Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

That’s stretching the point just a little for effect, but Gerber – founder of the E-Myth franchise, guest this week on StartupNation Radio and subject of our article, Busting the ‘Myth’ of the Entrepreneur – preaches that a business succeeds without the entrepreneur rather than because of him or her.

In that approach, he says, lies freedom.

What say y’all?

But of course! The first job of a good manager is to make himself and everybody else dispensable. If he doesn`t, then that company must have person x to run, if he/she breaks a leg the company is as good as gone. 

I think it depends on the business.

Obviously I`m just a hairline away from being a 1-woman show so if I quit, we tank! That`s how we run - I can`t hire a sales person, marketing person, accountant, bookkeeper, hr manager, nanny and maid because I`d have to pass those costs to the customer, therefore making me too expensive. Our business runs best on the lean side, because I have less people to worry about ...

But if you are running a business with many employees and you are just there to build and leave ... you want it to run fine without you.

BTW, here`s the "Common Mistakes" article, linked.

I found it a little sad for them to downplay the micro-businesses in the article, saying
"Nothing wrong with that – except when you’re worked to the bone. You can’t step back. You can’t slow down. Your company won’t run without you. When that happens, you’ve built nothing."
I feel like we have built A LOT in the past few months, and I still have no plans for this company ever running without me. If you stick to the life plan concept, my life plan was to never have an office so why would I want to grow so big as to need one? If your plan was to remain a sole proprietorship, and you`re just fine with that ... who is someone to tell you that you have worked so hard yet built nothing?

I love Michael Gerber.  He`s an amazing speaker and I own several of his ebooks.  In fact I saw him speak about a year ago and I got him to sign my copy of "E-Myth Mastery" and I gave him a signed copy of my book.

Another area where you are irrelevant (to a degree) is in marketing - or maybe I should say the marketing strategies you use to bring in customers.  Here`s an example.  One of the best ways to sell online (depends on the product of course) is with a good sales letter.  Now I`ve studied this stuff with the masters.  The copywriter I learned to write sales letters from charges $12,000 for a single letter.  And then I kept studying with Dan Kennedy and others. 

But I can`t even tell you how many people say, "Ewwwwww, I hate those sales letters."

And I tell them, "It`s not about you.  It`s about your customers.  Will they buy from those sales letters?"

In other words it`s all about get over your bad self.

All the best,

Denise Michaels, Author, "Testosterone-Free Marketing

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I heard the term "boutique" business, not long ago. In context, it meant a one-person business, where if that person left, the entire business would vanish.

I`d think it would depend on the goal of the enterpreneur. If they`re trying to build a huge enterprise, then Gerber`s right...they should direct the business toward the day they can leave and just get their cut of the revenues.

On the other hand, many enterpreneurs are looking more for a satisfying outlet for their personal interests, designed to bring in enough income to pay the bills. They aren`t looking for a wide-scale business, and could care less if the business disappears when they die.

It`s an issue of interpretation.

I`m pretty much in the same boat as Nikole. Removing myself from the business is certainly a strategy I hope to achieve one day but we`ve got a long way to go before that happens.

I think it`s fine to have a business that`s mainly a job for yourself, as long as you have contingency plans in place for things such as serious (but not terminal) illness, vacations, family emergencies, etc.  If your business can`t run without you, and you get really sick, does that mean your business flops until you get better again?  And if so, how long would it take you to build it up again? 

Michael Gerber`s system-based model of structuring your business makes sense to me because you can get someone else to step in and at least do the basics for you while you`re out of commission. 

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