Are You Living the E-Myth?

If you are a small business owner, you probably have read the “E-Myth” books. If you haven’t, then you need to. The E-Myth, or “entrepreneurial myth” states that the owner, whether they are a technician, engineer, etc., is the best person to run their small business. This myth meets reality when that technician realizes that they have to study and learn to be as good at running a business as they are at being a technician.

Say we have two different people, one is an engineer with an idea and a patent, and the other is a mechanic with his own shop. The engineer wants to start a business, and the mechanic wants to expand and grow hers. Despite their dissimilar kinds of products and processes, when it comes to business, they are exactly the same. Both will hire people, buy space and equipment, and get all the makings of a successful business together, but both will most likely fail.

The engineer undoubtedly knows exactly what to do and the best way to do it. Because of this, he will most likely attempt to do everything himself, including running the business side. This will frustrate his underused, distrusted employees as well as himself. He will get backlogged and eventually flounder. The mechanic is in the same boat. By expanding her business, she will hire people to do the work she used to do so well. However, she will send herself to exhaustion working in the new garage and trying to run the “front of the house.” Her business too is doomed.

Ironically, a large part of not being able to let go is the fear of failure. Often, the slightest mistakes made by employees are enough reason for an owner to take back the reigns and never let go again. While a small business cannot tolerate too many mistakes, a thorough examination should be made before the towel is thrown in. Will the mistake be repeatable? Did it happen due to lack of skill, training, equipment, or what? Identify the root problem and correct it. Doing that is a prime example of your new role in your small business.

The key is to let the people you hire, do the job you hired them for. That means the business-side operations as well as the work that you used to do. You can’t run from new business aspects you aren’t comfortable with to your old jobs that are being done by your new employees. Delegate, let go, and oversee. You’ll have much easier workdays.

This does not mean that you won’t be needed. Not at all! You are the one that will make the tough decisions. You are the one they will come to when a situation -- different from the ones you trained them for – occurs and they need to know what to do. Your role in your business changes with growth, and you must change with it.

As a small business owner, have you heard your partner or yourself utter these phrases?

“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!”
“I’m working twelve or more hour days, but that’s what it takes to make this a success.”
“My employees try hard, but it’s never good enough.”
“I tried not doing the work myself, but there were too many mistakes.”
“It’s too important to let my employees do this.”
“I really miss the days when it was just me doing this alone.”

If you have, then you really need to examine your business with a fresh eye. Unless you have planned badly, hired improperly, or trained poorly, you should have a normal day’s work overseeing your employees do the day to day workings of your business. Take a fresh look and see what actually needs fixing and what you might need to let go of.