Why Most Business Owners are not Entrepreneurs and What I’m Doing About It

The following is a repost from my previous blog…enjoy!
Have you ever discovered something that changed the way you approach each and every day? I recently discovered a book, and I want to share my discovery with you in hopes that it can help you as much as this book is helping me and my company.

The book is The E-Myth Revisited. Written in 1995, Michael Gerber outlines a way of operating a small business that sets you up for success today and success for your business long after you are gone…and you will be gone one day. The book starts with the idea that most businesses are the result of an “Entrepreunerial Seizure.” The owner is usually a great Technician…a great accountant, chef, mechanic, farmer, etc. During the course of his seizure, the Technician decides to start his own business. “Instead of cooking food for someone else, why don’t I open my own restuarant?” And so, the business begins.

What he doesn’t realize, however, is that two other personalities must also come to life in order for this new venture to succeed. A Manager who is responsible for payroll, paying bills, and ordering next week’s ingredients. And, the Entrepreuner who is responsible for charting the business’s future course. We each have different personalities, but most founders are Technicians – NOT Entrepreuners.

My greatest take away from this book, though, is the idea that “the true product of a business is the business itself.” By applying this concept, I begin working ON my business, not just IN my business. I create systems for every aspect of the business as if I were going to create 1,000 businesses just like the one I arrive at every day by using a Business Development Process of Innovation, Quantification, and Orchestration. If you wold like to learn more about the book, here is a detailed summary.

So, what does all this mean for Muscadine Products Corporation?

To begin building on our mission of Delivering Health and Hope, I need to create our organizational chart, create job descriptions for each position in the chart, and then create written procedures for every process to ensure that all responsibilities are quantified and orchestrated as we have designed. Within this one sentence lies countless hours of work. But, I know that they are hours invested working ON my business, not just IN my business. In the end, though, we will have a strong company that can operate without me and succeed for generations to come.

If you lead a team, run a small business, or farm please pick up a copy of this classic book.

One quick question: Are you more of a Technician, Manager, or Entrepreuner? I’m definitely a Technician.

I’d love to hear from you.