Michael Gerber's "Profound Idea #1"

Michael Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited; Why most Small Business Don't Work and What to Do About It(New York: Harper Collins, 1995),p. 3, gives us the first of four of what he calls profound ideas:

There is a myth in this country--I call it the E-Myth--which says that small businesses are started by entrepreneurs risking capital to make a profit. This is simply not so. The real reasons people start businesses have little to do with entrepreneurship. In fact, this belief in the Entrepreneurial Myth is the most important factor in the devastating rate of small business failure today. Understanding the E-Myth, and applying that understanding to the creation and development of a small business, can be the secret to any business's success.

When I first read this I about fell off my chair. In fact throughout the whole book, I felt he was speaking directly to me.

I might add a little here. Applying the understanding of the E-Myth to a small business is important. It's important also to understand why that is a myth. Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia, defines "myths" as, in part, "stories that a particular culture believes to be true.

To this particular point, once I was talking to a software designer I met at a Chamber of Commerce networking event. I asked him why he went into business. He said he'd been working for a software firm for 7 years with no raise. His boss went out and hired another programmer for a salary higher than his. He got mad, told his boss to shove it, figured that since he was a good programmer he could succeed on his own. Was he an entrepreneur? Maybe, but I would think that Gerber would say definitely not.

Are you interested in this? I'd like to know. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com