Part 1: The Definition of E Myth

Have you had thoughts about owning your own business someday?

We at Launch Leadership Development want to be a part of the mentoring process for young entrepreneurs by sharing insights from successful entrepreneurs as discovered through their books, talks, or interviews.

“If you own a small business or if you want to own a small business, this book was written for you”, says author Michael Gerber about his book, The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.

At 268 pages, this is not a large book, but with 19 chapters it packs too many worthy concepts to include in one short article, so I have chosen to do a four-part series on the four main ideas:

• Part 1: The Definition of E Myth
• Part 2: The Natural Life Cycle of a Business
• Part 3: The Entrepreneurial Perspective
• Part 4: The Turn Key Revolution

Today we will look at Part 1: The Definition of E Myth

• What is the E myth?
• The 3 personalities or mindsets of a small business owner

What is the E Myth?

• The “E” in E myth stands for Entrepreneur
• Gerber says it is a myth thatsmall businesses are started by entrepreneurs risking capital to make a profit. Most small businesses are started by a person assuming that knowing how to make a product or perform a service is all you need to know to run a successful company.
• Gerber says everyone that goes into business is actually three people in one, having different mindsets about business. Surprisingly, the entrepreneur side is usually not the instigator for starting the new business.

The 3 personalities of a small business owner

The 3 mindsets of a small business owner, according to Gerber, are: the Entrepreneur, the Manager, and the Technician.

The Entrepreneur: The Entrepreneur mindset is the visionary and idea person that tends to live in the future tense of the business. This mindset is crucial for a business to continue growing and evolving. However, this is not the mindset that typically starts a new business.

The Manager: The Manager mindset creates the stability and systems of the company so that things run smoothly. The Manager tends to live in the past tense, learning from mistakes and past experiences and applying them to present tense operations. The Manager is not typically concerned with the future as they are focused on making sure day-to-day goals are met.  Managers typically resist changing their systems.

The Technician: The Technician is the “doer” that has the talent or skill to create the product or service.  Technicians tend to live in the present tense, focusing on making the product day to day.

•  He says it is most often the Technician side of the personality that starts the business out of desire to be independent from a boss.
• The Technician believes that knowing “how” to create the product or service is enough to have a successful business.
• The Technician often finds himself overwhelmed doing all the aspects of running a business that he usually is not proficient in nor happy doing, as well as trying to keep up with demand for his product.
• Sadly, the idea of being his own boss doing what he loves to do, soon turns into a nightmare, and he finds his whole life consumed with trying to keep the business afloat.

How did things get out of control? Where did this dream go wrong?

Check out Part 2: The Natural Life Cycle of a Business next week to find out!

-Jan Jones