Business Book Review: The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber
Decades on, The E-Myth Revisited remains a book worth revisiting. A regular fixture on book recommendation lists, Gerber’s timeless wisdom demonstrates why.
My Rating: ★★★★★
Length: 292 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins
Released: 2009 (first published 1995)
Key Takeaway for Personal Branding
The E-Myth
The ‘E-Myth’ is what Michael E Gerber proposes is the myth that small businesses are started by entrepreneurs risking capital to make a profit.
Instead, he posits it’s created by a technically competent person. A person struck by an ‘entrepreneurial seizure’. Where most go wrong is buying themselves a job, instead of actually creating a business.
The Entrepreneur, The Manager, and The Technician
Everyone in business is said to be three people in one:
The Entrepreneur: A future-focused visionary
The Manager: A past-orientated pragmatist
The Technician: A presently focused doer
The problem occurs when The Technician in you hijacks your days.
Work on your business, not in it.
Gerber presents ‘The Franchise Prototype’, focused on developing entire systems.
Ray Kroc’s McDonald’s is used to demonstrate ‘the turnkey revolution’. Which created not just a business franchise, but a ‘Business Format Franchise’. A seamless globally consistent operation. It exemplifies that it's not just what you sell, but how you sell it. That the true product of a business is the business itself.
For your personal brand, Gerber's focus on systems remains relevant. A reminder that consistency builds trust. And to ensure the system you are building is also feeding your greater ‘Primary Aim’.
Like the best branding, Gerber even spends time advocating for the importance of careful colour, shapes and other emotionally stimulating choices.
Favourite Quotes
People who are exceptionally good in business aren’t so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more.
…the Entrepreneurial Perspective that says it’s not the commodity or the work itself that is important. What’s important is the business: how it looks, how it acts, how it does what it is intended to do.
The Entrepreneurial Perspective starts with a picture of a well-defined future, and then comes back to the present with the intention of changing it to match the vision.
Entrepreneurial Model does not start with a picture of the business to be created but of the customer for whom the business is to be created.
Creativity and Innovation is the difference between thinking about getting things done in the world and getting things done.
Your Primary Aim is the vision necessary to bring your business to life and your life to your business.
It provides you with a purpose.
It provides you with energy.
The commodity is the thing your customer actually walks out with in his hand. The product is what your customer feels as he walks out of your business.
Gerber’s teaching storytelling style makes the foundational principles of business effortlessly digestible. His use of personas and household names helps his principles resonate easier.
The E-Myth Revisited skilfully creates what feels like intimate meetings with your mentor. This classic is one to be revisited by those in business for many more years to come.
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber: Available on Amazon.
