Training employees is one of the most important aspects of "building a business that works" (a phrase we use at EMyth to emphasize that a business that truly works is a systems-based, turn-key operation that works without you). Too often business leaders do not appreciate the value of employee training and neglect...
We recently received a request from one of our readers to write about how to take the first steps toward becoming a franchise. I immediately thought of my friend Dino Dakuras, a restaurateur who has taken the EMyth principle of the Franchise Prototype to heart in the process of franchising his own business. Since ...
Have you ever played that game where you repeat a particular word over, and over, and over until suddenly, it just doesn’t sound right anymore? At a certain point, it stops making sense. The phenomenon is called semantic satiation and it happens in business all the time! We have a tendency to overuse terms until, ...
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
It is a well known truism that the best customer is a happy customer. It follows that the best leads are referrals from happy customers. Referral leads are almost always the best prospects because a recommendation from one customer to another provides credibility, a positive impression and reduces doubt in the pro...
Well, ready or not, here it comes—the end of the year! The last weeks of December and first weeks of January seem to bring with them a heavier burden—and not a little confusion—to many business leaders.
I read a statistic the other day that said on an average day, you will be interrupted every eight minutes. Every eight minutes your attention will be taken away from what you’re supposed to be doing, and directed toward something else. Every eight minutes you’ll lose focus. You’ll shift gears. You’ll have to start...
A family business is any business in which a majority of the ownership or control lies within a single family and there are two or more family members directly involved. We've also heard it summed up in one word: complicated.
I've read The EMyth Revisited and I've heard Michael E. Gerber speak, but I have a business partner who has not and will not. I believe in my entrepreneurial vision for our company, but my partner is not convinced. He prefers doing technical work (which other employees should do) and he swears by the adage "If you...
In 2009, almost 560,000 new businesses were started every month. Interestingly, however, a large number of these were classified as “non-employer” businesses – in other words, sole operators with no employees. Many consider these individuals to be freelancers as opposed to “business owners” although the distinctio...
Hiring your first employee is one of the most exciting decisions any entrepreneur will make. It can also be one of the scariest. Think about it: that first employee doubles the head count of your company! In many ways this makes it the most important hire you'll ever make. Every year thousands of business owners m...
One of my clients, a veterinarian, recently questioned me about an article he’d found on the Internet written by a business coach (not affiliated with EMyth in any way). This article implied that the EMyth perspective mandates that the Technicians of the world: the plumbers, the doctors, the contractors, the desig...
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. —Henry David Thoreau What defines “success” for an entrepreneur? Success means different things to different people. There's no clear cut, univer...
Do you know how much cash you have? Do you know how that cash flows through your business? The amount of cash you have on hand is one of the most important metrics for the growth and survival of your company. As a business owner three of your primary financial responsibilities are:
At the heart of a systems-driven business is your company’s operations manual. The operations manual is the authoritative guidebook of how things are done in your business. It gives you an effective way of communicating policy and procedures, and gives your employees the independence and security they need to oper...
If you’re familiar with EMyth, you already know a bit about what we affectionately refer to as “the EMT,” or the three roles every small business owner plays: the Entrepreneur, the Manager, and the Technician. Defining the business is entrepreneurial work, doing the hands-on work is technical work, and managerial ...
The essential foundation for getting your employees to take ownership of their roles is to give them a game worth playing. Though your business isn’t a game, you must create an environment where people want to give their personal best to support the team effort. This is not simply a matter of motivating and inspir...