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annguyen98789's review
3.0
Basic gist is small businesses fail because the owners are the business, without the owner the business cannot continue. A business is a series of processes and pipelines designed to deliver value to the end consumer. Every part of the business should be a cog, replaceable and efficient. Document processes, delegate responsibilities. The goal of work is not to work more.
There are 3 types, the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. The entrepreneur is the fearless leader with the idealistic vision in the future, the manager is concerned with the present obstacles, the technician believes in the past (learn from existing knowledge, what worked yesterday will work today). All three have competing motivations. The average small business owner wants to fulfill all three roles and is therefore at odds with themselves.
There are 3 types, the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. The entrepreneur is the fearless leader with the idealistic vision in the future, the manager is concerned with the present obstacles, the technician believes in the past (learn from existing knowledge, what worked yesterday will work today). All three have competing motivations. The average small business owner wants to fulfill all three roles and is therefore at odds with themselves.
josaphat's review against another edition
2.0
I'll give you the big idea of this book for free: If you run your business such that you can replicate how it operates, the same way you would replicate a business meant to be franchised, you will make a business that can operate successfully without you. And ultimately, operating without you is the goal so that you can focus on the strategic vision and "work on your business" instead of "working in your business."
That's pretty much it. The rest is fluff and marketing for "E Myth Worldwide".
I just can't accept Gerber's premise that being a sole proprietor and "Technician" won't work. I can't accept that a craftsperson working for themselves is doomed to fail and they're better off working for somebody else.
It might be obvious, but as long as you stay in charge and don't abdicate running your business, you can make it work.
So overall, not bad advice, but it could have been distilled into a blog post.
That's pretty much it. The rest is fluff and marketing for "E Myth Worldwide".
I just can't accept Gerber's premise that being a sole proprietor and "Technician" won't work. I can't accept that a craftsperson working for themselves is doomed to fail and they're better off working for somebody else.
It might be obvious, but as long as you stay in charge and don't abdicate running your business, you can make it work.
So overall, not bad advice, but it could have been distilled into a blog post.
ishikabansal's review
4.0
This book is based on how to expand your business, so if you someone who wants to expand your business, this book is for you. But for the people who want to start their entrepreneurship journey, this might not be a good pick for you.
aameem's review
4.0
Stepping beyond the confines of academia, I anxiously dove into my first job, contending with excessive self-doubt and a deficit of ambition. Initially thrust into the role of managing HR amid rapid scaling I, then a naive and young graduate, grappled with the complexities of hiring at breakneck speed. We went from a team of 40 to a team of 100 in one and a half years, then had to navigate a storm of layoffs that left a team of less than 20 during the recession. I felt like a monkey at a typewriter, throwing bananas in the dark and praying one hits the bullseye. This experience taught me intimately the challenges faced by startups—scarce resources, time constraints, and the responsibility of nurturing a resilient team (i.e. manipulate employee loyalty) in an uncertain climate.
Halfway into this frenzied journey, my boss handed me this lifeline, and partly because I had no idea what I was doing, the solution (or rather how it’s worded) really spoke to me: create a business that exists apart from you - 1) create a clearly defined structure through documentation for your people through which they can test themselves and be tested, 2) design systems that produce consistent predictable results by people trained in your way, and 3) systematise your business in such a way that it could be replicated 5,000 times. It was the recipe to create order from chaos! I was a novice chef being asked to cook a gourmet meal without burning down the kitchen. This was the book that motivated and cheered me on as the flames danced around me.
Halfway into this frenzied journey, my boss handed me this lifeline, and partly because I had no idea what I was doing, the solution (or rather how it’s worded) really spoke to me: create a business that exists apart from you - 1) create a clearly defined structure through documentation for your people through which they can test themselves and be tested, 2) design systems that produce consistent predictable results by people trained in your way, and 3) systematise your business in such a way that it could be replicated 5,000 times. It was the recipe to create order from chaos! I was a novice chef being asked to cook a gourmet meal without burning down the kitchen. This was the book that motivated and cheered me on as the flames danced around me.
terrybarkman's review
5.0
If I could recommend ONE book to someone BEFORE they start their first business, it would be this one. Gerber brings clarity to what a business IS, and what it is NOT. He also thoroughly covers what you should have thought through BEFORE you start a company. While this is not strictly speaking a how-to guide for starting a small business, it does create a framework to follow as you bring your dream into the real world.
Occasionally, when I am thinking about starting a new company, I'll give E-Myth a reread, and it helps me to crystallize my vision for what the business will be, and how it will engage with clients.
Occasionally, when I am thinking about starting a new company, I'll give E-Myth a reread, and it helps me to crystallize my vision for what the business will be, and how it will engage with clients.
daeus's review
5.0
There is so much good stuff in here. Despite the weirdness of the author throughout the dialogues (I skipped over a few), I ended up underlining a lot of this book. For example, I really like the idea of drawing out roles and building backwards so that there are clear responsibilities as a business grows (rather than rotating responsibilities with more and more people, which can often become a source of tension).
Some other nuggets of wisdom:
- "...that's why I look upon McDonald's as a model for every small business...because it can do in its more than 28,000 stores what most of us can't do in one!"
- "there is ultimately only one reason to create a business of your own, and that is to sell it... why would anyone buy it? Because it works!" [ie. you want to get to a place when you are able to sell the business, but not necessarily have to].
Some other nuggets of wisdom:
- "...that's why I look upon McDonald's as a model for every small business...because it can do in its more than 28,000 stores what most of us can't do in one!"
- "there is ultimately only one reason to create a business of your own, and that is to sell it... why would anyone buy it? Because it works!" [ie. you want to get to a place when you are able to sell the business, but not necessarily have to].
dane_rodriguez's review
4.0
Personal Notes, Not review
Three Personalities- The Entrepreneur, ideas, vision, innovation
The Technician- Day to day operations, the "job", ground level tactical work
The Manager- System overseer
Balance all three personalities to create reliable and efficient systems for a ground level technician to perform that fits the vision and innovation/ideas of the entrepreneur. The owner must have a direct vision in mind and set plans and standards for the business to meet. Even if they never meet them, any plan is better than no plan.
The Prototype- think of the first business/ location as a prototype that will be polished enough to where you could open a thousand more like it an each one will be a fine tuned machine, operable by lowest possible skilled people. "Turn Key" means you sell the business or a franchise and all the owner has to do is "turn the key".
The business is everything, operations, product, assets, idea, value it creates
Consistent value is everything for the customer
Innovation, quantification and orchestration. Have the idea to improve, quantify the significance of the improvement using data, and orchestrate the innovation.
Have a set general aim for your venture
Determine from the beginning the organizational strategies and the means to hold these accountable
Have a management strategy to keep things running
Systems are anything that you are able to implement to where it will produce results
Any system that can be implemented to where no one has to think about it and can walk away from it is extremely valuable
Systems are the foundation of the entire business.
The main idea of the book is to design and implement all the necessary systems to efficiently and effectively deliver the value and commodity to the customer. Making and polishing the entire business until you can walk away and watch it run smoothly without you.
Primary Aim---Strategic Objective---Organizational implementation---tactical objectives
Two overarching milestones
Creating value- Design of your product and the complete package you are selling to the customer
Make Money- Get the customers buying and coming back
Between these are the small things, sales approach, idea for the values, access point to and for customers ect.
What you make is the commodity, what you sell is your business.
Ie: make engraved cases, sell personalization.
Three Personalities- The Entrepreneur, ideas, vision, innovation
The Technician- Day to day operations, the "job", ground level tactical work
The Manager- System overseer
Balance all three personalities to create reliable and efficient systems for a ground level technician to perform that fits the vision and innovation/ideas of the entrepreneur. The owner must have a direct vision in mind and set plans and standards for the business to meet. Even if they never meet them, any plan is better than no plan.
The Prototype- think of the first business/ location as a prototype that will be polished enough to where you could open a thousand more like it an each one will be a fine tuned machine, operable by lowest possible skilled people. "Turn Key" means you sell the business or a franchise and all the owner has to do is "turn the key".
The business is everything, operations, product, assets, idea, value it creates
Consistent value is everything for the customer
Innovation, quantification and orchestration. Have the idea to improve, quantify the significance of the improvement using data, and orchestrate the innovation.
Have a set general aim for your venture
Determine from the beginning the organizational strategies and the means to hold these accountable
Have a management strategy to keep things running
Systems are anything that you are able to implement to where it will produce results
Any system that can be implemented to where no one has to think about it and can walk away from it is extremely valuable
Systems are the foundation of the entire business.
The main idea of the book is to design and implement all the necessary systems to efficiently and effectively deliver the value and commodity to the customer. Making and polishing the entire business until you can walk away and watch it run smoothly without you.
Primary Aim---Strategic Objective---Organizational implementation---tactical objectives
Two overarching milestones
Creating value- Design of your product and the complete package you are selling to the customer
Make Money- Get the customers buying and coming back
Between these are the small things, sales approach, idea for the values, access point to and for customers ect.
What you make is the commodity, what you sell is your business.
Ie: make engraved cases, sell personalization.