The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

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.

The key factor in turning a business into a system as the author states, is to have operating manuals which describe each function of the business. One criticism I have of the book, and I suppose he did this on purpose, is that he really doesn't go into a lot of detail as to how these manuals are done. I guess we have to figure that out. The example in the book about the owner of a pie shop, I felt, was a very good example. I know, because I wrote operating manuals for my business, and I started franchising my business back in 1995. I had 15 offices up and running at one point, and I decided not to pursue it any further, so I pared it all back down. This book works, but you better be prepared to take a really long hard look at how your business is run and particulary how it fits into your life.

The bottom line on this book is that you can make your business into a system. You can reduce your hours to a reasonable level. Yes, you can even make a good living in your own business. I've been doing it for years. The only problem is, you have to do it. You have to sit down, take a good hard look at your business, and get the thing built or rebuilt from the ground up. You need to have all your financial records in order. You need to know at any moment what your operating margins are, what's going on with everything. It's a big task, and I suspect many people who have read this book don't want to do all that. As for my business, I've implemented much of what he talks about with great success. I haven't implemented all of it because some of it is difficult and time consuming. The other problem is, there's no "step-by-step" method presented, at least not what one would want. There is a methodology to it, but as with most things in life, we have to adapt them to our situation and take the time to do it. The author won't take you by the hand and do it for you.

I'm giving this book 5 stars because I think it provides much thought provoking material. If you own a business or are planning on going into business, this book is a must. Even if you ignore most of what he says, it will at least change the way you think about your business. For example, take the total number of hours you work in your business per week, month, year or whatever and divide that by your net business income factoring in expenses that were just for tax purposes. After you do that, find out your hourly wage. I did that, and I was shocked. If you're working 12-16 hours a day, and you're making an average income in your business or if you're breaking even, you're wasting your time. Take a day off and read this book. It will change your focus dramatically. It's not an easy process, but if you're serious about making your business work without you having to work so hard, then this book is worth every penny. Good luck in all your ventures.

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The "e"(for entrepreneur) myth is that hard work and perseverance -- plowing ahead against the odds -- will alter the statistical odds that doom most new businesses. Gerber uses as an example, a woman who had begun a small bakery business because of her legendary piemaking skills. Since she knew how to bake great pies, shouldn't it follow that that skill could be the basis for a successful business? Back in the real world, while the business hadn't exactly failed, it hadn't exactly succeeded, either. Gerber shows how the overwrought business owner can turn the idea into a successful venture.

The author advocates looking for guidance to the large franchise model (McDonald's is an example he cites frequently). The distinctive characteristic of the large franchise-based business is a detailed, finely tuned system that can be run successfully by non-experts. Gerber takes the reader through the steps to create a detailed small business model. Using this system, the business owner is transformed from a day to day operator to a sort of teacher whose success is achieved by training others in detail to use the very skills the owner brought to the business in the first place.

Few readers will have the time and discipline to adopt the entire soup-to-nuts program advocated in this book, but can still learn a great deal from it.

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