The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00094F0ES | Format: PDF
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It Description
In this audio edition of the totally revised underground best seller,
The E-Myth, Michael Gerber dispels the myths surrounding starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of running a business. He walks you through the steps in the life of a business, from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolescent growing pains, to the mature entrepreneurial perspective, the guiding light of all businesses that succeed, and shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether or not it is a franchise. Finally, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business. After you have listened to
The E-Myth Revisited, you will truly be able to grow your business in a predictable and productive way.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 8 hours and 5 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Audible.com Release Date: March 31, 2005
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00094F0ES
This book is a guide to success for small business owners. Gerber is the founder of a consulting company for small businesses. In the beginning of the book, Gerber cites the well-known failure-rate statistics for small business: 40% fail in 1 year. Of those who survive 1year, 80% fail in 5 years, and of those who survive 5 years, another 80% fail. Over the years, Gerber has observed that the small business owners who fail often share a number of characteristics, while those who succeed do so not by luck, brains, or perseverance, but by taking a different approach. This book explains the approach that is necessary for a business to survive and thrive.
One of Gerber's most striking observations is that most small businesses are started by "technicians", that is people who are skilled at something and who enjoy doing that thing. (A technician can be anything from a computer programmer to plumber to a dog groomer to a musician or lawyer.) When these technicians strike out on their own, they tend to continue doing the work they are skilled at, and ignore the overarching aspects of business. Without clear goals and quantification benchmarks, they soon find themselves overworked, understaffed, and eventually broke. Worst of all, they may come to hate the work they do. Rather than owning a business, they own a job, and they find themselves working for managers who are completely clueless about how to run a business- -themselves.
The solution, Gerber argues, is for every business owner, especially the technician-owners, to balance their business personalities. According to Gerber, every business owner needs to simultaneously be an entrepreneur and a manager as well as a technician. The technician is the worker-bee, the one who produces the product.
I would have to rate this is the most influential small business book I have ever read. I've been in some kind of business since I was 11 years old and probably further back than that, but I don't really remember all that. I've never held a full-time job in my life. I had one job, and it was part-time. I say that because I hope to present my review from the perspective of the "business battlefield."
I first read this book in 1994. I believe it was first published in 1986. The first time I picked it up, I stayed up all night and read it all the way through. I just couldn't put it down. With that said, I need to point out that if you don't own a business, never have owned a business or never will, this book probably won't appeal to you. It will appeal to you if you already own a small business or are planning on opening a business. It may just save your sanity. It's saved mine.
Basically, the point of the book is this: "Your business is not your life" (quote from the book). It took me about 4 readings of this book to figure that out. Business owners tend to think working 16 hours a day is some kind of heroic effort. It's suicide. Been there done that. There's nothing glamorous about working in your business until you fall over. How, then, does the author propose to solve this problem? How many small business owners don't work insane hours and are successful? The key according to the author is to make your business into a system like McDonald's that anyone can run. Too much of a business is dependent on the owner to be there. You're not there, the business doesn't make any money. If you're not there for an extended period of time, you won't have a business when you come back.
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