Theme of the book: Entrepreneurship & small business systems.
The book: The E-Myth Revisted by Michael Gerber
Located: I found this book at the shared library at the co-working space my office is located
in, Turbine Flats. It's a super cool place where a bunch of different businesses work out of.
Description: This book takes a specific small business owner and walks her through her business and why it is failing. Michael Gerber uses his personal experience in business and various stories of businesses he encountered and coached at E-Myth Worldwide.
It breaks down the myths of entrepreneurship and why so many businesses fail. It outlines how an employee thinks and typically it is a former employee that leaves their job to start something entrepreneurial. Then it explains why that employee fails to change the things that caused them to leave in the first place and how they end up in a worse place.
The last half of the book gets more into the nitty gritty and how you structure your business to succeed. It talks about gamifying your company and creating an expectation that generates a company culture that produces consistent results.
It also takes a dive into marketing and explaining how without you really don't have much at all. Marketing is the life line to your company and without harnessing it you will wither and die or never even start.
My thoughts: I liked the book but I didn't love it as much as I expected I would. This book is highly recommended in the entrepreneurship world and the investor world, so I went in thinking it was the bees knees. Don't get me wrong it was still a great book, I gave it 4 stars. However it wasn't a book I couldn't put down, it definitely took me longer than it should have.
The concepts in the book are great and I do like that he added in a personal story of a business and following along a conversation with the business owner. That made the concepts more attainable and not so text book like.
Maybe the reason I am a little hesitant about it is because it hit home. It talks about systematizing your business so you can focus on the big picture things. This hits close to home for me because i'm an idea person that likes to have a system, but I am the worst at making a system for others to implement.
My systems normally revolve around my competencies and idiosyncrasies, most often times those do not align with other people, or at least align efficiently. Through time I've learned I like to be an independent player that contributes to a group goal, but I struggle with delegation.
This book is about creating a business with the sole purpose of delegating tasks in the future. Which realistically should be the goal of every business but putting that into practice is much harder than theory. It does address that issue by making sure you layout your vision/goals/intents then creating structure and systems around your ideals.
The book does a great job pointing out all of the things you should think about and essentially encourages you to run your business as if you were to franchise it. Not in a way that loses it's value but in a way that it could go on without you if that is what you desire.
My favorite part of the book was the end. In a letter to the business owner who he conversed with throughout the book. It was very real and timely. It was pretty much saying the world is changing faster than it ever has and we as humans can't keep up. It is taxing us spiritually and making us question who we are as humans. It points out the disconnect we have between us and the chaos that is ensuing. The part that really stuck out was that we are the only ones who can control it - ourselves. As much as we want to change the world as a whole the best way to do it is start with ourselves.
Recommend?
Absolutely. I think it is an essential read for business owners and investors. It would be best put to use to read prior to starting your own venture and recognizing what it truly means to be an entrepreneur. I wish I had read it before ever starting a venture of my own. It really puts into perspective what you are getting into and how to avoid common mistakes or misconceptions.
The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I don't know if I feel inspired or apathetic. Maybe that's a good thing because it will take more time to reflect on what information I really took from the book, and how I will use it in my life. I think my biggest thing is just where do I start. Which i'm sure reading that part of the book again will help answer some questions.
Critique: My critique of this book is that I wish it was laid out in a more check list setting. Like hey you just read this section take a moment as to what you would say to me. It does that with the story of Sarah but for referencing back I wish it was more broken down.
All-in-all I would give this book a 4 Star review! It is quite frankly a necessary read for anyone wanting to start a successful business.⭐⭐⭐⭐
What are your thoughts? Have you read it? Would you read it based off my review? - Why or Why Not?
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