If it needs to be done, I do it. If it doesn't get done, it's because I didn't do it.

That's the comment lament of the small business person - especially the sole proprietor. And that's a major reason why 90% of businesses fail within 5 years.

Most business people know E-Myth author Michael Gerber. Michael Gerber wrote the business classic the E-Myth back in 1981. He updated it with The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What To Do About It in 1995.

Along with his writing, Gerber speaks and consults with a focus on the small business community and entrepreneurs.

According to Gerber's E-Myth Worldwide, the "E-Myth," or Entrepreneurial Myth, is the flawed assumption that people who are expert at a certain technical skill will therefore be successful running a business of that kind.

• "I want to be my own boss"
• "I want to make more money"
• "I want to have have more time to enjoy my life"

It’s a common misconception that because someone understands the nuts-and-bolts technical work, they will similarly understand how a business providing that sort of product or service should function.

From the E-Myth point of view, small business owners struggle to achieve success because they are working in their business when they need to be working on their business.

Eventually the day comes when they realize that just as they invested time and effort learning their technical skills, they now need to acquire business development and management skills.

For more than 30 years, E-Myth Worldwide has helped small business owners from every industry around the world gain the strategic perspective and develop the system strategies necessary to be successful.

In his presentation at a COSE event in April 2008, Gerber told what he found to be the biggest challenge, or is it opportunity, for the 6 million new businesses that start each year in the US.

Listen to Michael Gerber

Dan Hanson and Michael Gerber



Michael Gerber speaking at the COSE event

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