The E-Myth

One of my clients gave me a book called "The E Myth, Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It" by Michael Gerber.  I'm definitely not a connoisseur of business literature but I ended up reading it in about a night.  I know I must be late to the game on most of his ideas, as it says on the cover more than a million copies sold, but to me they are eye opening.  What I took away was the foundation of most small business failure resides in the owner approaching the business undertaking as a technician and not an entrepreneur, as the expert in the 'thing' being sold.  It's good to be an expert if you are working for someone else, but as a small business owner you need that kind of dedication to the running of the business as well.  The technician gets in over their head and soon doesn't know which was is up.  He strongly advises to not only understand and use the different hats you must wear, but also approach the organization of your business from a strict by-the-book protocol, that you the owner invent and implement.  Treat your business as a model that could be copied a thousand times in a thousand different locations worldwide.  It's important to have predictable service and goods, the customer needs to have trust that what they are getting is the same as before.  I now see that business trust is predictability. 

I am however having a bit of a problem coming from the perspective of an artist/business owner.  I fully appreciate the multiple hats I must wear, but the foundation of my business is my creativity, and that ladies and gentlemen cannot be franchised.  Perhaps though, my organization can.  If the underpinnings of my business are run in a predictable manner, it would leave me in a better position in the future to have office staff to operate that end of it, leaving me more time to do the thing I love the most; making images.

Your thoughts would be wonderful to hear; are any of you having a difficult time being a small business owner, having to juggle the myriad of positions you hold.  Drop me a line, I'd love to talk one on one about it!
scott@scottmansfield.com

Cheers to you all...