April 19th 2013
The E-Myth Revisited.
Chapter 1-3
It is important to understand different aspects of running
your own business. Many people think it’s just about coming up with an idea and
putting it into action and many people think it’s a whole lot of work with a
little reward. There are so many different opinions about entrepreneurship as
well as the positive and negative aspects of running your own business. We need
to be yielding and flexible as we are striving to start or maintain a business.
The author gave great advice on this, “If you are unwilling to change, your
business will never be capable of giving you what you want” (pg. 5).
"The Entrepreneur Seizure" discussed in chapter 1 is the sudden urge you feel to take matters into your own hand and begin the planning of your own business. When someone starts a business, it can be exciting and liberating. It takes a lot of work, and you need to understand and embrace that as you begin preparing and starting your independence. Being well balanced in your perspective with your business as well as keeping the passion alive can be imperative for the resiliency and longevity of your ideas and company's well-being. It's also important to recognize the different hats you wear as a business owner and "self-starter". Each role you take on is connected in a different way and rely on each other to be successful.
The Entrepreneur:
This side of a you is the source of motivation, passion and ideas. It's where you find the mojo to keep going through the tough times you and your business may face as well as seek the opportune side of the situation. You are constantly in a creative mode--maybe overwhelmingly so.
The Manager:
This side of you is the practical and organized side. You see things in a objective viewpoint with order in mind. The manager implements and plans your ideas that you thought of as an entrepreneur.
The Technician:
As the entrepreneur side of you comes up with the idea, the manager plans how to implement it, the technician makes sure things get done. As you take on the role as a technician you make sure all of the hard work you did as a manager and entrepreneur gets put into action. Work, work, work. "The Technician knows that if it weren't for him, the world would be in more trouble than it already is. Nothing would get done, but lots of people would be thinking about it" (pg. 27.)
"The fact of the matter is that we all have an Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician inside us. And if they were equally balanced, we'd be describing an incredibly competent individual" (pg. 28). The author goes on to explain that unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with being this well-balanced. Sometimes having three different sides it can cause chaos due to the different opinions you have depending on which hat you are wearing.
Some people may not think they have an entrepreneur side to them much like Sarah in the book. It's very comforting and motivating to know that you can find an entrepreneur inside of you if you work hard and seek to find it. I can identify with Sarah when it comes to this. I feel like I might not have all the entrepreneur bones in my body that I need to run my own business. But as I learn more about what an Entrepreneur does, I get excited and know that I can have this part inside of me.
"It is self-evident that businesses, like people, are supposed to grow; and with growth, comes change. Unfortunately, most businesses are not run according to this principle. Instead most businesses are operated according to what the owner wants as opposed to what the business needs" (pg.34).
It is important to understand that there are three phases of a business's growth: Infancy, Adolescence, and Maturity. Each phase is directly related to each personality or side; The Technician, The Manager, and The Entrepreneur.
The Infancy stage, is directly tied to the role of The Technician. It is generally accepted that during the infancy stage of your business, you will work hours and hours on end. Even when you leave work, you are working. Not only do you put forth your efforts but it consumes your thoughts as well. You must start doing things that you are not familiar with and you might not be good at it either.
"In Infancy, you are the business" (pg. 36).
What's interesting is that you can work as hard as you can, build up a great reputation and repertoire with you clients and customers and sometimes you still fall behind. The reason the infancy stage is tied to being The Technician, is because you are doing all of the labor that you are good at. It can consume you and you may overlook or ignore the other responsibilities of running the business. If you run a clothing line, you spend most of your time in the sewing room and not enough time meeting with your accountant, talking with investors, picking out the wall color and so on.
The Infancy phase generally ends when there's a realization that the business will most likely fail unless there is a change.
"The Entrepreneur Seizure" discussed in chapter 1 is the sudden urge you feel to take matters into your own hand and begin the planning of your own business. When someone starts a business, it can be exciting and liberating. It takes a lot of work, and you need to understand and embrace that as you begin preparing and starting your independence. Being well balanced in your perspective with your business as well as keeping the passion alive can be imperative for the resiliency and longevity of your ideas and company's well-being. It's also important to recognize the different hats you wear as a business owner and "self-starter". Each role you take on is connected in a different way and rely on each other to be successful.
The Entrepreneur:
This side of a you is the source of motivation, passion and ideas. It's where you find the mojo to keep going through the tough times you and your business may face as well as seek the opportune side of the situation. You are constantly in a creative mode--maybe overwhelmingly so.
The Manager:
This side of you is the practical and organized side. You see things in a objective viewpoint with order in mind. The manager implements and plans your ideas that you thought of as an entrepreneur.
The Technician:
As the entrepreneur side of you comes up with the idea, the manager plans how to implement it, the technician makes sure things get done. As you take on the role as a technician you make sure all of the hard work you did as a manager and entrepreneur gets put into action. Work, work, work. "The Technician knows that if it weren't for him, the world would be in more trouble than it already is. Nothing would get done, but lots of people would be thinking about it" (pg. 27.)
"The fact of the matter is that we all have an Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician inside us. And if they were equally balanced, we'd be describing an incredibly competent individual" (pg. 28). The author goes on to explain that unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with being this well-balanced. Sometimes having three different sides it can cause chaos due to the different opinions you have depending on which hat you are wearing.
Some people may not think they have an entrepreneur side to them much like Sarah in the book. It's very comforting and motivating to know that you can find an entrepreneur inside of you if you work hard and seek to find it. I can identify with Sarah when it comes to this. I feel like I might not have all the entrepreneur bones in my body that I need to run my own business. But as I learn more about what an Entrepreneur does, I get excited and know that I can have this part inside of me.
"It is self-evident that businesses, like people, are supposed to grow; and with growth, comes change. Unfortunately, most businesses are not run according to this principle. Instead most businesses are operated according to what the owner wants as opposed to what the business needs" (pg.34).
It is important to understand that there are three phases of a business's growth: Infancy, Adolescence, and Maturity. Each phase is directly related to each personality or side; The Technician, The Manager, and The Entrepreneur.
The Infancy stage, is directly tied to the role of The Technician. It is generally accepted that during the infancy stage of your business, you will work hours and hours on end. Even when you leave work, you are working. Not only do you put forth your efforts but it consumes your thoughts as well. You must start doing things that you are not familiar with and you might not be good at it either.
"In Infancy, you are the business" (pg. 36).
What's interesting is that you can work as hard as you can, build up a great reputation and repertoire with you clients and customers and sometimes you still fall behind. The reason the infancy stage is tied to being The Technician, is because you are doing all of the labor that you are good at. It can consume you and you may overlook or ignore the other responsibilities of running the business. If you run a clothing line, you spend most of your time in the sewing room and not enough time meeting with your accountant, talking with investors, picking out the wall color and so on.
The Infancy phase generally ends when there's a realization that the business will most likely fail unless there is a change.
