eklektos

Part 1
The first part of the book centers on what the author calls the E-Myth; the three primary personalities in a person (as it applies to his/her career); and the three phases of a start-up.

The E-Myth is that an entrepreneur is not a very rare, forward thinking and motivated person, but rather a feeling that exists for only a brief moment in time. This feeling exists for an infinite number of reasons including: desire to be rich, freedom from existing job, etc.
The author breaks down a person into the following personalities:

1. Entrepreneur ? this is the personality that is forward looking, the thinker, not the doer or the organizer. This person dreams of the future


2. Manager ? this is the personality that creates order of the ideas generated from the Entrepreneur.


3. Technician ? this is the personality that does the work. The book describes the technician as wanting nothing more than to do the work he/she loves to do. The technician doesn't like the Entrepreneur or the Manager. The book places a large focus on this personality as most small businesses start with a person that is highly skilled in something and decides to start a business around that skill. The book goes on to focus on the fact that many businesses fail because the Technician is the one running the business.

The author tells us that in order for a business to be successful a proper balance of the three personalities must be present.
The author also describes three phases of a start-up business:

1. Infancy ? this is the stage that the entire business is run by one person. At this point the Technician is the main person driving the company


2. Adolescence ? this is the stage that all work can't be done by the one person and additional hires need to be made. At this stage the person has to deal with Managerial duties, often for the first time. The author states that often times the person will scale down the business back to the infancy stage.


3. Maturity ? at this stage the company is well defined and heading in a clear direction. At this stage the entrepreneur becomes alive again to keep one step ahead of the competition and set the company direction.

Part 2
The second part of the book focuses on what the author cases the ?Turn-Key Revolution?. This part of the book focuses exclusively on the concept of the ?Franchise Prototype?. The idea that the business needs to be run in such a way as it would be the model for five-thousand other business just like it. The author makes continuous reference to Ray Kroc and the start-up and growth of McDonald's.

A key point made in this part of the book is that consumers aren't buying the product, they're buying the business. The author is not the first to point out that McDonald's is successful not because they have the best food, but rather, the experience of going to a McDonald's is always so consistent. A major take-away from the book is that for a business to be successful they must always provide a consistent experience, no matter how great (or lackluster) that experience is.
The author states that a business model must have the following characteristics: (pg. 98-99)?

1. The model will provide consistent value to your customers, employees, suppliers, and lenders beyond what they expect.


2. The model will be operated by people with the lowest possible level of skill


3. The model will stand out as a place of impeccable order.


4. All work in the model will be documented in Operations Manuals.


5. The model will provide a uniformly predictable service to the customer.


6. The model will utilize a uniform color, dress, and facilities code.

Part 3
The third part of this book takes a more in-depth look at how these theories can be applied to a business.
The Business Development Process (an on-going process) is made up of three activities:

1. Innovation ? this activity revolves around the differentiating aspects of the business. Innovation has to do with experimenting with different practices as they relate to running the business, making the product, or the selling process.


2. Quantification ? this activity as its name implies is the thorough analysis of data collected through the implementation of the innovations. The author states that every aspect of the business needs to be quantified and analyzed.


3. Orchestration ? the author describes orchestration as ?the elimination of discretion, or choice, at the operating level of your business.? (pg. 124). This is a major take-away from the book. In other words, once a way of doing things has proven to work, make that the standard process and do not allow people to derivate from that process

The Business Development Program is the process in which the author and his company approach young businesses. This process consists of the following seven steps: (pg. 135)

1. Primary Aim


2. Strategic Objective


3. Organizational Strategy


4. Management Strategy


5. People Strategy


6. Marketing Strategy


7. Systems Strategy

The Primary Aim as described in the book speaks more about life goals of an individual outside of his/her business. It then goes on to describe how the business can be a facilitator of those life goals. The author also describes how a rigid structure at work does not mean that the employees loose their creativity in the work they do. That said, for the sake of a regular business, the Primary Aim should reflect more on the primary goal of the business itself. (pg. 136)

The Strategic Objective is a very simple concept. It is simply a ?clear statement of what your business has to ultimately do for you to achieve your Primary Aim?. (pg. 149) The author goes on to describe that the Strategic Objective should encapsulate many standards of which are:

1. Money ? the business must be able to generate a level of cash that is in-line with the expectation of the owners.


2. ? Opportunity Worth Pursuing? ? this is simply whether or not this business is capable of meeting the first standard. If it can't then everyone is wasting time.


3. When will the ?Franchise Prototype? be completed


4. What is the exit strategy


5. What are the key values that the company exhibits throughout all levels of the organization.


6. Others to be determined by the owners.

Organizational Strategy is a key point of the book that warrants special attention. The author states that an organizational chart needs to be created for all roles w/in the company from the highest to the lowest. This must be done with the assumption that the same person may be responsible for carrying out many of these roles.
The author then goes on to state that each role should be viewed as a Franchise Prototype of itself. Ever role should be turned into a system so that as the company grows, other people can step in to these roles and the will be done exactly as before. This is to be done through the creation of an extensive Operations Manual for the role.

Management Strategy ? The concept behind Management Strategy as stated in the books is not to hire amazingly competent people, but rather to hire regular people that want to learn your way of doing things. And your way of doing things is articulated in great detail in the Management System. This system is the strategy and will be used to train up-coming management. The author states that this is really a Marketing tool because a successful management strategy will be able to retain employees and customers. The author states that the purpose of the system is not just to be efficient, but effective.

The remaining strategies, while equally important are not easily summarized. These strategies are found on pages 197-252. One major take-away was in the People Strategy: You ? the entire you; your phone calls, emails, appearance and proposals are the sum total of what the client uses to create their opinion of the company, so be sure that you always produce the best work possible as it is a reflection on both yourself and the company as Everything affects Everything else.

Key Phrases:
The author used the following phrases throughout the book:

• Entrepreneurial Perspective ? the notion that there is no entrepreneur rather, only a mindset that a person should take and in the proper balance.


• Comfort Zone ? as the word suggests, this has to do with an entrepreneur doing tasks such as management, finances, marketing or sales that he is not comfortable with.


• Management through Abdication ? the common practice that an entrepreneur goes through as he/she transitions into the Adolescence stage of the business where he/she simply hands off duties without overseeing them. This type of management has devastating effects on a business.


• Franchise Prototype ? the idea that a business needs to be run in such a way that the business could be franchised many times. This is done by creating systems for every single aspect of the company.


• Business Development Process ? step-by-step process through which you convert your business into a perfectly organized model for thousands more just like it (pg. 135)