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![The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by [Michael E. Gerber]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51-J8ih05kL._SY346_.jpg)
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The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It Kindle Edition
Michael E. Gerber
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherHarperCollins e-books
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Publication dateMarch 17, 2009
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File size1470 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
From Library Journal
Mark Guyer, Stark Cty. Dist. Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Entrepreneurial Myth
They intoxicate themselves with work so they won't see how they really are.
--Aldous Huxley
The E-Myth is the myth of the entrepreneur. It runs deep in this country and rings of the heroic.
Picture the typical entrepreneur and Herculean pictures come to mind: a man or woman standing alone, wind-blown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock--all to realize the dream of creating a business of one's own.
The legend reeks of nobility, of lofty, extra-human efforts, of a prodigious commitment to larger-than-life ideals.
Well, while there are such people, my experience tells me they are rare.
Of the thousands of businesspeople I have had the opportunity to know and work with over the past two decades, few were real entrepreneurs when I met them.
The vision was all but gone in most.
The zest for the climb had turned into a terror of heights.
The face of the rock had become something to cling to rather than to scale.
Exhaustion was common, exhilaration rare.
But hadn't all of them once been entrepreneurs? After all, they had started their own business. There must have been some dream that drove them to take such a risk.
But, if so, where was the dream now? Why had it faded?
Where was the entrepreneur who had started the business?
The answer is simple: the entrepreneur had only existed for a moment.
A fleeting second in time.
And then it was gone. In most cases, forever.
If the entrepreneur survived at all, it was only as a myth that grew out of a misunderstanding about who goes into business and why.
A misunderstanding that has cost us dearly in this country--more than we can possibly imagine--in lost resources, lost opportunities, and wasted lives.
That myth, that misunderstanding, I call the E-Myth, the myth of the entrepreneur.
And it finds its roots in this country in a romantic belief that small businesses are started by entrepreneurs, when, in fact, most are not.
Then who does start small businesses in America?
And why?
The Entrepreneurial Seizure
To understand the E-Myth and the misunderstanding at its core, let's take a closer look at the person who goes into business. Not after he goes into business, but before.
For that matter, where were you before you started your business? And, if you're thinking about going into business, where are you now?
Well, if you're like most of the people I've known, you were working for somebody else.
What were you doing?
Probably technical work, like almost everybody who goes into business.
You were a carpenter, a mechanic, or a machinist.
You were a bookkeeper or a poodle clipper; a drafts-person or a hairdresser; a barber or a computer programmer; a doctor or a technical writer; a graphic artist or an accountant; an interior designer or a plumber or a salesperson.
But whatever you were, you were doing technical work.
And you were probably damn good at it.
But you were doing it for somebody else.
Then, one day, for no apparent reason, something happened. It might have been the weather, a birthday, or your child's graduation from high school. It might have been the paycheck you received on a Friday afternoon, or a sideways glance from the boss that just didn't sit right. It might have been a feeling that your boss didn't really appreciate your contribution to the success of his business.
It could have been anything; it doesn't matter what. But one day, for apparently no reason, you were suddenly stricken with an Entrepreneurial Seizure. And from that day on your life was never to be the same.
Inside your mind it sounded something like this: "What am I doing this for? Why am I working for this guy? Hell, I know as much about this business as he does. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have a business. Any dummy can run a business. I'm working for one."
And the moment you paid attention to what you were saying and really took it to heart, your fate was sealed.
The excitement of cutting the cord became your constant companion.
The thought of independence followed you everywhere.
The idea of being your own boss, doing your own thing, singing your own song, became obsessively irresistible.
Once you were stricken with an Entrepreneurial Seizure, there was no relief.
You couldn't get rid of it.
You had to start your own business.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Review
"Gerber loves to exhort people to develop powerful visions for theircompanies." -- Fortune
"Thanks to Gerber l have freed up over three hours a day, significantly increased my sales, more than doubled my bottom line, and been able to take my first vacation in four years." -- Trish Lind, T. Lind Graphics, St. Paul, Minnesota
"Without a doubt, the most important message for our company over thenext decade." -- The John Hancock Insurance Group --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
About the Author
Michael E. Gerber is a true legend of entrepreneurship. INC. magazine called him "the World's #1 Small Business Guru." He is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Michael E. Gerber Companies—a group of highly unique enterprises dedicated to creating world-class start-ups and entrepreneurs in every industry and economy—a company that transforms the way small business owners grow their companies and which has evolved into an empire over its history of nearly three decades.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.Product details
- ASIN : B000RO9VJK
- Publisher : HarperCollins e-books; Updated, Subsequent edition (March 17, 2009)
- Publication date : March 17, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 1470 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 292 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #9,679 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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A mentor told me to read this book. The E-Myth was the driving factor that took my small business which had been controlling my life and transformed it into a business I could run remotely. Before I read this book I was working on site 9 hours a day 6 days a week. Less than a year after reading this I was able to take a six-month vacation around the world while my business ran itself. If you own a small business you need to read this book as soon as possible.
Is it perfect? No - it's seriously cringy when the author talks about how beautiful and youthful his protege is. Ugh. But other than that, I love it and recommended it to all small business owners. Read it.
But what finally made me give up, roughly halfway through, was when he had just finished talking about the importance of value and consistency. He told a story about how he left a barber who gave him three great haircuts in a row ... but dared to offer wine instead of refilling his coffee on the third visit.
IN THE EXACT SAME CHAPTER Gerber sees nothing wrong with interrupting the book to insert an advertisement(!) for another of his books. After spending the whole book, noxiously repeating how this book would give you everything you needed ... it turns out it's got a giant hole, that you can conveniently fill by buying another book.
Gerber doesn't even see the hypocrisy of saying you have to give your customer consistent value, and then saying in the exact same chapter "I lied earlier, both about this book having what you need and just in general when I claimed I wanted to help and give you information: I really just will say anything to sell books."
Somebody gave this book 4 stars because of how long-winded the author can be... which is definitely something he does. It feels like 3 pages could be condensed to 2 paragraphs sometimes. That said, I felt that half the time it was just annoying and half the time it really helped the point of the story he was telling. It's long-winded, but that often plays into the lesson that he's retelling. So I'd give it a 4.5 stars if I'm really being critical. That said, it's about the insights and lessons you draw from it. Worth the read.
Top reviews from other countries

This has been a life changing book for me.
It first taught me that I don't want to own a job, I want to own a business. Since that moment, I've learned to work on my businesses, not just in them.
This book provides the material to help change the mindset of any technician (be they in IT, bakery, floristry on any business!) and offers practical advice on how to systemsise your business.
I can't recommend this book enough for anyone who runs a business.

The second section was completely turning the self-employed business to franchise model which I can call it as so…so for me as I was expecting more illustration apart from restaurant franchise.
Giving it 4 stars just because the name of the book is quite appealing but the recipe in the book is not that spicy.
It is a must buy if you are or want to be in franchise business model.
If you find the review useful, consider clicking helpful!

Reviewed in India on July 11, 2019
The second section was completely turning the self-employed business to franchise model which I can call it as so…so for me as I was expecting more illustration apart from restaurant franchise.
Giving it 4 stars just because the name of the book is quite appealing but the recipe in the book is not that spicy.
It is a must buy if you are or want to be in franchise business model.
If you find the review useful, consider clicking helpful!




You know that feeling you get when you are deeply engrossed in reading a chapter and suddenly an odd spelling mistake or typo jumps out and diverts your attention killing the flow, forcing you to go back a few lines and re-establish the context.. this is exactly that kind of a book. A pure kill-joy. Maybe it’s my OCD but I’m sure it applies in some way or the other to everyone.
Never knew that Amazon would advocate piracy of books. I guess that’s what you get when things are sold cheaper than they should be.
Sad thing is Amazon won’t let me return/exchange the product as it is out of the return period policy.
The money is not much but this should be an eye opener for you guys out there. Please buy from your local bookstore. Touch, feel and read a few pages before you buy.
Hope this helps!
Please thumbs-up this comment if you want to stop piracy!

Reviewed in India on March 10, 2020
You know that feeling you get when you are deeply engrossed in reading a chapter and suddenly an odd spelling mistake or typo jumps out and diverts your attention killing the flow, forcing you to go back a few lines and re-establish the context.. this is exactly that kind of a book. A pure kill-joy. Maybe it’s my OCD but I’m sure it applies in some way or the other to everyone.
Never knew that Amazon would advocate piracy of books. I guess that’s what you get when things are sold cheaper than they should be.
Sad thing is Amazon won’t let me return/exchange the product as it is out of the return period policy.
The money is not much but this should be an eye opener for you guys out there. Please buy from your local bookstore. Touch, feel and read a few pages before you buy.
Hope this helps!
Please thumbs-up this comment if you want to stop piracy!





Gerber's method is basically saying the same thing. You need to plan out how your business is going to work, document it and make sure everyone in your organisation follows the plan. This is a fine idea and one that small and fledgeling companies need to be reminded of. The problem is that the book surrounding the idea sounds like an evangelical speech made at a conference, complete with overly schmaltzy anecdotes and a large dollop of opinion.
The primary opinion raised frequently in the book is one that I wholeheartedly disagree with and judging by internet opinion I'm not alone, with reports and articles calling Gerber out for the same point. He states that you need to organise your business around employing unskilled staff willing to follow a system to the letter. This ONLY works if you come to the conclusion that 'The E-myth Revisited' is an instruction manual in how to design and sell a turnkey franchise business. Gabe Newell, boss of the successful software company Valve, professed the opposite, stating that you should only hire people who are better than you at the task you're hiring them for. A sensible point of view for those wishing to improve the performance and quality of their company, services and goods, but not a good point for those wishing to sell a business plan to franchisees.
With that point in mind, the rest of the book takes on more of the tone of a snake oil salesman, making it difficult to accept some of the points because the cynicism shield has been well and truly erected. The clumsy anecdotal story scattered throughout the book feels like the shill offering to buy the professor's marvellous tonic. This is unfortunate, since the latter sections of the book is where the really helpful information is.
Basically, Gerber has tried to take the 'How to Sell a Franchise' training courses and seminars his company creates and tried to distil them into a single volume. However, he then wraps it all up in inappropriate advice for the general business owners the book purports to be for. A shame.
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