The Fatal Assumption

Michael Gerber gives the fatal assumption as:

if you understand the technical work of a business, you can understand a business that does that technical work. [The E-Myth Revisited; Why Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It. New York: Harper Business, 1995, p. 13.]

Gerber goes on to say,

And the reason it's fatal is that is just isn't true

In fact, it's the root cause of most small business failures!

The technical work of a business and a business that does that technical work are two totally different things!

But the technician who starts a business fails to see this.

This is key insight of Gerber's: Don't presume because you are great at putting on roofs that you'll be great running a company that installs roofs.

When I started my own business, I first just wanted to do what I knew I could do well and get paid for it. I succeeded at that. Then, later when I decided I wanted to run a business, I knew I didn't know what I was doing. So I learned my way out of it by reading books like this. And I think the next one I start will be a better one.

What do you think? I'd like to know. Share your experiences. Post to this blog.

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