We’re huge proponents of working smarter, not harder. We want to build a business with a solid foundation for growth and keep on growing it. We also try to model these beliefs by testing theories and applying them to reach our future goals.
Recently, a book we read confirmed we were heading in the right direction and doing everything right. We’d like to review that book here, because we want to help give other writers and freelancers opportunities to experience a better life too.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you use our links to buy this book, we earn a few cents. If you choose not to click our links, that’s quite fine. We aren’t posting this review to earn money (though it’s always nice). We’re writing it because we feel this book is a good resource with valuable information. Let’s carry on, shall we?
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber was a book that I really didn’t feel like reading in the first place. I’d seen it heavily mentioned elsewhere as being a book every businessperson should have, and I felt it had been put on a pedestal. I had preconceived notions and shunned it.
Eventually, I figured I’d best read what everyone talked about. At best, I’d have my views changed and learn something. At worst, I could trash the book and feel smug that my original opinions were right.
The cover appeal was strong – thank god. That beautiful trustworthy and established IBM blue is a winner. The sub-title? Killer. It read, “Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.” Well, hell. We’re a small business (moving to mid-sized, actually) and we certainly want to know what doesn’t work.
Alright, curiosity sparked… and nearly snuffed out. The introduction just about killed me. It was so boring that I set the book down for a week. I didn’t even expect to pick it up again. But unfinished business bugs me, so I determined to give it another shot.
Well, chapters 1 and 2 were just as boring as the first.
Be forewarned: The E-Myth Revisited uses the story of Sarah, a woman in the pie-making business, as an example and case study to follow through the book, and Gerber’s talents as a storyteller are sorely lacking.
Sarah is an unbelievable character, I can’t relate to her in any way, the dialogue sucks, her story bored me to tears and by the time I hit chapter 3, I wished some editor would have stuck a pie fork in the book and ripped all those wasted pages out.
But I decided to skim a little faster whenever Sarah and her pies cropped up (which was damned often.) It was the only way I made it to chapter 3. Thank god, things started to get interesting around that point.
The E-Myth Revisited covers what every freelancer needs to know: the difference between building a job and a business. I learned this a very long time ago and am thankful I did. I have freedom from being a Technician for the rest of my life.
Harry has read the E-Myth Revisited too and it was an eye-opener for him. “That’s what I was – a Technician. You were always the Entrepreneur. Now I’m seeing it doesn’t have to be like that, and boy am I glad. I couldn’t see myself doing the same damned thing over and over for the rest of my life.”
“Did you read chapter 7 yet?” I kept asking a friend this question throughout the week he was reading. My copy of the E-Myth Revisited has every single page dog-eared from chapters 7 to 13. “This is what we do at Men with Pens. It’s what we’ve been doing. That’s my business vision!”
Why was I so excited about chapter 7? Because that’s when the E-Myth Revisited starts telling you the keys to building a business that works for you (not the other way around), one that runs like a well-oiled machine. It shows you a different way of doing business so that you can stop working like a bastard down in the back rooms to keep your income alive.
You see, that’s the goal of the book: to teach you a better business mindset based on functional, practical systems. Not only that, but the E-Myth Revisited explains why you should want this in your life, why you need to get away from being the only person working like a dog and how to create a business that lets you achieve more money, more freedom and more satisfaction.
I’m excited about this book because it’s a tangible tome I can hand to someone and say, “Here. Here’s our business vision. Here’s how we run our business and exactly where we’re taking our business.” If you’re one of the people that looks at what we do and says, “I wish I had that,” then this book is going to rock your world.
We often have people emailing us for help. They feel splattered, scattered, without focus. They recognize that they’re not building a business; they’re just chasing the next bright shiny and hoping for a miracle. It’s not working for them and they know it. They want out. They’re bloody tired and don’t know which way to turn.
The E-Myth Revisited can help.
Oh, and if you’ve read Tim Ferris’s 4-Hour Workweek? Get the E-Myth Revisited. The two books go hand in hand.
Liked this review? Let us know. As we read and work our way through a vast selection of books on marketing, branding, fiction writing, consumer behavior and creativity, we form opinions of what we like and what we don’t. We’d like to hear your opinions too, so tell us what you’d like to read.
