The E-Myth Revisited

Michael Gerber's central argument destroys the most common fantasy in entrepreneurship: the idea that if you are good at something technical, you should start a business doing that thing. The 'E-Myth' — the entrepreneurial myth — is that most businesses are started by entrepreneurs. They are not. They are started by technicians having an entrepreneurial seizure.

The baker who opens a bakery, the programmer who starts a software company, the plumber who hangs out a shingle — they are all making the same mistake. They confuse knowing how to do the technical work with knowing how to build a business that does the technical work. These are completely different skills. The technician works in the business. The entrepreneur works on the business.

Gerber's solution is the Franchise Prototype: build your business as if you were going to franchise it, even if you never will. Document every process. Create systems that work without you. Turn your business into a machine that produces consistent results regardless of who is operating it. This is the difference between owning a job and owning a business.