Working ON your business is the skill that every business owner needs to build to create a thriving company that doesn’t depend on you to produce results. Turning what you know how to do really well into systems—step-by-step processes—that others can use effectively is something that anyone with the desire can lea...
Every small business faces challenges. Every business owner must deal with issues and problems in the course of building and running a successful operation. In many ways though, the challenges—and advantages—in a family business are unique.
I’ve never known a business owner who didn’t feel they needed to spend more time working on their business and less time working in it. But so many find it difficult to make the time to do it. If you’re predominantly a Technician in your business, someone who spends most of your time making, selling or delivering ...
“How do I get my employees to do things the right way?” This is one of the most common questions we get from business owners. And the simplest answer is this: You need to show them what the right way—your way—is. With strong management, you design the systems your business needs to grow a high-performance team, on...
What’s your biggest business challenge? Whether it’s poor sales, employee issues or something more personal, every business owner can identify at least one pervasive problem that seems to hold the whole company back. So it’s natural to try to bring in an outside expert to help resolve your frustrations—but what ki...
Imagine what kind of workplace your business would be if your employees thought to themselves: "I’m excited about my work.” “This is a place where I can achieve my goals.” “I feel safe. It’s okay to make a mistake, and I will learn from it.” “I have some great ideas on how to improve things. I can’t wait to share ...
This year, I’m celebrating my 40th Anniversary at EMyth. I joined the company as an entry-level salesperson in 1982 at the age of 29. I’d just moved to northern California from the East Coast in search of a new direction after leaving a PhD program at MIT in public policy. As a graduate student, it dawned on me th...
The E-Myth Revisited proposes that owners of businesses that are not working should start again. This time they need to translate their vision into a management system, and to control their unpredictable employees through this system. I agree completely with this philosophy. My question is concerned with the pract...
Think about your favorite product or service—one you’d return to purchase, again and again. Maybe it’s an appliance brand, your dog groomer or a local donut shop. Whatever comes to mind for you, chances are it’s not the product alone that makes it your favorite, but rather all the things that come along with it. N...
If you’ve ever had the thought that you weren’t a good leader or didn’t know how to be one, you’re not alone. Business owners rarely go into business for themselves in order to become the leader of a company. In truth, most are looking to secure a “job” where they can provide their product or service free of a bos...
Discover the five steps to improving team performance in this free guide.
As an entrepreneur, you’re always thinking about your customers. But how much are you considering how they feel? How your customer perceives and feels about your business at any touchpoint is the heart of customer experience. And yet, many companies still limit customer experience simply to areas like marketing an...
As an entrepreneur, you likely start every day with an endless to-do list. So, how do you prioritize? What’s the most important thing (or things) to focus on? And how do you prevent yourself from fighting fires all day, only to feel like you didn’t really accomplish anything at the end of the day? The key to using...
When facing the challenge of understanding—and eventually mastering—your business finances, where do you even begin? That's the question we hear from business owners everywhere, and we try to help answer it with the articles we share on our blog. Our five most popular financial blogs will give you an idea of how t...
Discover the five steps to writing the perfect job posting so you can reach your ideal candidates.
“How do I build a business that doesn’t depend so much on me?” That’s one of the most common questions we hear from business owners. And the simplest answer is: You need to create systems to replace you in the business. But this isn’t so simple to do. How do you assess your current business systems? Or identify wh...
When was the last time you thought about why your business does what it does? Every business exists for a singular purpose: to produce a certain result—a service or a product. But have you ever asked yourself, "Why do we do it this way?" This question is the essence of strategic thinking. And strategic thinking is...