The E-Myth Revisited CD : Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to do about it [Audiobook][Unabridged] (Audio CD)

~ Michael E. Gerber (Author, Reader)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In this compact disc edition of the totally revised underground bestseller -- 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.

About the Author

Michael E. Gerber is the founder and CEO of E-Myth Worldwide, based in Santa Rosa, California. He is also the bestselling author of The E-Myth Contractor, The Power Point, The E-Myth, The E-Myth Revisited, and The E-Myth Manager, as well as a highly sought-after speaker and small business revolutionary.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: HarperAudio; Unabridged edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060755598
• ISBN-13: 978-0060755591
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,578 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Books > Books on CD > Business > Management
  #51 in	Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > E-commerce

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Danger in the Entrepreneurial Zone, September 22, 2004

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 93,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

This book deserves 7 stars for pointing out the fallacies of how most entrepreneurs operate. The book deserves 1 star for proposing a standard that most people cannot hope to meet. Pay attention to the former, and go light on the latter.

Gerber is correct that most entrepreneurs are limited by a comfort zone of wanting to remain in control as either strong technicians or managers, which limits the potential of the business. As soon as they exceed what they can handle, the business either fails in a break-out attempt or shrinks back to a simpler state. The new businesses that succeed the most are the ones that have a business model that is easy to replicate with ordinary people.

Where Gerber goes wrong is in suggesting that many people can develop such business models. I regularly study the top 100 CEOs in the country for stock-price growth, and few of them think they can develop a new business model. Why should someone starting up a new company be likely to do better than that? They won't. In fact, I have a friend who attempted to start a new business following Gerber's principles and almost failed before he adjusted to normal operating approaches. He spent so much time developing his business model that he never got around to operating it.

Gerber's three favorite examples are McDonald's, Disney, and FedEx. Notice that two of the three got most of their business model ideas from someone else (Ray Kroc from the McDonald brothers in San Bernardino, California and Fred Smith from an Indian air freight operation).

I think there is another fallacy here: You can get ordinary people to do simple things (deliver packages, cook and deliver cheap hamburgers, and smile at people on automated rides). But in many businesses the demands of the market are extraordinary such as in many technological product businesses and services. Microsoft has a business model, for example, but it is not one that Gerber would recognize.

Finally, he condemns people who want to operate their business as a job by being technically expert. What if Peter Drucker spent all of his time developing business models and systems to make pizzas and tacos rather than writing business books about management? What if great musicians developed business models for teaching children to play the violin and piano rather than performing? In other words, there is room and a need for extraordinarily able one-person companies run by technicians.

But don't let my quibbles keep you as an entrepreneur from failing to appreciate the excellent case Gerber makes for having a business model as soon as possible, and working systematically to improve it. If you can do that, you may well develop a true irresistible growth enterprise.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars E Myth Revisted, November 28, 2005

By	PJ - See all my reviews

This review is for the unabridged audio version. I spend a lot of time in the car and listen to a lot of audiobooks, mostly business and sales. I found this book to be far more relevant and applicable than most. The book really gets down to the operational how-to level where as most books can't seem to get past broad cliches that sound good and may be true but don't give you anything to run with.

Most of the business management books out there seem to be written for larger businesses. I'm sure this is because the authors that write them usually are running large corporations. It seems very hard for these authors to get back to the very beginning stages where most of us are starting from.

The ideas of creating systems to run and grow your business are so obvious yet I have such a tendancy (as apparently many others do as well) to try to manage everything on the fly. This book takes a lot of the mystery and intimidation out of running and growing a business. I will admit that the author could be more concise and often he spends far too much time on a simple point but I will still give it 5 stars because it is far better than most. I would definately recommend it to anyone just starting out or anyone who wants to grow their business past mom-and-pop size.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good advice, but ...., November 1, 2005

By	C. Isom - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book actually has alot of good points and advice for starting a business. But it could be about half of the length it is. The author makes a point, and then gives several metaphores in a row trying to drive the point home. Sometimes making it tedious to listen to, even on a drive home when I have nothing better to do.

Later in the book, he tries to touch home by talking about 'your spirit.' That just made me want to turn it off. But I kept on.

If you can get through all of that, there are alot of good ideas here. Not all of them will apply to your business, but you should find something usefull from it.