Next Weeks Post: I’m going to start sharing posts on the book Drive by Dan Pink next week and outline the ideas I want to share. I thought this book would be a perfect response to The E-Myth because in the E-Myth Michael Gerber writes about creating systems to repeat results while Dan Pink in his book Drive says something a little bit different.
Twitter Summary: Provide unique access and you will always be valuable.
The last principle I want to share from Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth is that a small business must offer unique access to be successful. To be of value you have to demonstrate that a relationship with you provides access to experiences, people, knowledge, or a commodity that is unattainable from any other source. Offering unique access sets you apart from other services or products and reduces the likelihood of your business being redundant. Identifying your uniqueness can be one of that hardest things to figure out.
I think trying to identify uniqueness can be difficult because we often feel that what we do is routine, common place, or normal...
Twitter Summary: How do you get people to do what you want? It comes down to feelings.
So I’ve written a few posts about some key points of Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth over the last few weeks. I’ve written about the difference between abdicating and delegating, how creating a system of doing business is the solution to most small business problems, and how relying on systems helps ordinary people do extraordinary things. Today I want to segue into a logical follow up to the systems posts. Once you have your systems set up for your small business, the key question then becomes, how do you get people to execute the systems you’ve developed? Or in other words, how do you get people to do what you want?
Gerber writes that the degree to which people “do what you want...
Twitter Summary: A 19-yr old kid from Hawaii learned to speak Spanish thanks to a system that changes something ordinary into something extraordinary.
In the previous post I wrote about Michael Gerber’s crazy idea that the success of small businesses is founded on creating systems that produce consistent results. Today I want to write about how a system can take ordinary people and help them do extraordinary things.
Gerber writes in his book The E-Myth that a business which is dependent on highly talented people can feel shackled to those talented individuals. What is worse, the high quality results of these highly talented individuals are hard to replicate consistently. In the end, the success of a small business is NOT dependent upon the people it hires, but the consist...
Twitter Summary: A lot of your screw ups can be fixed by new routines. Let me tell you all about it.
The foundation of what Gerber teaches in The E-Myth is that the success of small businesses depend on creating efficient systems that provide consistent results. He used examples of McDonalds and other fast food franchises that use consistent systems to deliver the same product regardless of location or personnel. So even if your product isn’t of the greatest quality (like McDonalds food!) the consistency with which it is produced makes it extremely valuable. If you can consistently release a product that people can depend on, they will choose yours over high quality results that are inconsistent every time.
Small businesses often struggle because the owner usually finds...
Twitter Summary: If you’re in charge, do you find yourself working in your organization or leading it?
Michael Gerber in his book The E-Myth explains that one of the many reasons small business fail in their infancy is because some owners unintentionally abdicate vs delegate work responsibilities. Instead of delegating a portion of the business, providing clear guidance, and remaining involved, they often assign it to someone else, remove themselves completely from that portion of the business so as to focus on the actual work being done. They struggle to know the difference between owning a business and working in a business. Gerber says this is more a result of just not knowing how to do the work of an owner/manager than it is intentional negligence.
In Gerber’s own words ...
Twitter Summary: Stop thinking you can do better than your boss just because you can do the technical work!
My brother-in-law owns an real estate data services company and I was talking to him a few months ago about some of the new blogging ideas I have been having. He stopped me mid-sentence and asked, “Have you read the E-Myth yet?” I hadn’t, so he added, “Stop reading whatever else you’re reading and read this immediately. Then let’s talk.” I took his advice to heart and I’m glad I did. This book has completely changed my paradigm when it comes to conceptualizing effective organizations. A lot of how I view leadership and efficiency has now changed.
The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber, stands for the entrepreneurial myth...
Twitter Summary: Being able to consistently deliver is more important than your product because your product is not your product, how you do business is.
I’m about half way through reading The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber. The only reason I started reading this book is because I mentioned some of my new ideas to a relative and he suggested I stop reading everything else and read this one now. It’s presented me with a number of interesting paradigm shifts and they’ve caused me to reconsider how I’m approaching and preparing for the future.
I’ve never considered myself interested in “business” or entrepreneurship, but my mind has been wandering in those paths lately...