Most business owners start a business to make money, focusing on selling products/ services to generate income. However, the business remains dependent on the founder for survival, i.e. it’s a “Company of One”, and the owner is stuck with a job after years of hard work. The solution is to build your business from the onset with the intent to sell it. Michael Gerber’s best-selling The E-Myth and The E-Myth Revisited focus on helping business owners to think differently about their business. This book takes it beyond the E-Myth (Entrepreneurship Myth) to focus on how to start and build a scalable business that can be sold. This free Beyond the E-Myth summary gives you an overview of the key components to build a saleable company.
Growing from 1 to 1000
Ultimately, a successful business is not one that sells a lot of products or services; it’s one that is such a great product in itself, that people want to buy the entire business. In short, your business is your primary product, and a great business is one that can scale without its founder.
You need not actually build a company of 1,000 employees, but you must demonstrate that your company has the capability of growing to 1,000 people and beyond. Building your business from this perspective means an entirely different business model, from the products/ services you offer, to the clients you serve and the way you operate. Rather than try to fix the company you already have, Michael Gerber suggests that you apply his framework to a “NewCo”, i.e. to create a new business that’s designed from the onset to grow from a Company of 1 to 1,000.
Building a sale-able Business Enterprise is rewarding and fulfilling, but not easy. Here’s an overview of the components involved.
In the book, Gerber elaborates on these components in 5 parts. Here’s a quick overview.
Part 1: Why Do You Exist?
To stand out from the crowd, you must be able to answer this question, “What does my company exist to do, and why?” This will encompass 4 aspects: your Dream, Vision, Purpose and Mission. In every entrepreneur, there are also 4 personalities: The Dreamer, Thinker, Storyteller, Leader. Combined, they hold the answer to the key question above. A large part of the book is dedicated to explaining these 4 components, which build the foundation of your enterprise.
i. The Dreamer and The Dream
Your Dream is the great outcome that your company will create. Specifically, you must consider 2 sets of customers – your retail customers who buy your products and services, and the strategic customer who will buy your business.
ii. The Thinker and The Vision
The Vision is the form your company must take (including how it how it thinks, acts, and looks), to deliver that great outcome of your Dream.
iii. The Storyteller and The Purpose
Your Purpose is the big result that you’ll deliver for your Most Important Customer, and the reason why your company is valuable.
iv. The Leader and The Mission
Your Mission to bring the Dream, Vision, and Purpose to life, and involves creating the turnkey operating system that makes it possible for your company to operate successfully, in a duplicable way.
In the book, Gerber explains these components, and uses the E-myth journey since 1977 as a case study to illustrate how these elements work. You can get a detailed overview from our complete 11-page summary.
Parts 2-3: Client Fulfilment & Acquisition Systems
In a nutshell:
- The Client Fulfillment system is about developing your “how-to” manuals and software. It involves getting to know your clients better than they do, so you can uncover solutions they can’t find themselves. Help them identify their gaps, show how to close it, and capture that process.
- The Client Acquisition System is about attracting potential clients, with a compelling story, leads generation and conversion.
Our full Beyond the E-Myth summary covers these topics in greater detail.
Parts 4-5: Turnkey Management & Leadership Systems
Assuming you’ve completed all the parts above, you’re now ready to replicate your Franchise Prototype, and ensure that it can continue to evolve dynamically.
- Your Client Fulfilment System is like the hub of your business wheel, while your turnkey Management System is the supporting software which keeps the the hub and spokes spinning. It includes 4 key components – innovation, quantification, orchestration and continuous improvement.
- Your Dream, Vision, Purpose and Mission (from Part 1) stem from who you are, and forms the DNA of your company and enterprise. Your turnkey Leadership System in turn inspires every person in your organization to discover the leader in themselves. In the book, Gerber touches on how such leadership is manifested in the organization.
Getting the Most from Beyond the E-Myth
This is more of a conceptual than “how-to” book. The book ends with a promotion of “The Program”, which will take you through the process outlined in this book, to identify your Dream, Vision, Purpose, Mission, and grow your enterprise from a Company of One, to 1,000 or more. Ready to learn how you can build a scalable business that can be sold? Check out our complete book summary bundle which includes an infographic, a 11-page text summary, and a 23-minute audio summary.
For more details, you can get the book here or please visit emyth.com.
You can also check The E-Myth Revisited summary for more powerful ideas on how to grow a duplicable business that can outlive you. Or, check out the Built to Sell summary for a step-by-step to building a buisiness you can sell.
About the Author of Beyond the E-Myth
Beyond the E-Myth: The Evolution of an Enterprise From a Company of One to a Company of 1,000 is written by Michael E. Gerber—an American author and founder of Michael E. Gerber Companies, a business skills training company based in California. He was named “the World’s #1 Small Business Guru” by Inc. Magazine, for impacting hundreds of thousands of companies worldwide for over 40 years.
Gerber has authored numerous business coaching books. Today, he is on a new mission to bring economic development strengths and capabilities to millions of people worldwide, by awakening the new entrepreneur within them. This is done through his entrepreneurial incubator called The Dreaming Room®, with more details at michaelegerbercompanies.com.
Beyond the E-Myth Quotes
“Unless you start your business with the intention of selling it, it will almost always turn out to be a disaster.”
“Everything is a cliché… until you live it… when you experience them, they cease being clichés. They’re what’s called, instead, life.”
“You’ve got to be a stayer if you’re going to be a player.”
“You must first see what you’re about to create, if you are ever going to be able to actually create it. And, of course, both must happen if you are ever going to be able to sell it.”
“Your Dream gives it energy. Your Vision gives it form. Your actions give it the life needed to produce it in reality.”
“A Great Story lives within the truth it reveals.”
“If there’s a way of doing something, there’s a better way of doing something.”
“Your company is the product you’re creating to produce the legacy of your life.”
Click here to download Beyond the E-Myth book summary and infographic
