Business Coaching

Michael Gerber E Myth Enterprise New Book

Browsing through Amazon I spotted that Michael Gerber has a new book out - "The E-Myth Enterprise: How to Turn A Great Idea Into a Thriving Business".

The book was released on June 23 2009 in the US but I didn't see any promotional blurb or any special events for The E-Myth Enterprise.

Publishers Week says Michael Gerber "identifies four essential facets of building a new company—visual, emotional, functional and financial—and the five essential skills: concentration, discrimination, organization, innovation and communication."

That sounds to me like an update of "The Power Point" by Michael Gerber published in 1991 and which has been out of print for years.

Being a big Michael Gerber fan, I of course have a copy of The Power Point.

After the disappointment of Awakening The Entrepreneur Within and importing a copy from the US before the UK launch, I want to see "The E-Myth Enterprise" in a bookshop before I spend my money.

There is only one review on Amazon.com so far - 5 stars - but it mentions the pure business poetry which is Michael Gerber's trademark. That scares me as the ideas are usually powerful but I don't enjoy the writing style.

Not sure why the launch of "The E-Myth Enterprise"has been so quiet because I think a new Michael Gerber book should be an event that is widely promoted in the small business community.

I very much see Michael Gerber as the person who invented business coaching since before him, the small business community was largely ignored by business consultants because of the cost/benefit problem. Michael Gerber showed how it could be done by teaching the entrepreneur or small business owner to do it themselves but with guidance.  

You can get a copy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

What If Competitors Copy Your Systems?

I have just read an interesting article on the E Myth blog - Imitation: Flattery or Theft - which deals with the situation where you systemise your business, have it working very smoothly and then an employee gets the entrepreneurial seizure and decides to start a business based on your proven systems.

Now to some extent I feel like saying:

"That's life. Get over it."

It is a problem about taking tacit knowledge (what people know how to do but can't explain) and turning it into systems and explicit knowledge which others can use.

You get big benefits by systemising and you carry big risks that key knowledge will be lost, if you don't systemise.

But business owners do worry but it should not be used as an excuse for not doing what is right. Fail to systemise and you become trapped in your business which becomes a regular under-performer.

A business is much more than a set of recorded systems.

The team is established and has found the best way to work the systems - and even the most careful recording won't capture every nuance - and the leader has established a culture or business personality that is very difficult to replicate.

Business ideas are transferred and I remember the success of the Japanese management systems in the eighties and the attempt to transfer these ideas to Western companies.

It was shown that you could teach the basics of total quality management and just in time production, but it was a much more difficult task to create the right mindset that was needed to make collaborative ideas like Quality Circles work.

Your Protection Is Continued Innovation

Your job is to keep moving forward by finding better ways to make the business systems work more effectively (by producing better outputs) and efficiently (by using less inputs).

When you are moving forward, you don't need to worry about a competitor who is six months behind but following in your tracks. They will stay behind you, waiting to see what you do and copying you.

The problems come not from followers but from innovators who may jump over you and create something really new and special.

E Myth Is Imitated

One other aspect of the E Myth blog was the comment that;

"We have many admirers, many advocates and yes, some who claim to do what we do. There are consultants and "coaches" out there that claim to use our methods or attempt to use a distant association with us as credibility to deliver their own programs."

It is true.

I have always seen Michael Gerber's work as one of the foundation stones for business coaching and his ideas have influenced the way a majority of business coaches think and work.

But the systemisation idea isn't an E Myth original - remember he saw how McDonalds worked by having systems so that the same result could be created in every fast food store.

And the other driver for systemisation is back to the quality movement and the need to reduce variations in the process before you could start to improve the overall performance which is embodied in ISO 9000 and earlier ideas (in the UK it used to be called BS 5750). 

Michael Gerber Interview

Browsing around the web I found this interview with Michael Gerber. It is billed as 15 minutes but it is actually 21.5 minutes long.

It is a while since I listened to Michael Gerber but it occurs to me that the fallacy of the entrepreneur and the problem of working in the business and not working on the business is even more relevant in today's recessionary times.

This interview does have a leaning towards franchising and Michael Gerber makes it clear that entrepreneurs make very poor franchisees. That's because the franchisee is the manager or technician (in E Myth terms) because the franchisee is buying a job.

The entrepreneur wants to create their own business, the franchisee needs to run the proven franchise system to the best of their ability.

If you are familiar with the E Myth book, it is interesting to hear the story of how the book came to be written.

Michael Gerber makes the valid point that it has transformed the way people look at small businesses and it is a timeless classic - you can read my review of the E Myth Revisited.

The interview also covers the Dreaming Room, Michael Gerber's business project for the last two years which helps you to find the inspiration to create something extraordinary.

The interview then resumes again at Michael Gerber continued - unfortunately there is an irritating advert at the beginning and it moves into Michael's advice to franchisees - and this is ten minutes long.

Strategic Objective: Make Your Business Work For You

One of my favourite ideas from the "E Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber is how you design your business to play its full role in your life.

First you have to start by taking a good look at what you personally want to achieve in your life and you do that in a process which Michael Gerber calls your Primary Aim and only then can you start to consider the role your business has in your life.

Many small business entrepreneurs get this the wrong way around and their business finishes up as the dominating force in their lives with the business owner unable to break free, even for a well earned holiday.

If you are going to live your life purposefully and when you think about it, how else do you want to live? There is little benefit in drifting and allowing yourself to be tossed around by the people and  the events you encounter.

So what is your strategic objective for your business?

Strategic Objective

Michael Gerber defines your strategic objective as "a very clear statement of what your business has to ultimately do for you to achieve your Primary Aim."

This way you will see your business as the means to an end and a way to enrich your life rather than something that enslaves you into a life of service.

Michael Gerber has recently appeared to change his mind about the purpose of a business and in his latest book Awakening The Entrepreneur Within he talks about the need for entrepreneurs to create a great business of significance and size.

It's not a view I agree with and I much prefer this concept - the purpose of your business is to be whatever you want it to be.

There is no compunction to grow if you only want a lifestyle business. It doesn't stop you producing an extraordinary small business that delights its clients and everyone who comes into contact with it.

Your Strategic Objective and Money

There is no denying it. Money makes the world go around and is an important factor in our lives.

How much do you want to earn from your business?

How much cash do you need to extract to live the lifestyle you want for you and your family? It was probably a key factor in your Primary Aim and the business has to deliver if you are going to be successful?

If your business is going to serve you properly it must be designed to provide you with this money throughout its life and with the suitable exit value when or if you decide to sell it.

Your Strategic Objective And Customers

I believe your business is about much more than money which is why I emphasise the importance of being a customer focused entrepreneur.

What is the purpose of your business?

For you to earn your money objectives, your business has to provide great value to your customers and to do that I believe that you must passionately believe in what you are doing to solve customers' problems or to help them achieve their dreams.

That means rising above the commodity product level and seeing your business in terms of what it brings to your customers and how it changes their lives.

The E Myth book reminds me of the famous quote from Charles Revlon:

"In the factory Revlon manufactures cosmetics, but in the store Revlon sells hope."

So what are your customers really buying?

Your Strategic Objective: An Opportunity Worth Pursuing

When you bring your financial objectives together with the need to create great value for customers, you need to decide whether this is an opportunity worth pursuing.

Is the market opportunity big enough?

Can you capture a sufficient market share?

Why should customers buy from you in preference to other suppliers?

Your Strategic Objective: Clarifying Your Thoughts

Michael Gerber recommends that you answer a few basic questions as you prepare your strategic objective:

1. When will you be finished? Is your business a 5 year project? 10 years? Until you are sixty?
    
   
2. Where are you going to compete? Do you want your business to be local, national or international?
    
   
3. Where does your business fit in the supply chain? Are you selling to consumers or other businesses?
    
   
4. What standards are you going to set within your company?
   

Your Strategic Objective: A Game Worth Playing

I believe that you and your customers are the most important stakeholders in your business and whose interests have to come first.

Your business won't succeed if your customers don't benefit from it over and above dealing with your competitors.

And you are the boss, the controlling force. You set the rules so your views are critical and if your business isn't designed to make sure it meets the committed role in your Primary Aim, why bother?

But that also applies to other stakeholders which is why you have to make sure that your business is a game worth playing for your employees, for your suppliers and anyone else who contacts the business.

The E Myth Revisited

I believe that Michael Gerber's book "The E Myth Revisited" is a must buy for every small business entrepreneur and it is a book I like my clients to have read.

The writing style won't suit everybody. My edition has 268 pages and I could happily edit it down to about 140 pages but there are some profound messages in the book which can help liberate you from your business.

E Myth Mastery Michael Gerber Review

E Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber

Book Review - 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"  (link takes you to my review on my Business Books blog) 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.

so lets press on with my "E Myth Mastery" review.

Meet Sarah From All About Pies

E Myth Mastery starts with Sarah, the role model from "The E Myth Revisited", ten years after her business had been transformed.

The only problem is that her business hadn't been transformed because Sarah hadn't been changed. She was still a small business owner at heart and not an entrepreneur with a compelling vision.

E Myth Mastery Suffers From Sickly, Syrupy Writing

Many parts of this E Myth Mastery book are excellent and I have given copies to clients and recommended that others buy it.

I must warn you that the biggest drawback is the sickly writing style which makes the audio version of "E Myth Mastery" completely unlistenable without a bucket close by. Avoid it even if it's in a charity shop for a pound.

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 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.

I suspect that many copies have been bought by people who loved "The E Myth Revisited" and they just haven't made it through to where "E Myth Mastery" does provide great value.

E Myth Mastery And 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.

This E Myth course costs thousands of dollars for businesses to work through with an E Myth coach. I know because I am one of the many people who have bought it and whilst you don't get it all, you do get a surprising amount.

The seven E Myth Mastery 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 The E Myth Mastery system 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 E Myth Enterprise Leader

The real E Myth Mastery 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. Unfortunately the syrupy text is difficult to avoid unless you ruthlessly skip sections.

The "E Myth Mastery" book introduces you 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

The E Myth business plan is a 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 E Myth 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 the main reason why I spend all that money on the E Myth Mastery program. I hoped to learn more but it's all here for you in the E Myth Mastery book along with the worksheets.

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 in E Myth Mastery is excellent although I do have some reservations with where Michael Gerber takes it.

There are some profound issues 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 in E Myth Mastery 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 about your customers and the way they think and act, 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 in E Myth Mastery are great.

The E Myth Financial Leader

I found this section of the book 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 has 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.

The E Myth Management Leader

This section of the book looks at managing the internal affairs of the business.

Creating A High Performance Environment

Michael Gerber explains  how to build the culture of the business to achieve your vision the E Myth way, starting with self management.

I pick these issues 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.

The E Myth 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 in a hairdressing business, the customer receives the service at exactly the same time as the hairdresser provides it.

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

I pick these key steps in my Pillar 6 turning one time buyers into repeat buyers since they are critically involved with customer service, making sure that promises made in the sales and marketing stages are kept together with Pillar 8 on systemisation.

Systems Innovation

Michael Gerber walks you through the E Myth systems improvement process. You may find it very basic if you have been involved in big process improvement projects but it 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 and their improvement.

The E Myth Lead Conversion Leader

This section of the book looks at converting leads and enquiries into orders.

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. Lead conversion takes you through a nice simple generic consultative selling system. No complaints there from me.

In my approach, lead conversion is the focus of Pillar 5.

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 covers the same ground.

The E Myth Lead Generation Leader

This is effectively marketing which has two elements - the media or communication method and the marketing message.

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 on 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.

Since both are designed to be comprehensive approaches to business development it is no surprise that there is a large amount of overlap.

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 although it does depend on the initial assessment of the business. Michael Gerber and the E Myth Mastery program is more regimented and wants to fix the business first before reaching out to more potential customers.

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 the book to clients and prospects to help them see a different perspective.

"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.

If you are unfamiliar with the E Myth ideas I would buy "The E Myth Revisited" book first because it helps to set the scene.

"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 "E Myth Mastery" 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 from Michael Gerber.

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.

Awakening the Entrepreneur Within

If you are wondering about my review of the next book by Michael Gerber, here is the link Awakening The Entrepreneur Within (review is on my Business Books blog).

Unfortunately everything bad about "E Myth Mastery" is exaggerated in the new book but without the high quality content. On a kind day, I gave it two stars.

Your Primary Aim - The Work/Life Balance

"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 (or see my E Myth Review)

E Myth Revisited Michael Gerber Review

The E Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber
Book Review - 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 E Myth 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 E Myth Revisited book review.

What Is All The Fuss About With The E Myth Revisited?

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

Michael Gerber's 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. The E Myth Revisited didn't tell me "how" to change a business.

I now totally get the E Myth Revisited.

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 in the E Myth about 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."

Give The E Myth Revisited A Try

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

The lessons the E Myth book contains are that important.

Key Insights From The E Myth Revisited

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 in the E Myth 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 solution recommended in The E Myth Revisited is to build a franchise prototype.

The E Myth Says "Build Systems"

What you don't want to franchise your business?

That's OK because you don't have to.

Michael Gerber's idea in the E Myth 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 your business will run like a well-oiled machine. The aim is to build a business which depends on your systems and not your people.

Don't Become People Dependent

The E Myth Revisited does not 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 when it comes to pay rises and remember, they will be skilled negotiators.

The Core Of The E Myth

Two of the chapters that I get people to go back and read again in "The E Myth Revisited" 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?

You Need The E Myth Revisited

Just writing the review of "The E Myth Revisited" 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 essential 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.

If you like the sound of The E Myth Revisited but you don't think that you have the time to read it then I recommend a book summary service that produces 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.

E Myth Mastery Review - the follow up to the E Myth Revisited

Awakening The Entrepreneur Within - published in 2008, I believe Michael Gerber backs away from some of the central ideas of The E Myth in this book.