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e-Myth becomes e-Fantasy - so now what?Is your business working for you; or are you working for your business?If you want to own a business that continues to function and earn without you being there, then there are certain things you must concentrate on and perfect. Do you know what they are, and how to perfect them? Click here to see our simplified 7 Step Model that describes what to do. But you will have to call us on 08 9227 5086 to find out more about the how. In the 80's Michael Gerber wrote a well known book called 'The E-Myth'* (Entrepreneurial Myth) which articulated very well the plight of so many businesses that are not businesses at all; but just very big jobs for the owner. This was later described by Robert Kiyosaki in his book 'The Cashflow Quadrant'** as merely a transition from the E Quadrant (Employment) to the S Quadrant (Self Employment). Being self employed is not necessarily the same as owning a business. In fact, the majority of people who claim to be 'in business' are actually self employed, even many who have a number of employees. In order to move to Kiyosaki's B Quadrant (Business) your goal is to own a system and to have other people work that system for you. Notice the two important parts to achieving that goal; system and people. Gerber forged an understanding and language of business systems which explained and spawned the franchise model of business growth. His contention was that to establish and grow a business all the owner needed to do was reduce everything to detailed and unambiguous procedures that anyone could follow. McDonalds typifies the ideal of this approach, whereby it is believed an owner can take any 16 year old off the street, give them a 2 week training course, and slot them into a system that will cause them to run a multi-million dollar business without the owner needing to be involved. This approach has been undeniably successful with many types of business, and the IT industry has loved this belief since it heralds the opportunity to replace people with computer systems, so called 'business solutions'. At the limit of this argument exists the perfect business, which is an 'e-Business' (e for electronic) operating over the internet, requiring no staff at all. However, the dot-bomb era on world stock markets in 2001 clearly showed the invalidity of this theory when taken too far. Furthermore, recent research by McKinsey's*** has shown that in the 80's only 12% of jobs required 'knowledge workers'. Now 63% of jobs require 'knowledge workers', people whose intellectual capital is at the heart of good performance, and of course, this capital moves with the person and cannot be 'owned' by the business in the traditional sense. Clearly in the new millenium the weight of importance has shifted, and will continue to shift further, from systems to people. Business systems are still needed; but more and more businesses now exist which will defy complete systematisation and automation. So the first question is, where on the potential for systematisation scale does your business sit? While you may continue to aim at 100%, at the same time you must deal with the second question ... what can I do to align the interests of my people with the interests of my business? This is not a new idea. Sun Tzu, a Chinese General, writing over 4,000 years ago, said "He will win whose army is animated with the same spirit throughout all his rank."**** Edensilk will help you with systems; but more importantly, Edensilk will help you engage the hearts and minds of your people, aligning their interests with yours. And furthermore, aligning the interests of your suppliers, and your customers, and your prospective customers. Not until other people are running everything, and the owner is operationally redundant, can the owner claim to have a 'Business'. * 'The E-Myth Revisited', Michael Gerber, 1995, Harper Collins. ** 'The Cashflow Quadrant', Robert Kiyosaki, 1998, TechPress Inc. *** Report reviewed in Perth Business News, October 2001. **** 'The Art of War for Managers', Gerald A Michaelson, Adams Media Corporation. |
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