You Won’t Believe This #1 Myth Holding Back Small Business Owners!

In the world of small business, there’s a pervasive myth that’s been derailing countless entrepreneurs, known as the ‘Entrepreneurial Myth’ or the ‘E-Myth.’ This concept, brilliantly dissected in Michael E. Gerber’s “The E-Myth Revisited,” is the mistaken belief that understanding the technical work of a business means you understand a business that does that technical work.

This myth leads many technicians, the doers, to start their businesses, only to find that running a business involves much more than just their technical skills. Gerber points out that most small business owners are technicians suffering from an entrepreneurial seizure — they decide to start their own business without understanding what it entails.

Gerber emphasizes that the real work of a business owner is not in doing but in thinking about what needs to be done. The myth traps people in a cycle of working in their business rather than on it. It’s not about baking the best pies or writing the best code; it’s about building a business that bakes pies or writes code.

The key to breaking this myth, according to Gerber, lies in understanding the need for systems, strategic vision, and a balanced approach to the roles of the entrepreneur, manager, and technician within the business. Creating a business that works independently of the owner is crucial.

In essence, the #1 myth holding back small business owners is the misunderstanding of what it truly means to be an entrepreneur. Recognizing and overcoming this myth is the first step toward genuine success in any entrepreneurial venture.