{"id":41648,"date":"2021-07-13T05:37:05","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T09:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=41648"},"modified":"2021-07-20T00:07:33","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T04:07:33","slug":"the-e-myth-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-e-myth-book\/","title":{"rendered":"The E-Myth: Book Overview and Key Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What can small business leaders learn from the E-Myth book? How can it give a business a better chance to succeed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The E-Myth Revisited<\/em>, Michael E. Gerber explains how focusing solely on the product\u2014and just trying to work harder\u2014undermines new businesses. The right approach is to view your business like a franchise\u2014to systematize operations so that it no longer relies on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more to learn the primary principles from the E-Myth book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The E-Myth Book’s Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many people dream of quitting a job or leaving a boss they dislike and becoming their own boss by starting a business. Each year, a million new businesses are started. However, 40 percent fail within the first year and 80 percent fail within five years. Of those that last five years, more than 80 percent fail in the next five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underlying the high failure rate are persistent romantic notions about how businesses are born and what it takes to succeed. <\/strong>In the E-myth book, Gerber argues that new business owners typically fail because they focus on technical expertise rather than on developing business knowledge. They mistakenly think that knowing how to do a specific thing, such as baking pies, is all it takes to make a business work. But there\u2019s much more to it. The important thing isn’t the commodity \u2014 what is produced \u2014 but how it\u2019s produced. The business itself is the product.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cE-Myth\u201d of the book\u2019s title refers to what Gerber calls the Entrepreneurial Myth<\/a> that small businesses are founded by entrepreneurs with a great idea, capital to invest, and the business acumen to pull it off. The truth is that most small businesses are started by ill-equipped technicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1: Three Roles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to the E-myth book, a small business owner needs to cultivate and balance three roles or mindsets<\/strong>, all of which are necessary for running a business. The first is the technician mindset, which is where most small business owners begin and end. But this mindset by itself is insufficient. The other necessary roles are entrepreneur and manager. Here\u2019s how they work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n