the e-myth and my soap empire
I have been reading Michael Gerber's "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It". If you've never heard of it and you are in any way involved in business or want to be, I very strongly suggest you track down a copy. Like, now.
I'm not always a huge fan of the way it's written, but fixating on that would be like standing in front of a pile of free money and saying "I wish it were in smaller bills." His remarks about how small business owners often hide in the work they are most comfortable with instead of leading their business into bigger and better (but scarier, less familiar) territory are so spot on that I laughed out loud at myself. How many times have I spent a day inventing new soap scents instead of calling people who are going to get excited about selling it?
Gerber also talks extensively about building your business as if it were going to be franchised. That idea was kind of off-putting to me at first, but I have to say that on further inspection it makes perfect sense. Whether I franchise Dot & Lil or not, his point is that I should build it from the ground up to work as effectively as it would have to in order for 5000 more to be modeled after it. I'm about half way through the book, and I'm already thinking bigger and expanding my vision. And singing Michael Gerber's praises!
So, people, I'm building a soap empire. No jokes. And I love this book!
I'm not always a huge fan of the way it's written, but fixating on that would be like standing in front of a pile of free money and saying "I wish it were in smaller bills." His remarks about how small business owners often hide in the work they are most comfortable with instead of leading their business into bigger and better (but scarier, less familiar) territory are so spot on that I laughed out loud at myself. How many times have I spent a day inventing new soap scents instead of calling people who are going to get excited about selling it?
Gerber also talks extensively about building your business as if it were going to be franchised. That idea was kind of off-putting to me at first, but I have to say that on further inspection it makes perfect sense. Whether I franchise Dot & Lil or not, his point is that I should build it from the ground up to work as effectively as it would have to in order for 5000 more to be modeled after it. I'm about half way through the book, and I'm already thinking bigger and expanding my vision. And singing Michael Gerber's praises!
So, people, I'm building a soap empire. No jokes. And I love this book!
