Every year over 1,000,000 people in America start a business of some sort. Statistics tell us that by the end of the first year at least 40 percent of them will be out of business. Within five years, more than 80 percent of them, 800,000, will have failed. The rest of the bad news is, if you own a small business that has managed to survive for five years or more, don’t breathe a sigh of relief. Because more than 80 percent of the small businesses that survive the first five years fail in the second five.
In 1999 I went back to work for my dad. At that time he and I decided I would try to purchase Alco Cabinet from him. Ever since then I’ve had a desire in my heart to own my own business. Purchasing Alco from him never happened but I have, with dad’s help of course, started my own company.
From the first day I started my business I knew that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life making countertops. My passion was to own a business, not be stuck working in one. As I looked around I saw only a few examples of what I wanted my business experience to be. Most of the business owners I knew spent ton’s of hours weekly working for their business. The trim guys I knew who owned their business also trimmed houses. The plumbers I knew who owned their own business plumbed houses. The re-modelers I knew who owned their own business also had to work remodeling homes.
Well, if you aren’t thinking it to yourself by now I’ll say it for you. James doesn’t want to do physical labor. There, I’ve said it out loud. It’s the truth. If starting a countertop business means making countertops for the rest of your life then why start your own business to do it? I can go to another countertop company in Kansas City and get a job making countertops. Sure I can make more money owning it myself but not that much more. It sure won’t be enough more to make up for the difference in stress. If I’m going to own my business then BUSINESS is what I want to do. I also want owning my own business to translate into at least 3-4 times as much income as just working in that industry would pay. Otherwise why do it? Do you want to know something? There isn’t anything wrong with thinking this way. Do you want to know how I know that? I know that because I read The E-Myth Revisited.
E-Myth has taught me that it’s ok that I feel this way. This simple reinforcement of what I already felt in my heart was enough to re-energize me in this business that I own. It has given me new hope in what I’m doing on a weekly basis. Let me give you some points from this book.
Let’s first look at the definition of E-Myth.
The “E-Myth,” or Entrepreneurial Myth, is the flawed assumption that people who are expert at a certain technical skill will therefore be successful running a business of that kind.
Through the course of this book I’d say you will read that line or one very similar to it at least a dozen times. It is the core message of this book. The fact of the matter is that most business owners are drowning in the stress of trying to own their own business.
The introduction of The E-Myth contains four ideas that, according to itself, if you understand and take them to heart, will give you the power to create and extraordinarily exciting, and personally rewarding, small business.
Idea #1 – There is a myth in this country-I (Michael Gerber) call it the E-Myth – which says that small businesses are started by entrepreneurs risking capital to make a profit. This is simply not so. The real reasons people start businesses have little to do with entrepreneurship. In fact this belief in the Entrepreneurial Myth is the most important factor in the devastating rate of small business failure today. Understanding the E-Myth, and applying that understanding to the creation and development of a small business, can be the secret to any business’s success.
Idea #2 – There’s a revolution going on today in American small business. I (Michael Gerber) call it the Turn-Key Revolution. Not only is it changing the way we do business in this country and throughout the world but it is changing who goes into business, how they do it, and the likelihood of their survival.
Idea #3 – At the heart of the Turn-Key Revolution is a dynamic process we at E-Myth Worldwide call the Business Development Process. When it is systematized and applied purposely by a small business owner, the Business into an incredibly effective organization. Our experience has shown us that when a small business incorporates this process into its every activity and use it to control its every activity and uses it to control its destiny, that company stays young and thrives. When a small business ignores this process – as most unfortunately do – it commits itself to Management by Luck, stagnation, and, ultimately, failure. The consequences are inevitable.
Idea #4 – The Business Development Process can be systematically applied by any small business owner in a step-by-step method that incorporates the lessons of the Turn-Key Revolution into the operation of that business. This process then becomes a predictable way to produce results and vitality in any small business whose owner is willing to give it the time and attention it requires to flourish.
Well, If I learned anything from this book it’s that owning your own business isn’t a simple process. Not if you want to achieve something that blesses you instead of curses you. Not if you want to create something that lasts.
I could go on for quite a while with everything I learned from this book but I don’t want to bore you any more than I already have. Let me just say that I feel like The E-Myth has given me some clear direction in which I need to move if I’m going to make this thing work. It’s time for my business to have a full time staff member working tirelessly to build a world class company. I gladly take that challenge because I know it’s what I’ve been called to do.
E-Myth Worldwide is a company that Michael Gerber created in 1977. Since then and as of the writing of this book in 1995 they have assisted over 25,000 small business owners with the implementation of their Mastery program. The Mastery program provides you with a Mastery Coach to assist you in creating systems for your business to work with. Compared to what it cost me last year to use IPA (don’t get me started) it’s pennies on the dollar. It’s also NOT a crash course in business. I can get 5 years of help from this company for the price of 3 weeks from IPA.
In my opinion the best thing I can do for the future of my company is educate myself. It’s the business side of what we do that will move us past our competitors. Yes we need to be good at what we do. I have some of the best skilled people in the city, I truly believe that. Unfortunately it’s going to take more than that for us to become a world class business. We can’t just assume that because we are good at our products that we will outlast our competition. We have to be good at everything business does. We have to prepare for big, if we are going to be able to handle big when it happens.
You can visit the E-Myth site from my links on your right.
