EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A phenomenal bestseller and a critically acclaimed book, Michael E. Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited tells the story of a small business that is at a crossroads as what to do. Owned by a lady named Sarah, the business is all about pies. Sarah finds help through the narrator’s attempt to make her understand why her business is falling apart. The narrator explains the reasons and tells her what she can do about it. There are two key elements of this explained help. One is that Sarah needs to understand what is going on inside her, and then seek an understanding of what is going on in the business world. To understand herself, Sarah needs to accept that she is an Entrepreneur, a manager as well as a technician all by herself. The fact that she is not handling the three correctly is the reason why her business is not succeeding at all. The narrator points out that she has become too much of a technician. The narrator offers the consequence of where the business is headed if she remains as she is; failure. There is also the possibility of growth and success as the alternative to this decline. Everything now all depends on her.
One has to love what they do, and Sarah does love pie. In her childhood days, she remembers most when she’d bake them with her aunt. This birthed in her the desire to pursue the venture further and make money baking pies. It is all dreams are made of, so she thought, making money doing what they love. Like happens most when people are not adequately prepared or informed, the dream turned into a nightmare. Anger and bitterness replaced the first reasons why she ever loved pie, and baking them became something she despised ever doing. The much-needed help came through the narrator who helps her remember why she loved her dream at first, and then relive that dream. A business process to success exists, and the narrator helps her to understand that implementing it can make her business grow. The growth of her business will, by all means, refresh her love for pies. This begins the narrator’s journey of the mind where Sarah is taken on a road through which she thinks, feels and acts in every way that is necessary to keep her business surviving. The first thing is the question of her desire to keep the business alive. Therefore Sarah summons her energies and again bakes pie with enthusiasm. The narrator reminds her that she is now seeing the business through an entrepreneurial perspective, and not the Perspective of a technician.
Garber’s book features many things. Every business owner has different personalities, and Garber explains how they can effectively be balanced. The book explains the importance of the Franchise Prototype as well as the Turn-Key Revolution. Many people work in their business, but this book explains the importance of how to work on your business. The book provides concise details on the Business Development Process. In the end, the narrator writes a letter to Sarah asking her to stay above the Comfort Zone common with many unsuccessful business people. The most important aspect of this book is that it covers the relationship between the business owner and their business. And this includes the planning, control as well as system and management of their business.
EVALUATION OF THE BOOK
First, the technical work involved in starting a business is different from the technical work involved in a particular product. The book strongly suggests that this two must never misunderstood for each other. People should not go into business just because just because they know the in-and-outs of a particular product, it is very necessary to research and understand the technicality of the business at hand.
Secondly, the book explains that any particular individual involving themselves in any business is composed of the technician, the entrepreneur, as well as the manager; which are three separate professionals in one. An understanding of the differences of all three is very necessary.
Again, there is a time, according to the book, that the business owner needs to focus on the entrepreneur and managerial aspects of the business and seek the technical help they need to run a business. At this point one has to plan, envision and articulate the future of the business with the thought of growth in mind. While there is a possibility that a business can get smaller if ones does it all alone, it is also likely that it can continually grow to the point where one has no more control over it. In both these cases, the business becomes self-destructive. Thirdly, the business also has the potential of surviving, and this case somebody is likely to give it all they have and lead it to success by all means.
The book explains that the maturity stage of any business can only become a reality if one embraces the entrepreneurial perspective. Though it cannot avoid the adolescent phase, the adoption of the Entrepreneurial model helps the owner to see things in a different way. Many frustrations come along the way, and the entrepreneurial perspective helps owner avoid them by looking at the business as though it were the product itself. This particular model explains how one should focus more on the customer; after all they are the reason why the business is in existence.
Garber’s book shows that the business itself is the true product of the business. When this perspective is brought to the fore, the way the product is sold gets all the major attention, while not too much unnecessary attention is put on the business itself. Known as the Franchise Prototype this system helps the business to run smoothly, regardless of whoever is running it. Every extraordinary business is differentiated from its competitors by the proprietary application of the Business Format Franchise Prototype.
The book also teaches on how to follow the Business Development process which is a continuous process that includes the Franchise Prototype of their business. Innovation, Quantification, and Orchestration happen to be the three main activities that are involved in the ongoing process. Whereas quantification is the numbers that prove that the innovation is working, innovation itself is the creativity that is put into action. Backed by Orchestration, these become the backbone of any business.
Finally, this book teaches that managers or business owners need have a business with a system strategy, and not a people strategy that may not be very effective. A manager’s inclination to draw success from the people that work for them is something that Garber’s book cautions as one likely to lead to frustration. Consistency of positive results can best come if the business is run through a systems strategy. It doesn’t matter what level of skills the workers possess, as long the manager has Operations and manuals and runs his enterprise by implementing a franchise prototype, the business will most likely smoothly.
Conclusion
The success of any business depends on how sound the ideas that go to it are. This means that if a manager were to read Michael E. Garber’s The Myth Revisited and consistently apply the teaching in it, they are definitely approaching success beyond their dreams. It is important for the manager to see and appreciate themselves as the Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician all in one, and to never give up as growth comes with continued attempts.