrepreneur
    
5. Venture capital tips and traps

Stay on the list and I will send you between two and four emails a month including the latest copy of Better Business Focus, the guide to managing a small business for success.

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Michael Gerber E Myth Mastery - 4 Stars

"E Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company" by Michael E. Gerber can be seen as the follow up to his classic The E Myth Revisited."

I was going to review his new book "Awakening The Entrepreneur Within" but after reading it, I have realised that Michael Gerber is on a voyage and I can't comment on the new book until I have explained my thoughts about "E Myth Mastery."

The E Myth Story So Far

In "The E Myth Revisited" Michael Gerber explains why most small businesses don't work as they should.

Most businesses start when someone who is working in a business has an entrepreneurial seizure and says "This is crazy. I shouldn't be working for him. I know more about doing the real work than him but he goes home with the profit, lives in the big house and drives the fancy car. I can do that."

Unfortunately the person is a technician and knows exactly how to do the work of a technician but little about the work of a manager controlling the business and managing the team and nothing about the business building skills needed to be an entrepreneur.

The technician finds a few customers but carries on preferring to do the technician's work being is busy, busy, busy with the work of the other roles piled on top but never getting done to the right level.

It's a classic case of being too busy working IN the business to work ON the business.

Meeting Sarah From All About Pies

The book starts with Sarah, the role model from "The E Myth Revisited", ten years after her business had been transformed. Only it hadn't been transformed because Sarah hadn't been changed. She was still a small business owner at heart.

Sickly, Syrupy Writing

Many parts of this book are excellent and I have given copies to clients and recommended that others buy it but I must warn you that the biggest drawback is the sickly writing style which makes the audio version of "E Myth Mastery" completely unlistenable.

Michael Gerber seems to think that he is Barbara Cartland writing bad romantic fiction. To make my point I opened the book at random and found this on the first page I tried (page 71).

"Her face was bright, flush with life, her eyes clear and excited, her smile beaming. We hugged each other like old, old friends do, and spoke each other's names..." Yuck!

There is no place for this type of nonsense in any business book that intends to be taken seriously as much of E Myth Mastery deserves to be.

Unless you want more of this rubbish do not buy the E Myth Mastery audio program because you even miss out on the compensating good stuff.

The Seven Disciplines

The good stuff is that Michael Gerber draws on the Seven Disciplines covered in the full E Myth Mastery business coaching program which costs thousands of dollars for businesses to work through with an E Myth coach. I know because I am one of the thousands of people who have bought it.

The seven disciplines are:

1. Enterprise leader
    
2. Marketing leader
    
3. Financial leader
    
4. Management leader
    
5. Client fulfilment leader
    
6. Lead conversion leader
    
7. Lead generation leader

You get the actual text from a selection of the E Myth Mastery workbooks together with details of a website where you can download the E Myth form templates to work through.

While I may not agree with everything written in E Myth Mastery, what you do get is outstanding provided you are prepared to work through it.

Michael Gerber believes in systemisation and letting the system carry the strain so that the coaching can be done by less experienced employees. This effectively means a system which helps and encourages the business owner to find their own answers across the seven disciplines. There is plenty of general business theory which you will see as I describe each discipline in more detail.

The Enterprise Leader

The real book starts on page 71 although there are one or two nuggets of enlightenment within the opening section which makes it worth quickly scanning. It also sets the scene as the conversation/love-in with Sarah continues throughout the book to introduce each new discipline.

You get introduced to the five essential skills of leadership - concentration, discrimination, organisation, innovation and communication which I can't argue with.

The Business Plan That Always Works

This is basically the heart centred plan based on fulfilling a meaningful vision rather than the head based logic of what you think your financial backers need to see.

There is a lot of sense here which echoes my own views that too many business plans are not worth the paper they are written on, let alone the hours spent preparing and reviewing them.

Pillar 2 of my Eight Pillars of Business Prosperity starts with your vision and moves it down to how you are going to spend your time taking action. 

Business Quantification

No arguments from me here either. Your Key Numbers is pillar 1 of my Eight Pillars. If you want to improve and achieve, you have to know where you are starting from and how you are performing as you try new things.

The Marketing Leader

Pillar 3 of my Eight Pillars is your marketing position in the competitive world and the discipline of the marketing leader looks at the same issues.

Your Most Probable Customer

You get introduced to customer demographics -  who, what, where - all essential to know if you are going to correctly target your most likely customers.

Customer Perceptions and Behaviour

This one section is worth at least five times the price of the book and why I spend all that money on the E Myth Mastery program. I hoped to learn more but it's all here in the E Myth Mastery book.

This section introduces you to the idea of understanding how your customers think and make decisions - the art and science of psychographics.

I have been fascinated by the idea of how customers make buying decisions and weigh up the value they receive from buying and compare it against the price they pay for more than ten years. While I have read much about customer value, this was the first time that the term psychographics entered my brain and stayed there.

As I expand my thoughts about being a customer focused entrepreneur you can expect much more on this blog about this subject but the E Myth Mastery book is a superb introduction.

I have been reading marketing books for over twenty years and achieved a distinction in my MBA because I was a swot and love reading about business. I have never seen the logical/emotional parts of the purchase decision better or more comprehensively explained.

In fact the marketing books tend to emphasise the rational side of the decision, perhaps because it is an academic subject and perhaps because logic can be measured.

It is only in the sales training books and audios that I have found the idea that customers buy emotionally.

The basic explanation of the conversation that goes on in your brain included here is excellent although I do have some reservations with where Michael Gerber takes it.

There are some profound issues here and in trying to systematise, you can lose some of the subtle nuances which make all the difference.

Basically there are various influences on the unconscious mind like people's perceptions of themselves and their situation. It defines their reality which when combined with their motivations and drives goes a long way to explaining their behaviour.

The buying decision itself is a conversation between their gratification preference (emotional desires going straight to the subconscious) and their purchase preference (logical justifications for the purchase) which are bounded by subconscious associations.

This really is great material if you want to spend a few hours trying to put yourself in the shoes of your typical customers and try and work out how they think and look at the world.

If you can't be bothered then it won't appeal to you as much but the more you try to understand, the more you confirm your theories through observation and conversation. The more you actually understand, the more your marketing campaigns cut through the clutter like a laser beam and that means better results for lower cost.

Positioning and Differentiating Your Business

As any business student will tell you, the more you differentiate your business away from your competitors in ways that customers value, the more successful your business will be.

Again the contents of this section are great.

Financial Leader

I found this section interesting from two aspects

1. By qualification I am a chartered accountant so I find money issues easy so it was fascinating to read the insights about how many business owners fear dealing with money issues because it all seems so complicated and intimidating.
    
2. Michael Gerber was in financial trouble. He had told this story before in "The Power Point" but the business that became E Myth Worldwide effectively over-traded. They thought they were doing well. The top line was growing but the cash position was desperate and at one stage it looked like the business may have collapsed.
    
   If you feel intimidated by money and the idea of talking to your accountant and/or bank manager, then I am sure that this chapter will resonate. You will find comfort that even a business great like Michael Gerber has struggled with financial control.

Getting You On the Right Path

An explanation of the financial model of the business is provided including some pricing calculations.

Maximum Cash

Critical cash control ideas.

I wrap all this up in my Pillar 1 on Key Numbers.

Management Leader

Creating A High Performance Environment

This is about building the culture of the business to achieve your vision, starting with self management.

I pick this up in Pillar 7 about leading your team together with the self management issues in Pillar 2 from vision to action.

Operations Manual

One of the ideas that Michael Gerber is most famous for is systematising the business and creating a franchise prototype, even if you have no intention of franchising. In this section he explains how to set up your operations manual.

This comes through in my Pillar 8 systematising your business.

Client Fulfilment Leader

This is effectively your operations and how you meet the promises made to your customer before they decided to buy.

Your Client Fulfilment Baseline

This is back to knowing your key numbers for your business processes connected with client fulfilment.

There are basically three processes:

1. The production process
2. The delivery process
3. The customer service process

If you buy rather than make, your purchasing process would be your production process - how you actually obtain what you sell.

The delivery transfers the value to the customer which is easy to understand for physical goods. For services, production and delivery may be combined eg hairdressing.

The client service process is everything you do above the bare minimum of producing and delivering.

I pick this up in my Pillar 6 turning one time buyers into repeat buyers.

Systems Innovation

Michael Gerber walks you through the E Myth systems improvement process which you may find basic if you have been involved in big process improvement projects but could be a revelation if you haven't seen any systematic process improvement methods.

Pillar 8 again for me, systematising your business also includes improving the underlying processes.

Lead Conversion Leader

Lead Conversion

This is basically the selling process. Marketing has produced a lead from your advertising, your direct mail, your website... but the prospect hasn't bought anything yet. This takes you through a nice simple generic consultative selling system. No complaints there from me.

On my approach, this is all about Pillar 5 sales lead conversion.

Client Re-Conversion

This deals with the persuading one-time customers to buy again by developing great relationships.

My pillar 6 here, increasing the lifetime value of the customer.

Lead Generation

Channels reaching your target market

To buy from you, your customers have to know that you exist so in this chapter Michael Gerber looks at the different ways of reaching your target customers based on where they are and what they do.

Application of Lead Generation Principles

In this section, Michael Gerber explains very concisely how you can get your message across in a ten step process.

This section on lead generation is wrapped up in my Pillar 4 Lead Generation.

Conclusion

As I have worked my way through the E Myth Mastery book I have shown you how the Mastery program fits with my Eight Pillars of Business Prosperity.

You will have seen that while the order and the way the components fit together is different. I have a preference for getting orders flowing in to make more money while Michael Gerber likes to fix the business first.

Because we seem to agree on so much you can understand why I like the core of the book and why I am happy to recommend it to clients.

The E Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber is a great resource for any small business owner looking to improve their business. It is not the whole story and effectively serves as a long lead generation technique for the full E Myth Mastery program.

I would buy "The E Myth Revisited" book first because that helps to set the scene but "E Myth Mastery" is a much more practical book, especially when you download the worksheets from the website.

I can't forgive it for the sugary text that is just too sickly for words and the book is docked one star from the five stars that I would have given it - so that is a four star rating from me. The book is highly recommended.

Just grit your teeth, pour yourself a brandy to settle your stomach, skim read the first section and the introductory sections for each of the seven disciplines and start learning how you can build a world class company.

You can buy the book from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com and I'll earn about 20p.

If you check the dotcom reviews you will see that the E Myth Mastery is certainly polarising opinions with 11 five star ratings and 11 one star ratings

Michael Gerber Is In The UK - 24 June 2008

I've announced this before on my blog but you may have missed it. Michael Gerber is making one of his rare trips to the UK in June at the DreamStart Conference at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on 24 June 2008.

Even better I have been able to negotiate a special price for the readers of my blog and email newsletter. The normal price is £99 per ticket which looks a great deal anyway to feel the special aura around a business guru like Michael Gerber. The special Your Profit Coach price is just £75 per ticket. I don't know how long this special offer will last so take this opportunity to book because I am sure the event will be a sell out.

To take advantage of this special deal, all you have to do is book the Dream Start tickets through this link and enter Your Profit Coach as the booking reference in the space provided. You will then be invoiced at the lower price.

Don't miss this chance to find out why Michael Gerber is a legend in the world of small business advisors.

Awakening the Entrepreneur Within

If you are wondering about my review of Awakening The Entrepreneur Within, I expect to publish in about a months time.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Awakening The Entrepreneur Within - Michael Gerber Interview

"Awakening The Entrepreneur Within", the new book by Michael Gerber is released in the United States and my copy is on its way to the UK because I couldn't wait for the UK launch to read the results of the Dreaming Room process. (Get your copy from Amazon.com)

Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid has interviewed Michael Gerber about his latest book, "Awakening The Entrepreneur Within" which you can download

Michael Port interviews Michael Gerber

Thank you Michael for giving me persmission to post the Think Big Revolution teleseminars on my blog.

If you want to listten the the Think Big Revolution calls as they happen, all you have to do is sign up to the Think Big Revolution. It is free and you even get a free chapter of his Book Yourself Solid book (my review should appear later this week.)

Update - 17 March 2008

My copy of "Awakening the Entrepreneur Within" has been delivered today so I am going to get straight down and read it.

Update 2 17 March 2008 - Michael Gerber At The Dream Start Conference

I am having a Michael Gerber intensive day and I am delighted to tell you that:

1. Michael Gerber is presenting a seminar at the Dream Start conference in Leeds on Tuesday 24th June 2008. This looks like a fascinating event and you can learn more about the Dream Start conference.
    
2. I have been able to negotiate a special price for the readers of my blog and email newsletter. The normal price is £99 per ticket which looks a great deal anyway to feel the special aura around a business guru like Michael Gerber. The special Your Profit Coach price is just £75 per ticket. I don't know how long this special offer will last so take this opportunity to book because I am sure the event will be a sell out.
   
   To take advantage of this special deal, all you have to do is book the Dream Start tickets through this link and enter Your Profit Coach as the booking reference in the space provided. You will then be invoiced at the lower price.
    
3. There is a chance for you to have the full "In The Dreaming Room" experience with Michael Gerber because an event is being organised at London Heathrow for 27 June (evening only) to 29 June 2008. If you want more details, can you email me at paul@plancs.co.uk with Dreaming Room in the title and I will forward your email on to the organiser.
   
   This will be a premium small group event of about 25 to 35 people and so it is at a premium price of £1,500 but you will have the chance to interact personally with Michael Gerber.

Is Michael Gerber A Good Speaker?

One word. "Dynamite" as this short video shows.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Michael Gerber DreamStart 24 June 2008

Great news, Michael Gerber, famous author of the E Myth series of books will be presenting in the UK on 24 June 2008 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

Michael will be appearing at the DreamStart Exhibition and Conference and will present two "Awaken The Entrepreneur Within" sessions.

This is the first time Michael Gerber has been in the UK to work since the two day October 2006 Dreaming Room I attended in London.

His new book Awakening The Entrepreneur Within is scheduled for released in the UK on 2 June 2008 according to Amazon but released in the US on 4 March. Guess where my copy is coming from - it is already on order. Get your copy from Amazon.com

For more details about the DreamStart conference click here and I may see you there because Michael is a great presenter with an important message to entrepreneurs to develop a clear dream and vision for the business which inspires greatness.

Update 17 March 2008

I have been able to negotiate a special price for the readers of my blog and email newsletterat the DreamStart conference. The normal price is £99 per ticket which looks a great deal anyway to feel the special aura around a business guru like Michael Gerber. The special Your Profit Coach price is just £75 per ticket.

To take advantage of this special deal, all you have to do is book the Dream Start tickets through this link and enter Your Profit Coach as the booking reference in the space provided. You will then be invoiced at the lower price.
 

There is a chance for you to have the full "In The Dreaming Room" experience with Michael Gerber because an event is being organised at London Heathrow for 27 June (evening only) to 29 June 2008. If you want more details, can you email me at paul@plancs.co.uk with Dreaming Room in the title and I will forward your email on to the organiser.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Michael Gerber Dreaming Room Free Podcast

I've found another treat for Michael Gerber fans interested in the Dreaming Room.

Not only has a publication date been put on his new book "Awakening The Entrepreneur Within: How Ordinary People Can Create Extraordinary Businesses" - it's 4 March 2008 in the USA but I don't know the date in the UK yet.

I'm excited about the book because I went to a Dreaming Room in London in October 2006 and it was fastening watching Michael Gerber working on the business while working in it as well.

I have also found a found a podcast interview of his current project - The Dreaming Room.

Thanks go to the Inside Personal Growth website and you can hear the podcast here.

This is part of my commitment to bringing you the latest and the best of the world business growth and management superstars.

Michael Gerber made his reputation with his E Myth books and I particularly recommend The E Myth Revisited.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach
Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Michael Gerber - Latest Advice To Entrepreneurs

Michael Gerber has been quiet in recent months but he's now back on the road promoting his latest thinking about entrepreneurship.

Awakening the Entrepreneur Within® in Michael Gerber's Dreaming Room® ...

I've had the pleasure of experiencing the Dreaming Room (London, October 2006) and now you can hear some of Michael Gerber's latest thinking and advice to entrepreneurs.

On the website to promote the Dreaming Room in Canada there are three mp3 audio recordings:

Awakening The Entrepreneur Within (7 minutes)

Four Entrepreneurial Personalities (9 3/4 minutes)

Five Truths Of An Entrepreneur (10 minutes)

There is also a short video on the site so if you want to attend a Dreaming Ream in Vancouver, Canada then click over to the website.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

My Experience In Michael Gerber's Dreaming Room® Part 1

I was talking to one of my Guerrilla Marketing buddies the other day and I was explaining how pleased I was with the email feedback I was receiving from this blog.

Tina clicked over to this blog and said "I see that you are a fan of Michael Gerber. Would you like to go to one of his Dreaming Rooms?"

"But Tina, I've already been. I went to to the Dreaming Room® at London Heathrow in October 2006."

Let me start to tell you what I told her.

Introduction - Who Is Michael Gerber

Michael E. Gerber is the best selling author of the E Myth series of books, the founder of E Myth Worldwide (the business coaching, training and consultancy firm) and is generally regarded as the world's number one small business guru.

His book "The E Myth Revisited" is a must read for all small business owners and advisers and if you haven't bought your copy yet then here are a couple of links to Amazon UK and USA. I'm told that over 2 million copies have been sold.

Also highly recommended (but not yet reviewed on this blog) is his follow up book "E Myth Mastery" with more details of the E Myth approach to business coaching and development. As you read the first 80 pages or so you will see Michael Gerber's frustration.

With the E Myth process he has solved many of the common small business frustrations and helped thousands of small business owners lead a much more successful business.

But the E Myth only went so far.

It gave the entrepreneur a great business to be proud of but too few of these businesses went on to grow in the way that they could and should.

His experience was that too many small business owners find a comfort zone. When their lives become easier and they make more money than they thought possible, they stop.

Michael Gerber asked himself that big question "Why?"

"Why doesn't the average small business owner take their business to the next level?"

"When they have built their franchise prototype, why don't they franchise it and make much more money?"

His answer was that there is often no dream or passion for pushing beyond the natural limits of the business and for creating something impossible. When the business is fixed, most business owners run out of inspiration because the underlying passion for turning good into great, for creating something remarkable just isn't there.

And that's where the "In The Dreaming Room®" idea started and that's what his next book "Awakening The Entrepreneur Within You" will cover. It's due out in February 2008 and I can't wait.

Ever since Michael Gerber has explained these concepts to me, I've been only too well aware that he is right.

Too many small business owners that I meet don't have a compelling vision for their business beyond meeting the economic necessities and wrestling back control over their lives.

So What Is The Dreaming Room®?

It's a special environment where people can practice what Michael calls Intentional Dreaming®.

It is where entrepreneurs find their creative spirit, their passion, their muse.... their dreams.

I understand that his inspiration was Walt Disney who used the Dreaming Room idea to create breakthroughs in animation and create those classic Disney cartoons.

The dream is core. The dream is essential.

It's the dream to really create something that touches the world and make it a better place that can provide the inspiration for the entrepreneur to build a business unique and remarkable that it really does make a difference.

This is Michael Gerber's dream - to awaken the entrepreneur within and allow many small business owners to seize the opportunity they've been given.

It was a privilege to be part of the development process of the Dreaming Room. To be there while Michael Gerber was "working on the business while working in the business". I just wish he'd send me a pre-publication copy of the book.

The next instalment

For the story of my experience in Dreaming Room 13 come back to this blog soon.

If You'd Like The Michael Gerber Experience Yourself

There are a series of events presented by Michael Gerber scheduled, both "Beyond The E Myth" and full "In The Dreaming Room" experiences. You can find out more details at Michael Gerber events.

He is also due to come to London in March although details haven't been finalised yet.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Work / Life Balance - Your Primary Aim

"Paul, how will you start to improve my business?" is a question I'm often asked when I first meet a prospective client.

I explain that "improve" is a very wide concept.

It all depends on what you (as the business owner) want to do with your business, and in particular the role that you want your business to play in your life.

The best item I've read on this is Chapter 12 "Your Primary Aim" of "The E Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. (This is one of the two books that I believe that all small business owners should read. The other is Jay Abraham's "Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You've Got".)

Quite simply you need to ask yourself and answer some fundamental questions.

This could be the first time you've really asked yourself:

• "What do I want from my life?"
     
• "What do I value most?"
     
• "What do I want to be remembered for?"

Michael Gerber takes you forward to your funeral and asks "What do you want your eulogy to say?"

Answering these questions is your chance to intentionally design the life you want to lead.

You see, until you know what you want from your life, you can't design your business in that way that it will work for you rather than you working for your business.

Until you come up with your answers, the insatiable demands of your business on your time and energy are likely to overwhelm your personal and family life.

Isn't this interesting?

You can start seeing the difference between great people and ordinary people:

• Great people create their lives actively - they live life to the full
     
• Ordinary people have their lives created for them - passively waiting for things to happen and then reacting.

But if you work on your Primary Aim you can change that because it will mean that you will have:

• a clear purpose of the life you want
     
• a surprising amount of energy
     
• renewed enthusiasm.

In this chapter of the E Myth, Michael Gerber shows that lives can change by discovering a purpose.

He tells you his own story. How he drifted from job to job until he suddenly found his calling and turned his life around.

This is your chance to put the YOU back in your business. What is your Primary Aim?

You can buy the "E Myth Revisited" from Amazon UK or USA.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Michael Gerber The E Myth Revisited - 5 Stars

Michael Gerber's "The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work And What To Do About It" is one of the most profound and far-reaching of books aimed at the small business owner and entrepreneur.

I make sure that my small business clients are aware of the book and I've even given clients and prospects a copy if I think that they will read it because it really can change your life.

It is that powerful and I am pleased to bring you my book review.

Several people recommended "The E Myth Revisited" to me and when I first read it I didn't get it.

The style of writing didn't suit me.

I couldn't empathise with the story of Sarah and her business All About Pies because much of my work experience was with larger small businesses.

I didn't want to turn a client's business into the McDonald's of their industry. The writing seemed soppy and sentimental and I was used to hard nosed, content rich business books. It didn't tell me "how" to change a business.

I now totally get the E Myth.

I read the book about once a year and I know it so well that I'm saying to clients "You need to read Chapter 12 on Your Primary Aim again. You must get this core idea that your business is there to serve your life and not the other way around."

Buy it, read it and if you are like me and still don't get it, then come back to it after three months and read it again.

The lessons the book contains are that important.

The first insight has to be the entrepreneurial myth itself.

Just because you know how to do the technical work - an accountant, a printer, a hairdresser - does not mean that you also know how to build a business.

You probably don't because nobody has taught you how to do it and you probably haven't experienced all the different areas that you now have to master.

The second revelation concerns the three distinct roles that Michael Gerber has identified - the technician who does the work, the manager who monitors and organises the work and the entrepreneur who, led by a vision, builds the business.

Michael Gerber then goes on to take the reader through a typical life-cycle of a small business which is sure to ring a few bells in your mind.

The answer recommended is to build a franchise prototype.

What you don't want to franchise your business?

That's OK because you don't have to. The idea is to design the business to such a high standard that it could be franchised because through careful design, the business can work without you.

With the right systems, processes, policies and procedures the business will run like a well-oiled machine. The aim is to build a business which depends on your systems and not your people.

It's not to say that people aren't important because they are.

But you can't allow yourself to be in the situation where your business depends on, for example,one master salesperson. Just stop and imagine the negotiation power that person has over you whe it comes to pay rises and remember, they will be skilled negotiators.

Two of the chapters that I get people to go back and read again are Chapter 12 on Your Primary Aim (what is your life about - you've only got the one and it is a finite period) and Chapter 13 on Your Strategic Objective (what does the business have to do to play its part in your Primary Aim).

These two chapters very much start defining the issue of work/life balance - do you live to work or work to live?

Just writing the review has made me want to start reading the book again. It is central to everything I do as a business coach and is required reading for anyone who wants to advise small businesses.

Even more important, it is required reading for any small business owner. Just click on the link to pick up your copy of The E Myth Revisited from Amazon UK or USA.

Or there is an audio book version.

If you like the sound of this book but you don't think that you will have the time to read it then I would like to introduce you to a book summary service that does the work for you by producing 8 to 12 page summaries of the most popular business books - Business Summaries

Have you read this book? If so, I'd love to read your opinion of "The E Myth Revisited" by Michael E. Gerber and see whether you agree with my book review.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

E Myth Mastery Review - the follow up