photo: onekingslane
Starting your own gig is nothing less than an emotional roller coaster – the excitement of doing what you love on your own terms keeps the adrenaline pumping, but the stress of the logistics and being your own boss and employee can really do your head in.
You would never build a home without a blueprint, so why start a business without a plan. Enter the E-Myth Revisited.
It is always useful to have a little assistance along the way and with only 266 pages, this book is a powerhouse. I have highly recommended it to anyone in pursuit of a small business – especially creatives. Michael Gerber artfully uses a case study of a baker whose success took over the joy of just baking a few cakes and pies, to a small empire of which she lost control. Continue to read and you will see why and how you can avoid the same mistakes.
Most importantly, Gerber debunks two start-up myths:
1. Everyone starting a small business is an entrepreneur
2. If you understand the technical work of building a business, you can create a business
Sounds like a riddle but there is food for thought here. From breaking the entrepreneurial myth to setting up strategic systems even before you are profitable enough to hire a team, this book tackles it all. My favorite part (as if you had asked) is Chapter 2: The Entrepreneur, The Manager and the Technician – Gerber reveals, “…everyone who goes into business is actually three-people-in-one … while each of these personalities wants to be the boss, none of them wants to have a boss”. (Boom!)
I have lived in 3 countries and countless cities. Through this process of moving, I have sold or given away everything under my feet (except my shoes and handbags of course). But one item has remained consistent and probably has as many stamps in its passport as me, and that is my personal copy of this book. I have referenced it for my own business and refer to it often (many years after reading) to colleagues, friends and family entering entrepreneurial mode.
Now I am recommending it to you.
Happy reading.
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