What a tremendous book from a man who has an incredible understanding of business in our free market economy. If you want to have a better grasp of why businesses succeed or fail, aand want to transform your business and take it to another level, by all means READ THIS BOOK! Your view of business and how they operate will never be the same.
Thank you Michael Gerber!

I didn't read all the way through "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It" by Michael Gerber. I stopped reading at about page 100. "E-myth" stands for "entrepreneurial myth." Gerber makes the accurate point that just because a person understands the technical work behind a business doesn't imply that the person understands that kind of business. People who understand the technical work don't necessarily understand how to operate the business. They are technicians, not entrepreneurs.

Gerber contends that most small business owners run into difficulty because they think and work like technicians. They try to do the work of the business, rather than learning how to run the business. Gerber writes, "If your business depends on you, you don't own a business-you have a job." "What if you don't want to be there?" The work grinds small business owners down, and they become disillusioned with their businesses.

This is probably true for many, new small business people. Many people aren't cut out to operate a business. Running a business is hard work. But, rather than acknowledge that reality, the goal, according to Gerber, is to create a business which doesn't need you, to create a "systems dependent business" and not a "people dependent business."

Gerber uses McDonald's as his prototypical model of operation. Gerber says McDonald's is an example of a turn-key business. You just put the key in the lock and the business works. A prototype franchise that can be easily replicated is Gerber's holy grail of business.

Gerber writes: "Given the failure rate of most small businesses, he [Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's] must have realized a crucial fact: for McDonald's to be a predictable success, the business would have to work, because the franchisee, if left to his own devices, most assuredly wouldn't!...Once he understood this, Ray Kroc's problem became his opportunity... Forced to create a business that worked in order to sell it, he also created a business that would work once it was sold, no matter who bought it... a foolproof, predictable business.... A systems-dependent business, not a people-dependent business."

I disagree with this analysis. Difficulty of management is a fundamental problem with any delocalized business, one with many locations spread throughout a large area. A dedicated manager is needed on each site. One manager can't oversee all the business locations. The franchise concept is one way to place devoted managers at each location. Each franchisee is not only carefully selected (in a good franchise) and carefully trained, but each franchisee has paid money to own the franchise. So, each manager becomes an owner. And, owners care more about the success of their business than anyone else. They are willing to work harder than anyone else to see the business succeed. Their own money is at stake.

Ask owners of successful franchises if they sit around *not* working. If an employee doesn't show up, who fills in? In fact, many franchise owners will tell you that buying a franchise is very much like buying a job! The fundamental premise that a McDonald's franchise can function with just anyone *not* working at the helm, while the operation just sort of self-manages, is incorrect.

It's true the best franchises don't tend to fail, but they aren't sold to just anybody either! I'm not criticizing the franchise concept. My goal is just to show that few businesses are purely "systems dependent."

Gerber suggests you try to create a template business operation that works of its own accord so that it can be replicated in a cookie cutter approach. Easier said than done!

Where do you get the basis for this template, or as Gerber calls it, "Franchise prototype" ? Gerber says the "franchise prototype" is part of your entrepreneurial vision. You dream about what your business will look like in the future. In practice, most successful franchises are based upon many years of operating history and industry experience. And, many knowledgeable business owners, who fully understand the franchise concept, have failed dismally when trying to franchise operations.

Of course, McDonald's and other established franchises have spent billions of dollars to create brand awareness for the franchise, which brings in a steady flow of customers. Your new "business format franchise" (way of doing business) won't have brand awareness. You will need to build it. Building brand awareness is marketing, and no marketing plan is ever assured to work. There won't be a cookie cutter marketing plan to toss in with the cookie-cutter operation.

"The E-Myth Revisited" is also a bit dated. Gerber writes, "A soggy French fry is not a McDonald's French fry." That has not been my recent experience. So much for flawless systems!

I did catch a glimpse of the last pages where Gerber offers a free "Turn-Key AnalysisTM" of your business. He writes, "Conducted over the phone in no more than an hour, our Turn-Key AnalysisTM will determine exactly what needs to be done in your business to give you everything you want from it: what essential building blocks are missing and need to be added; what processes and systems are absent or, if present, are inadequate to achieve the results you want to produce."

That's a pretty impressive offer! In under an hour, over the phone, he'll tell you exactly what's wrong with your business! I think I'll pass on that. But, do consider contacting SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), your local small business development center, or business graduate school. Each of these might be able to provide small business counseling. Be sure to specify that you want a complete turn-key operation with no work and no management. Showing up for business optional.

Yet, some business owners claim that this book has helped them. I think they might be confusing good old organization and routine for a "systems dependent business."

Peter Hupalo, author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur."

I first bought this book at about the end of 2000. As I read it, the story of my eventual business failure unfolded. Through his story-telling style, he pretty much described exactly where I was (at the nine-year point) and foresaw where I would end up. He was right. I had to close the doors of my business about eight months later, and it happened for reasons that Mr. Gerber detailed in the book.

If I had bought the book and implemented the systems approach to business he suggests about five years sooner, I can see it would have made the difference between failure and success. I began to implement some of the techniques he writes about, and I could feel the improvement in our operations immediately. Yes, the book is sort of a marketing tool for his company's business development programs. And yes, the book is a little bit too wordy or warm and fuzzy for some. But the author puts enough in this book to help change the basice attitudes about business and point people in the right direction, so that aimless wandering is eliminated, and for that I appreciate his efforts.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is thinking about starting a business or who has not hit the point of no return in an existing business. Sadly, I got it too late for my first business effort. But I'm sure that the next one will be much better off for having invested the small sum of the purchase price and time to read it. It changed my thinking, and if you are willing, it will change yours.

It is amazing how true to life Michael Gerber book is. This book greatly simplifies many principles of business. It is so real that I thought he collected his material from the small businesses in which I worked. The language is easy and conversational in style.

This book should be required reading in any university Business Program. Not only is it a valuable reference for a struggling business owner, but it can provide guidance to anyone wishing to write a business plan. This is a nut to soup book form the importance of developing an Aim to the signing of the responsibility contract. It stresses the importance of consistency in customer service and satisfaction.

Perhaps the greatest benefit this book can offer you, if you are a business owner are suggestions on how to get your life back. If my father would have read this book I believe his business would have been bigger, and he would have had more time to spend with his family.

His tremendous ability to see through the mental tunnel vision we all have as business owners is unbeliveably beneficial to us all. This book continues to reveal us to what I am personally experiencing, his results oriented, methodical and proven E-Myth Mastery Program. This book is fantastic and helps contrator business owners get a taste of his ideas and processes. It prepares the business owner for what each contractor should go through - The Emyth Mastery Program. This program is unquestionably the world's best business development program. I have been in the program for over 10 months and I have seen substantial improvement in my operations of my business. I look forward to reaching my Primary Aim by utilizing everything I have learned from Micheals books and programs in the years to come!!

Gerber's books on the EMyth should be required reading in MBA schools and should be provided free by all CPA's of the world.

He describes how you need to work ON your business (developing franchiseable systems) rather than IN your business (as a worker).

This book extends that theme for contractors. There is alot of new material here that updates previous versions. I was able to read it quickly in an afternoon... even after extensive underlinings. I went to his web site and researched other books here on Amazon.

Overall, this should be recommended reading for any entrepreneur, particularly those that have been in business for several years and are frustrated.

I have recently finished reading The E-Myth Contractor "Why Most Contractors' Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It" (for the second time) and once again Michael Gerber (author of E-Myth Revisited) "hits the nail on the head." Not only does the E-Myth Contractor motivate and inspire, it provides simple "tools" that will help you put your business and life into perspective -- Michael Gerber suggests, "that they are one in the same!" The E-Myth Contractor is well written, to-the-point and an easy read. In this book, you will find out what makes most companies successful and how you can apply those principles and systems to your business.

This book is less enjoyable than Michael Gerber's original E-Myth Revisited super-success. However, it still has extremely valuable lessons to share with its readers.

In my opinion, you really NEED to read E-Myth Revisited BEFORE you get and read this book, as much of it's content and teachings requires a good understanding of the concepts and ideas he talks about in his previous bestseller. Believe me when I say that reading E-Myth Revisited will be worth your time and effort, so please do get your hands on it.

E-Myth Manager deals with the subject of Management in a way that most managers would probably never have thought of. He suggests managers need to think of themselves as mini-entrepreneurs within their organisation, and act accordingly. I suspect most managers (and business owners) reading this book will be somewhat horrified at Gerber's heretical ideas, but if you take the time to read the book fully and truly understand what it's trying to teach you, you will (hopefully) come to a realisation that Gerber's ideas are not as dumb as you may initially have thought. :-)

It took me time to understand that what he was recommending was a PARADIGM shift in the thinking of managers and business owners - one that would empower and respect all of them as both individuals AND business people.

In my opinion, MANY business owners and managers have set up an adversarial environment in their workplace, which explains why their staff are never as dedicated, loyal, accurate and hard working as they would like. Yet the STUPID thing is that many businesses continue to perpetuate that self-destructive model, all in the pursuit of the short-term buck! One of the very reasons trade unions exist (and cause problems for many companies) is solely because of this adversarial model (just for the record: by no means am I implying or saying that trade unions are perfect either!), and until managers and business owners understand that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in their company is a individual human being first, and treat them with basic respect and value their contribution, things probably won't improve much.

E-Myth Manager, while not a thesis on worker/management matters, does cover the value created when all employees are given basic respect and treated as individuals, and vice versa. Managers are often the people implementing these policies and procedures, so it's valuable for them to see the big picture.

Gerber paints a picture that shows current day management as archaic and ineffective. In fact, he even goes so far as to say it is partially responsible for some of the more common problems in many businesses today, and why.

Now, don't go getting all defensive on me. Gerber is NOT taking cheap shots at managers, just for the sake of selling his book. Rather, he is trying to show current managers and owners a better way - one that will improve everybody's life in business.

As I said at the top of this review, while I found this book less enjoyable than his original E-Myth Revisited, it was still an extremely valuable read, and it deserves a 4 star rating, if only for it's ideas, if not for its delivery.

I have used the principles of this book along with several other books by Mr.Gerber to perfect my financial brokerage company. Mr.Gerber has written a phenomenal series of books that show you a better way of thinking about your business. I use this book to train my managers and employees so that they can have a better context of my business.

This book is one of the bible's of the entrepreneurial world, I believe that any entrepreneur that doesn't have this book is making their business harder than it should be.

In this sequel to his bestseller , Gerber continues his argument that modern management is dysfunctional and operates from inherently flawed assumption that we can manage anyone or anything other than ourselves. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

The useful message from this book could be stated in two pages. Gerber doesn't understand what motivates most physicians or what differentiates the practice of medicine from other forms of human commerce. It's true that most physicians are inept at business and have much to learn from entrepreneurs. However there are many aspects to the commerce of health care that pose unique challenges for the entrepreneur. Moreover, many business tenets are antithetical to traditional principles of the patient / caretaker relationship. The book is simplistic and off the mark.

After reading this book I was a bit conflicted over what rating to give it. Yes, there is insightful information in the book, but it only takes up two pages. The rest of the text is the typical motivational style found in other business books. It's the "You can succeed" attitude that I find obnoxious. For what it's worth, the premise of "E-Myth" is that doctors should have a set form for the practice -- that the office should run more like McDonald's than the traditional idea that everything revolves around the physician's meeting with the patient. Practices should divide tasks among the staff -- such as letting the techs take care of the initial physical -- while the doctors worry about only matters which actually require an M.D.

As a frustrated physician in private practice, I started the E-Myth Academy's Mastery program about one year ago. This program has revolutionized the way I view my medical practice and business and has given me a renewed vitality and optimism for medicine. The Mastery program is the full curriculum of the concepts that are outlined in the E-Myth Physician. Anyone who reads the book, and is interested in the concepts, owes it to him or herself to continue developing these concepts in the E-Myth Mastery program. This has been the most important and fulfilling educational experience I have had since medical school. This stuff should be taught in medical school!