The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It Reviews

• I believe "systems dependent businesses" don't exist.

  
  By ABVMTX7KTP4CO on 2001-05-22
  I didn't read all the way through "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It" by Michael Gerber. I stopped reading at about page 100. "E-myth" stands for "entrepreneurial myth." Gerber makes the accurate point that just because a person understands the technical work behind a business doesn't imply that the person understands that kind of business. People who understand the technical work don't necessarily understand how to operate the business. They are technicians, not entrepreneurs.

  Gerber contends that most small business owners run into difficulty because they think and work like technicians. They try to do the work of the business, rather than learning how to run the business. Gerber writes, "If your business depends on you, you don't own a business-you have a job." "What if you don't want to be there?" The work grinds small business owners down, and they become disillusioned with their businesses.

  This is probably true for many, new small business people. Many people aren't cut out to operate a business. Running a business is hard work. But, rather than acknowledge that reality, the goal, according to Gerber, is to create a business which doesn't need you, to create a "systems dependent business" and not a "people dependent business."

  Gerber uses McDonald's as his prototypical model of operation. Gerber says McDonald's is an example of a turn-key business. You just put the key in the lock and the business works. A prototype franchise that can be easily replicated is Gerber's holy grail of business.

  Gerber writes: "Given the failure rate of most small businesses, he [Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's] must have realized a crucial fact: for McDonald's to be a predictable success, the business would have to work, because the franchisee, if left to his own devices, most assuredly wouldn't!...Once he understood this, Ray Kroc's problem became his opportunity... Forced to create a business that worked in order to sell it, he also created a business that would work once it was sold, no matter who bought it... a foolproof, predictable business.... A systems-dependent business, not a people-dependent business."

  I disagree with this analysis. Difficulty of management is a fundamental problem with any delocalized business, one with many locations spread throughout a large area. A dedicated manager is needed on each site. One manager can't oversee all the business locations. The franchise concept is one way to place devoted managers at each location. Each franchisee is not only carefully selected (in a good franchise) and carefully trained, but each franchisee has paid money to own the franchise. So, each manager becomes an owner. And, owners care more about the success of their business than anyone else. They are willing to work harder than anyone else to see the business succeed. Their own money is at stake.

  Ask owners of successful franchises if they sit around *not* working. If an employee doesn't show up, who fills in? In fact, many franchise owners will tell you that buying a franchise is very much like buying a job! The fundamental premise that a McDonald's franchise can function with just anyone *not* working at the helm, while the operation just sort of self-manages, is incorrect.

  It's true the best franchises don't tend to fail, but they aren't sold to just anybody either! I'm not criticizing the franchise concept. My goal is just to show that few businesses are purely "systems dependent."

  Gerber suggests you try to create a template business operation that works of its own accord so that it can be replicated in a cookie cutter approach. Easier said than done!

  Where do you get the basis for this template, or as Gerber calls it, "Franchise prototype" ? Gerber says the "franchise prototype" is part of your entrepreneurial vision. You dream about what your business will look like in the future. In practice, most successful franchises are based upon many years of operating history and industry experience. And, many knowledgeable business owners, who fully understand the franchise concept, have failed dismally when trying to franchise operations.

  Of course, McDonald's and other established franchises have spent billions of dollars to create brand awareness for the franchise, which brings in a steady flow of customers. Your new "business format franchise" (way of doing business) won't have brand awareness. You will need to build it. Building brand awareness is marketing, and no marketing plan is ever assured to work. There won't be a cookie cutter marketing plan to toss in with the cookie-cutter operation.

  "The E-Myth Revisited" is also a bit dated. Gerber writes, "A soggy French fry is not a McDonald's French fry." That has not been my recent experience. So much for flawless systems!

  I did catch a glimpse of the last pages where Gerber offers a free "Turn-Key AnalysisTM" of your business. He writes, "Conducted over the phone in no more than an hour, our Turn-Key AnalysisTM will determine exactly what needs to be done in your business to give you everything you want from it: what essential building blocks are missing and need to be added; what processes and systems are absent or, if present, are inadequate to achieve the results you want to produce."

  That's a pretty impressive offer! In under an hour, over the phone, he'll tell you exactly what's wrong with your business! I think I'll pass on that. But, do consider contacting SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), your local small business development center, or business graduate school. Each of these might be able to provide small business counseling. Be sure to specify that you want a complete turn-key operation with no work and no management. Showing up for business optional.

  Yet, some business owners claim that this book has helped them. I think they might be confusing good old organization and routine for a "systems dependent business."

  Peter Hupalo, author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur."
  
  

• Stop Running Around in Circles

  
  By A4H4KYSM2KQ85 on 2004-11-03
  This book is a guide to success for small business owners. Gerber is the founder of a consulting company for small businesses. In the beginning of the book, Gerber cites the well-known failure-rate statistics for small business: 40% fail in 1 year. Of those who survive 1year, 80% fail in 5 years, and of those who survive 5 years, another 80% fail. Over the years, Gerber has observed that the small business owners who fail often share a number of characteristics, while those who succeed do so not by luck, brains, or perseverance, but by taking a different approach. This book explains the approach that is necessary for a business to survive and thrive.
  
  One of Gerber's most striking observations is that most small businesses are started by "technicians", that is people who are skilled at something and who enjoy doing that thing. (A technician can be anything from a computer programmer to plumber to a dog groomer to a musician or lawyer.) When these technicians strike out on their own, they tend to continue doing the work they are skilled at, and ignore the overarching aspects of business. Without clear goals and quantification benchmarks, they soon find themselves overworked, understaffed, and eventually broke. Worst of all, they may come to hate the work they do. Rather than owning a business, they own a job, and they find themselves working for managers who are completely clueless about how to run a business- -themselves.
  
  The solution, Gerber argues, is for every business owner, especially the technician-owners, to balance their business personalities. According to Gerber, every business owner needs to simultaneously be an entrepreneur and a manager as well as a technician. The technician is the worker-bee, the one who produces the product. The manager makes sure operations and finances run smoothly and consistently. The entrepreneur formulates the goals, and steers the business in the direction needed to reach those goals. Of these three personalities, the entrepreneur is key- -without it, the technician will work himself or herself to death or bankruptcy. As the business grows, the business owner will need to draw away from the technician work and manager work and delegate this work, rather than abdicate this, to others.
  
  For turning businesses around, or getting them off the right foot, Gerber suggests looking at franchises as a model. In comparison to the dismal rate of ordinary small-business start-ups, 75% of franchises succeed at 5 years. The reason they succeed is that they are set up so that any unskilled person off the street could walk in, buy a franchise, run all operations in the franchise, and have a fairly good chance of success. The product of franchise companies is a business model, not food, hotel rooms, etc. In order to meet this level of success, franchise companies have clear operations manuals, procedures, consistent sales approaches- -every detail of running the business is specified down to dress codes and wall paper.
  
  By asking us to consider the franchise approach, Gerber is not saying to go out and buy a franchise license. Instead, he says to imagine that you want to sell your business as a successful franchise within a finite period of time. If so, what will you need to do regarding your business plan and management in order to meet this goal? That is, if you were going to make your business fool-proof so that any unskilled person could take over as owner after a few years and succeed with it, what will you need to do?
  
  Overall, I found the ideas in this book extremely profound and incredibly useful for my own small-business venture. The writing style can be a bit wordy and choppy at times, which is the only reason why I did not give this book full marks. If you're a small business owner whose business is out of control, stagnant, or worse, or if you're thinking of going into business yourself, this book can be of immeasurable value.
  
  
  

• Business Advice From a Self Proclaimed American Guru, a Yaqui Indian Shaman, and an Obscure Armenian Mystic

  
  By A204G7E13UW2B0 on 2006-04-18
  
  Given the hubris with which Michael Gerber unpacks his pearls of wisdom throughout this book, it is perhaps not surprising that he would refer to himself on the cover as "The World's #1 Small Business Guru". More surprising is the homage he pays to Don Juan Matus, a Yaqui medicine man (probably fictitious), and G.I. Gurdjieff, author of Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, and originator of the esoteric path of knowledge known as the Fourth Way.
  
  What's this New Age mumbo jumbo doing in a business book? Your guess is as good as mine.
  
  Gerber's thesis stripped of all this fluff is quite simple and unremarkable. He notes that most small business owners who see themselves as entrepreneurs are actually technicians; skilled workers in the production of whatever their business's product happens to be. Generally they lack management capability as well as true entrepreneurship - the envisioning of a primary aim and strategic objective and the development of a systems approach that will consistently produce the desired results. Gerber exhorts small business owners to see the big picture, take on the true entrepreneurial role, and in so doing, to work on, rather than in, their businesses.
  
  While this is good common sense advice, the assertion that any business can (or should) be reduced to a McDonald's like franchise prototype oversimplifies and distorts reality. The promise of powerful results that will automatically be achieved upon donning just the right color of a suit and tie and delivering a canned sales script is alluring but also dangerous. Things in the real world of business are not nearly as simple and mechanistic as Gerber would have us believe.
  
  I found the dialogue that runs throughout the book between the author and Sarah, the struggling proprietor of All About Pies, (a bakery), to be exceedingly annoying. In it, Gerber presents as a powerful and all knowing Svengali, weaving a hypnotic spell as he counsels his disciple in matters of the life and death of her business. Sarah is utterly compliant, totally receptive, and seems almost to be ravished by Gerber's surpassing prowess and wisdom. The smarmy tone of this is evident in quotations such as the following:
  
  "I could see that Sarah got it.
  
  I could see that the flush on her cheeks now had nothing to do with the work she'd been doing all day.
  
  I could see that her dark, intelligent, creative eyes were riveted on mine, and that the questions were bubbling within her...".
  
  Flush on her cheeks? Eyes...riveted on mine?
  
  Come on - gimme a break!
  
  
  

• Well worth reading and pondering

  
  By A2W04AJDCERUQ2 on 2000-05-26
  I would have to rate this is the most influential small business book I have ever read. I've been in some kind of business since I was 11 years old and probably further back than that, but I don't really remember all that. I've never held a full-time job in my life. I had one job, and it was part-time. I say that because I hope to present my review from the perspective of the "business battlefield."

  I first read this book in 1994. I believe it was first published in 1986. The first time I picked it up, I stayed up all night and read it all the way through. I just couldn't put it down. With that said, I need to point out that if you don't own a business, never have owned a business or never will, this book probably won't appeal to you. It will appeal to you if you already own a small business or are planning on opening a business. It may just save your sanity. It's saved mine.

  Basically, the point of the book is this: "Your business is not your life" (quote from the book). It took me about 4 readings of this book to figure that out. Business owners tend to think working 16 hours a day is some kind of heroic effort. It's suicide. Been there done that. There's nothing glamorous about working in your business until you fall over. How, then, does the author propose to solve this problem? How many small business owners don't work insane hours and are successful? The key according to the author is to make your business into a system like McDonald's that anyone can run. Too much of a business is dependent on the owner to be there. You're not there, the business doesn't make any money. If you're not there for an extended period of time, you won't have a business when you come back.

  The key factor in turning a business into a system as the author states, is to have operating manuals which describe each function of the business. One criticism I have of the book, and I suppose he did this on purpose, is that he really doesn't go into a lot of detail as to how these manuals are done. I guess we have to figure that out. The example in the book about the owner of a pie shop, I felt, was a very good example. I know, because I wrote operating manuals for my business, and I started franchising my business back in 1995. I had 15 offices up and running at one point, and I decided not to pursue it any further, so I pared it all back down. This book works, but you better be prepared to take a really long hard look at how your business is run and particulary how it fits into your life.

  The bottom line on this book is that you can make your business into a system. You can reduce your hours to a reasonable level. Yes, you can even make a good living in your own business. I've been doing it for years. The only problem is, you have to do it. You have to sit down, take a good hard look at your business, and get the thing built or rebuilt from the ground up. You need to have all your financial records in order. You need to know at any moment what your operating margins are, what's going on with everything. It's a big task, and I suspect many people who have read this book don't want to do all that. As for my business, I've implemented much of what he talks about with great success. I haven't implemented all of it because some of it is difficult and time consuming. The other problem is, there's no "step-by-step" method presented, at least not what one would want. There is a methodology to it, but as with most things in life, we have to adapt them to our situation and take the time to do it. The author won't take you by the hand and do it for you.

  I'm giving this book 5 stars because I think it provides much thought provoking material. If you own a business or are planning on going into business, this book is a must. Even if you ignore most of what he says, it will at least change the way you think about your business. For example, take the total number of hours you work in your business per week, month, year or whatever and divide that by your net business income factoring in expenses that were just for tax purposes. After you do that, find out your hourly wage. I did that, and I was shocked. If you're working 12-16 hours a day, and you're making an average income in your business or if you're breaking even, you're wasting your time. Take a day off and read this book. It will change your focus dramatically. It's not an easy process, but if you're serious about making your business work without you having to work so hard, then this book is worth every penny. Good luck in all your ventures.
  
  

• Guide to creating a business that lets you 'breathe easy."

  
  By A2DEWGEY0QRK6Q on 2000-08-12
  If you own a small business or are considering starting one, put this book at the top of your "must read list." As a personal coach, I recommend the E-Myth Revisited to our entrepreneurial clients, especially if the business has "taken over the client's life."

  Gerber's E-Myth Revisited offers salient points with the most important being, "Work ON your business not IN it." We are introduced to three working personalities: 1) the entrepreneur who always has ideas, 2) the manager who keeps everything organized, and 3) the technician who knows that "If it's going to get done right, I'd better do it myself." Through the eyes of a business owner/client, Gerber unfolds the story that allows us to see the importance of each personality preference and the necessity for balance between them. We also see the different stages of business growth and come to appreciate the benefits of implementing systems at the beginning of developing a business.

  Humor throughout the book makes this an enjoyable read, and as I tell my clients, savor your chuckles when you find Gerber describing you almost perfectly.
  
  

• Will shape the future of your business and your life.
  By AXC5PV041KOWN on 1999-08-07
  I have read The E-Myth many times over and have found the Franchise Prototype system absolutely amazing. I am now 26 years old and in the last 4 years have built 2 very successful companies. Being in business for yourself is not about making money. It is about fulfilling a part of yourself. Understanding the principals in this book will change the way your run your business and give you balance to your life. That is what it is all about you know. Balance. Understanding why God placed you on this Earth and making sure you spend time to stop and smell the roses. If you take what Michael says in this book to heart and apply it's principals to your life your business will never be the same. Trust me from the experience in what this book has done to my past business and the power that is pushing my Statewide Business Brokerage. I would easily pay 1 million dollars for the knowledge and understanding I have learned from this book. Thank you Michael for leaving a legacy with me that will reshape my family tree.
  
  
• Why Many Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
  By on 1999-02-22
  Despite the pessimistic subtitle, the author of this little book is a champion for the small business owner. As a lawyer representing mainly small businesses, I have seen many businesses that deserved to prosper, run out of capital and luck. This book helps explain why, and offers a constructive mechanism to maximize a business's chances for success.

  The "e"(for entrepreneur) myth is that hard work and perseverance -- plowing ahead against the odds -- will alter the statistical odds that doom most new businesses. Gerber uses as an example, a woman who had begun a small bakery business because of her legendary piemaking skills. Since she knew how to bake great pies, shouldn't it follow that that skill could be the basis for a successful business? Back in the real world, while the business hadn't exactly failed, it hadn't exactly succeeded, either. Gerber shows how the overwrought business owner can turn the idea into a successful venture.

  The author advocates looking for guidance to the large franchise model (McDonald's is an example he cites frequently). The distinctive characteristic of the large franchise-based business is a detailed, finely tuned system that can be run successfully by non-experts. Gerber takes the reader through the steps to create a detailed small business model. Using this system, the business owner is transformed from a day to day operator to a sort of teacher whose success is achieved by training others in detail to use the very skills the owner brought to the business in the first place.

  Few readers will have the time and discipline to adopt the entire soup-to-nuts program advocated in this book, but can still learn a great deal from it.
  
  

• Enter at your peril
  By A1WDUZZA9844K2 on 2006-01-05
  After reading this book, I was motivated to go out and purchase a franchise in a business that was not one I was familiar with, much as the author described.
  
  About $350,000 later, I abandoned the business and returned to my original field. I was a failure. Why?
  
  The author encourages you not to "bake pies" because you enjoy pie baking. What I found was that I left a field where I had contacts, peers, support groups and familiar resources. Instead, I entered a world foreign to me where I was trying to establish business relationships as a newcomer in an environment of long-standing business relationships. And, I hated the business. Try being successful doing that.
  
  For some people, this formula works, but I urge caution. I instead learned to follow the advice of Donald Trump, that if you do something just for the money or the balance sheet, you'll never really be a success. Do what you love, and you'll be successful. This book encourages you to do the opposite.
  
  BE CAREFUL. This cost me my life savings and I would exercise caution in following this advice.
  
  
• Excellent teaching/learning tool for anyone in business
  By on 1999-06-20
  I am now using this book as a text for a college level course designed for Information Technology students. I read the original version about 6 years ago when I purchased it for 39 cents at a thrift store. Having been a business systems analyst for many years I used these techniques but never knew it. Now using the messages in this book, I can share techniques that work with others. This book is a practical giude to business problem solving and it can be used to design useful information systems and implement effective training in any size operation. The "Revisited" edition has been enhanced using a case-study approach that makes the message easily understood by any reader. Employers today want more from employees than mere technical proficiency. They want people who can analyze their business and provide viable technical solutions that contribute to a good work environment as well as to bottom line success. This book focuses not only on developing a good business strategy but also on the leadership skills required to develop a business and meet goals. It provides all the steps needed to implement these ideas in the real world. It is an exellent book for the technician, the manager or the entrepreneur. Whether you run or are a part of any business I highly recommend it.
  
  
• Sift Carefully
  By A2FE0D50INWZRU on 2000-01-23
  Gerber makes a few very insightful points in this book, especially early on. However, as he progresses they become fewer and more obscure. He gradually deteriorates into a new age/zen rhapsody and becomes increasingly unclear, inconsistent, and wrong. Even some of his more lucid points require hard swallowing or careful synthesis. He then closes with a poorly veiled plug for hiring his e-institute to fill in the blanks, which have mushroomed by then.
  
  
• He could use an MBA
  By A3G2CHWZMJNDAO on 2003-09-16
  Gerber has a few good ideas but the book seems to be written by a guy who had some kind of quasi-religious experience that he's applied to business, and a lot of it comes out sounding like psuedo-Zen hooey to me. I don't want to give the book away, and he does have a few good ideas, but they're not as applicable as he'd like. One objection I do have is this: his view of a business is that it is a means to an end, basically to generate sufficient cash so you can live the life you want as an absentee owner. But what if you want a business where you enjoy the work? For example, I enjoy programming computers, though I tend to get sick of clients. I don't want to write an operations manual so others can do my job, I want to have salespeople get jobs for me. Nowhere does he pose such a situation. And he meanders a lot. But he does have some good ideas and I can believe that for some people his basic ideas will be right on the money. For example, I have 2 brothes who are self-employed. According to Gerber, they don't own their businesses, they own their jobs. The minute they stop working, the income stops, something Gerber says is what you should develop your business beyond. Well, I've said enough. Gerber meanders a lot and seems to contradict himself on occassion. He also seems to write as if he wishes he had an MBA or was a famous futurist like Toffler. But for the fledgling business owner, his insights are a good starting point.
  
  
• Danger In The Entrepreneurial Zone
  By A1K1JW1C5CUSUZ on 2000-06-03
  This book deserves 7 stars for pointing out the fallacies of how most entrepreneurs operate. The book deserves 1 star for proposing a standard that most people cannot hope to meet and then pushing to sell you consulting services. Pay attention to the former, and go light on the latter.

  Gerber is correct that most entrepreneurs are limited by a comfort zone of wanting to remain in control as either strong technicians or managers, which limits the potential of the business. As soon as they exceed what they can handle, the business either fails in a break-out attempt or shrinks back to a simpler state. The new businesses that succeed the most are the ones that have a business model that is easy to replicate with ordinary people.

  Where Gerber goes wrong is in suggesting that many people can develop such business models. I regularly study the top 100 CEOs in the country for stock-price growth, and few of them think they can develop a new business model. Why should someone starting up a new company be likely to do better than that? They won't. In fact, I have a friend who attempted to start a new business following Gerber's principles and almost failed before he adjusted to normal operating approaches. He spent so much time developing his business model, that he never got around to operating it.

  Gerber's three favorite examples are McDonald's, Disney, and Fed Ex. Notice that two of the three got most of their ideas from someone else for the business model (Ray Kroc from the McDonald brothers in San Bernardino, California and Fred Smith from an Indian air freight operation).

  I think there is another fallacy here: You can get ordinary people to do simple things (deliver packages, cook and deliver cheap hamburgers, and smile at people on automated rides). But in many businesses the demands of the market are extraordinary such as in many technological product businesses and services. Microsoft has a business model, but it is not one that Gerber would recognize.

  Finally, he condemns people who want to operate their business as a job by being technically expert. Where would we be if people never did that? What if Peter Drucker spent all of his time developing business systems to make pizzas and tacos rather than writing business books about management? What if great musicians developed business models for teaching children to play the violin and piano rather than performing? In other words, there is room and a need for extraordinarily able one-person companies run by technicians.

  Skip the pitch for the consulting services at the end. You'll like the book better if you do.

  But don't let my quibbles keep you as an entrepreneur from failing to appreciate the excellent case Gerber makes for having a business model as soon as possible, and working systematically to improve it. If you can do that, you may well develop a true irresistible growth enterprise.
  
  

• Read this before starting your own business!
  By A14A8XLUVN3UNB on 2000-10-30
  This is one of the few books you must read if you want to go into business. It's called The E-Myth because it addresses the entrepreneurial myth. The book starts off by telling you what a business is not. Having done so, the book goes on to tell you what a successful business is all about.

  In a nutshell, a successful business is all about systems. A systems-based business is neither beholden to individuals nor at the mercy of their personalities and quirks. It is capable of running on its own without its owner having to be present.

  An owner who cannot afford to be away from his business is merely a self-employed person. An employee sells time. A self-employed mere buys a job to work in. A real business owner works on the business rather than in it. The book adopts the concept of a franchise as the ultimate objective of all business owners. By aiming to be a franchise in any business you do, you will be reminded of the need to systematise every facet of your business.

  If you are an employee, have little or no prior experience in business, but are keen to start your own business, you would do well to read this book. There are a lot of things that you should know before taking the plunge. This book will save you a whole lot of heartache and unnecessary aggravation.
  
  

• Good Advice - mostly common sense
  By A29LNXUJP5ANAL on 2003-01-30
  Gerber's book is a very easy read, and should stimulate your thought processes even if you disagree with some of his advice. His major thesis is that many small businesses fail because they are started by technicians who are not prepared to handle the managerial and entrepreneurial tasks that go with running a business.

  His minor thesis (which he spends far more time on) is that a small business should be run as if the intent were to franchise it. As a consequence, the owner should devise systems to insure consistentcy in execution of every aspect of the business. As part of this, Gerber advises envisioning the business at the point of maturity, determining what the systems and personnel roles will need to be at that point, and starting from day one acting as if you were at that point of maturity (this might mean that you have one person filling eight roles).

  Having witnessed a number of small business failures, and having participated in one, I find myself in agreement with all of his major points, but not necessarily in the execution of them (which, as an aside, he should have developed more thoroughly). With my next entrepreneurial adventure, I will definitely be following his advice regarding systems and organisation.
  
  

• Don't waste your time or money on this "Myth"
  By on 1999-11-06
  This book is simply a plug for Gerber's "E-Myth Academy", and is a poor excuse for a business development guide. After suffering through over 250 pages of puffery I could hardly extract one or two basic business concepts (concepts, that were covered in greater lengths in an introductory business class during freshman year as an undergrad). On a positive note, I will say that "Dr" Gerber has devised a clever franchising scheme for his "methods" and is an excellent saleman. But, I do feel that his skills are best applied on a used car lot.
  
  
• Good concepts hidden under wishy-washy philosophy and fake d
  By A1LVMQ52YODRMO on 2003-07-18
  Gerber has good concepts. Work on your business, instead of working for your business. Plan and organize as if the business was a franchise prototype, to be run by anyone. He talks about strategies, from organization, to managerial, to systems. He emphasizes long term and precise planning. He emphasizes research and separate task appropriation. All good ideas that should be implemented, but nothing revolutionary or nothing that doesn't include good common sense.

  However, realizing that he can't sell a pamphlet, he decides to write a book with wishy washy philosophical nonsense accompanied with dialogue between him and a supposed entrepreneurial. Since he uses exact quotes, and the language style of the entrepreneurial is exactly the same as his own, it's got to be fake. Almost insultingly so. I find it hard to believe that he taped and transcribed every meeting with "Sarah", a women who has an amazing knack of asking the most perfect and opportune questions in the same tone and style as the author.

  The philosophical rants that he goes on is repetitive, dull, and often unnecessary. He just goes on and on. Then the little spiel about how you should use his service in the end makes the book feel cheap and almost like an informercial than a book.

  Basically, it's all an advertisement to his service. Don't buy this book. It's a rip-off.
  
  

• Dilbert Material
  By A2YBYRAQUEC6PF on 1999-12-01
  The primary point of this book - that most small business people spend too much time on the technical details of their business and not enough on developing a scaleable, repeatable business model - is well presented and a point that is certainly worth making. I really liked this first half of this book. However the second half revealed Gerber to be some sort of a paperwork/control freak who proposes systems so burdensome and detailed that they would stifle most real small businesses and insult most employees beyond recovery. This isn't terribly surprising coming from a consultant. A lot of the material in this book would fit nicely in a Dilbert cartoon.
  
  
• Avoid Failure
  By A19FRW264WZTGP on 2003-08-24
  I was referred to this book by someone who immersed himself in Michael Gerber's philosophy. This person was able to create a successful and profitable business based on the concepts presented in this book.

  The philosophy is broken down in two main themes. The first is that too many people work in their business, and not enough people work on their business. The second is that most successful businesses, regardless of their size, operate in a franchise model. This means the business can operate as a turn-key model, which would make it easy to sell or replicate anywhere.

  Gerber opines that most small businesses in the US fail. It is not because the people running them are stupid; they are not. Many people allow too many assumptions to get in the way of running a business. Contrary to a popular myth, most successful businesses are not run exclusively by entrepreneurs. They are also not run exclusively by managers. He walks the reader through the steps of maturity in the life of business, including the different types of people involved with operating the business.

  This is a must read for small business owners and sales professionals. There is a reason companies like McDonald's, Federal Express, Starbucks, etc. are so successful.
  
  

• Mixed feelings on this book
  By A28TUHDDP4717U on 2007-03-17
  Honestly, I was disappointed after reading this book. I had high expectations seeing all the glowing reviews for this book, but overall it wasn't great. By the way I listened to the audio version.
  
  First the good: I really did get a lot out of one point Gerber makes. He differentiates between the mindsets of technician, manager, and entrepreneur. I thought this was a great thought and clarified an idea that I'd had in my head for some time.
  
  The bad: Gerber seems to glorify the franchise model (not franchises themselves but the method they follow). This is a mistake. Franchises were an amazing revolution in the 80's and 90's but I think in 2007 it's a mistake to look at this as a model to emulate. Moreover, franchises are a terrible first business to own in my opinion. You can "be your own boss", but many franchise owners end up putting in 12 hour days, becoming a slave to their business. The other thing I didn't like about this book, was that it was full of stories that were "cute" but low on valuable insights. Ordinarily I wouldn't have a problem with this, story telling is a brilliant device and keeps the readers attention, but I realized that at the end of the book I had listened to all these stories, and had very little to take away from it.
  
  There are a number of great business books I've read (rich dad poor dad series, good to great, Dan Kennedy's books, Seth Godin's, the millionaire next door, John Reese's materials, etc). But this book was certainly not one of them. I wouldn't recommend it, and quite frankly I'm confused as to why this book is so popular.
  
  Brian Armstrong
  
  
• If I had only bought it sooner....
  By ATQE7XI52A1QW on 2002-01-20
  I first bought this book at about the end of 2000. As I read it, the story of my eventual business failure unfolded. Through his story-telling style, he pretty much described exactly where I was (at the nine-year point) and foresaw where I would end up. He was right. I had to close the doors of my business about eight months later, and it happened for reasons that Mr. Gerber detailed in the book.

  If I had bought the book and implemented the systems approach to business he suggests about five years sooner, I can see it would have made the difference between failure and success. I began to implement some of the techniques he writes about, and I could feel the improvement in our operations immediately. Yes, the book is sort of a marketing tool for his company's business development programs. And yes, the book is a little bit too wordy or warm and fuzzy for some. But the author puts enough in this book to help change the basice attitudes about business and point people in the right direction, so that aimless wandering is eliminated, and for that I appreciate his efforts.

  I would recommend this book for anyone who is thinking about starting a business or who has not hit the point of no return in an existing business. Sadly, I got it too late for my first business effort. But I'm sure that the next one will be much better off for having invested the small sum of the purchase price and time to read it. It changed my thinking, and if you are willing, it will change yours.
  
  

• Get it today, read it tonight, implement it tomorrow
  By A22TD0ME8TAYQG on 2002-11-27
  I read this book twice in one weekend, and was particularly struck by Chapter 12, where the author really explains his personal journey into understanding small businesses and why they don't work. I have watched small businesses struggle from the inside for more that 12 years, and if the owners had read this book, they would have saved themselves headache, heartache, and bottom line $$.

  I have a consulting company that focuses on the needs of small businesses, especially those just getting going. I give a copy of this book to every one of my clients who says "Gee, I want to start a business...what do I do?" This book helps clarify both the "what" and the "how".

  If you are are the kind of person who has discovered that common sense ain't that common, and agree with the (paraphrased) comment in Michael Hammer's "The Agenda" that the miracle of American business is merely that it functions, this book is the perfect reference. I found myself saying "yes!" and "Exactly!" as Mr. Gerber took us through the story of a small business owner who had traded the idea of a tyrant boss for a tyrant business.

  It's a great read, and worth three times the price.
  
  

• Not the best business book on the shelf
  By A2EZCP8PDJLD3Q on 2004-11-08
  This is simply a very poor book on the subject of small business. Basically, Gerber tells you that you need to franchise your business. That may be well and good, but what if you have a business that doesn't lend itself to franchising, like consulting? After reading his book I felt as though I wasted my time. I also felt mislead. Because of the title I thought I going to read a book chock full of tips on how to run your small business better and which pitfalls to avoid. Instead, I was treated to Gerber's horn blowing interlaced with a story about a woman he consulted and her pies. My advice is to look elsewhere for business advice.
  
  
• Gerber's book was highly influential in helping me build a $50M/year business
  By AX3V0G9JJJ3TT on 2005-11-25
  I just logged in to send the E-myth to yet another friend who is struggling with his relatively new business. I do this as a matter of routine: every person I have sent the E-myth to has thanked me profusely a couple of years down the line.
  
  I was troubled to read a negative review of the book from some entrepreneurial pundit. The book has been so important to me and my business that I felt compelled to write my first ever book review to provide a counter-opinion.
  
  Why do I like Gerber's book? Because he helped me think less like a practioner and more like an owner. Results? I am the co-founder of a nearly $50 million/year, 11-year-old regional consulting firm. Gerber's emphasis on building "systems" has been vitally influential to me and my business partners. While no business is 100% dependent on systems, adopting a "systematic" approach to running the business is very important if one desires to own a business and have a life too.
  
  
• A big hit on "what" to do, but a miss on "how" to do it
  By ACAXLWMMBWSWM on 2000-06-06
  The E-Myth Revisited really helped me to sort out the difference between being very good at doing something and actually trying to turn that talent or skill into a business. It aptly explains why this happens and does talk about what to do about it. It delivers on the title's promise and this was valuable information for me and still worth the money I paid for it. However, while Mr. Gerber does talk about the "what" to do to systematize a business, I was still left with not understanding how to put those systems in place. Perhaps this is intentional since he makes a blatant pitch at the end of the book for using his business services to help you with your business development. From my perspective, I don't mind the pitch. He makes a living as a consultant and has every right to try to get new business. In talking with an associate of mine about E-Myth Revisted, he recommended I also buy How To Make Your Business Run Without You by Susan Carter -- although more expensive, Carter spends less time focused on what to do and more time on how to do it, which was much more valuable to me. The two books together really made a complete "from theory to implementation" library for me. I've now completely changed my perspective on what it means to be the owner of a business and how to get out from under the day-to-day tasks that prevent me from successfully growing the business. In my opinion, this book is worth your time to read it.
  
  
• Appeals to a narrow audience
  By A2Q21DUZTS53PL on 2004-07-27
  First, the author tells us that the reason most of us open our small business is so we can do what we love. Then he tells us that as our business expands, we have to hire other people to do what we love, and we have to do what we hate (i.e., run a business). Then he tells us that the only reason to start a business is to sell it later for a profit. Then he shows, by example, how to McDonaldize a business, using a fictitious person that he pretends is real.
  
  If all this appeals to you, fine, get the book. But be sure to also get a decent book on cash management, such as Robert E. Fleury's The Small Business Survival Guide. Because Gerber's bias toward lavish spending will bankrupt a cash-strapped startup faster than anything you're probably doing now.
  
  
• The Best Business Management Book Ever Written!
  By A2FDGCKOWQBSGT on 2006-01-11
  I've owned my own company for 13 years. I picked up this book about 4 years ago and it changed the course of my company forever. I went from struggling with day to day operations and not able to get over a certain gross dollar amount per year to EXPLODING my business virtually overnight into a 7-million-dollar per year company (from barely getting $500,000 per year gross before).
  
  I look at the other reviews for this book and I shake my head. One was from a guy who didn't even read the book all the way through! His review should be deleted, as he doesn't even qualify to write a review. I seem to remember the days of being in school where it was a requirement to read the entire book before writing a review (book report).
  
  I'm sick of reading reviews from losers and wannabes who never actually use the methods in this book (or any others) but yet have a load of opinions on whether the techniques work or not. I've actually used these techniques for my company which has resulted in a multi-million dollar per year business.
  
  Like some of the most successful millionaires (and billionaires) say: Don't listen to people unless they are making A LOT MORE than you are and they are in a position in life where you want to be.
  
  
• More "touchy-feely" than your usual business book
  By on 1999-04-25
  I was given this book by by employer, upon notice of my resignation to start my own company. He felt that after I read it I would no longer want to be an entrepenuer. WRONG! This book is not so much a "how to" be a manager (though it does give some very specific guidelines) as it is a psychological look at entrepenuers - what works, what doesn't, how to get yourself in the correct frame of mind to proceed. How you - the entrepenuer - need to need to look at the business in order to be successful - so that you can run the company, instead of it running you.

  I gained a lot of insight from this book. I did feel it was very wordy, and really warm-fuzzy (Sarah wants her pies to show she cares - Sarah wants her spirit to be free - the author cares about Sarah AND her spirit, yada yada yada). Other than a few strange digressions, I found it very enjoyable and I believe it will be helpful.
  
  

• Think more, do less, grow more, profit more
  By A20KRMUFXAM8NK on 2001-02-02
  I sometimes wonder if the people that give low ratings to this book even understood a word of it. When people complain about the lack of a specific HOW TO in it, I have to wonder how much of a baby they are. No, this book will not hold your hand. It will not 'do it' for you. That's not it's purpose. What this book does is get you to think about your business more than work in your business. As he says, "Work ON your business, not IN it." For those that complain about the lack of concrete steps - he included a quote from Ford. Ford said something to the effect of, "I have other people that know more than me, and that do more than me - which frees me up to do something more important: Think." For the people that are willing to think more - this is THE book.

  ~ jayse

  PS - complaining about him trying to promote himself?? Give me a break! Haven't you read any good business books? I would never trust anyone that talks about good business and selling techniques that failed to try to sell me something more. I barely noticed it.

  PSS - no, I never met the author or the publishing company. I just sincerely found this book to be amazing, extremely entertaining and thought provoking.
  
  

• SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE BUT...
  By A3SN9EF7GTNEU2 on 2001-05-11
  With thirty years to my credit in teaching and counselling in business management, entrepreneurship and behavioural psychology, business has become a major aspect of my life. My training manuals are still being revised, reprinted and used in classrooms in my country today. I tell you this for no other reason but to assure you that "entrepreneurship" is not a foreign word to me.

  There is no question the author, "knows his stuff", but his presentation style appears to me to be just a touch too self-serving in an attempt to promote his own entrepreneurial activities. While the author is quite correct in principle, he appears, perhaps, too caught up on buzzwords and theories. The reader will have to use much of their own judgement when it comes to evaluating where the author is speaking from knowledge and experience and where he is making very general assumptions.

  First of all, not everyone is going to become a successful, lawyer, doctor, auto mechanic or computer technician, nor is everyone destined to become a successful entrepreneur. You can receive the best quality education and training but if you do not have an apptitude for entrepreneurship, you will not likely be successful, so apptitude and attitude are key. If you cannot manage money, do not like to take calculated risks, or expect a guaranteed paycheck during those start-up years, you may be pleasantly surprised as a new entrepreneur. Also, I did not see much content here on the importance of planning and market analysis, which are critical to the survival of any business no matter how much "entrepreneurial spirit" you may have.

  What really irked me about the book was not the content, but the lack of relevent and critical information, and the author's self-patronizing attitude. Perhaps he did not intend it that way, but it did have a certain promotional ring to it. His personal stories and "what works for him" make interesting reading, but I wouldn't bet the bank that it will necessarily work for everyone. Yes, the book does have merit, but if I knew little about entrepreneurship, I would definitely want to investigate a small business start up more fully before investing my hard earned dollars, or someone else's dollars, into a business venture, no matter how much entrepreneurial spirit was in my bones.
  
  

• How to create a souless corporation in three easy steps...
  By A2NBERKNDP4PL1 on 2005-07-25
  I have very mixed feelings about this book. The first part, which discussed the 3 personality types, was spot on. However, it is the second half of the book that disturbs me. His thesis is that the system runs the business and the people run the system. While the theory sounds good, I'd say the implementation is a quick way to turn your company into a souless corporate machine.
  
  Maybe I'm just bitter. Maybe it's cause I just bailed out on a job, read this, and then found out that this book was their guiding philosophy. Maybe it's cause I read Fast Food Nation first. I dunno. Whatever the case, I think this book, in the non-critical hands, is a quick path to creating a souless empire. Just another best-buy or ticketmaster, or any other company that has distilled it's essance into a bunch of scripts and guides.
  
  That said, I do think this book is a "must read" if only to contast other business books you've read. I dont think it's the holy grail of business, but it has very good advise. Hence, three stars.
  
  

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