Rating: 
Summary: Guide to creating a business that lets you 'breathe easy."
Review: If you own a small business or are considering starting one, put this book at the top of your "must read list." As a personal coach, I recommend the E-Myth Revisited to our entrepreneurial clients, especially if the business has "taken over the client's life."Gerber's E-Myth Revisited offers salient points with the most important being, "Work ON your business not IN it." We are introduced to three working personalities: 1) the entrepreneur who always has ideas, 2) the manager who keeps everything organized, and 3) the technician who knows that "If it's going to get done right, I'd better do it myself." Through the eyes of a business owner/client, Gerber unfolds the story that allows us to see the importance of each personality preference and the necessity for balance between them. We also see the different stages of business growth and come to appreciate the benefits of implementing systems at the beginning of developing a business. Humor throughout the book makes this an enjoyable read, and as I tell my clients, savor your chuckles when you find Gerber describing you almost perfectly.
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Summary: If your business is running you ...get this book
Review: I've often wondered how a company can open stores all over the place and have them function while my own business would certainly fail if i were not there to grind it out every day. This amazing little book finally showed me that it CAN be done ... If your business is running you .... then you will not believe the insight Mr. Gerber has . I would have sworn that he had followed me around with a video camera before writing it. Get this book and be the boss instead of your best employee.
Rating: 
Summary: A big hit on "what" to do, but a miss on "how" to do it
Review: The E-Myth Revisited really helped me to sort out the difference between being very good at doing something and actually trying to turn that talent or skill into a business. It aptly explains why this happens and does talk about what to do about it. It delivers on the title's promise and this was valuable information for me and still worth the money I paid for it. However, while Mr. Gerber does talk about the "what" to do to systematize a business, I was still left with not understanding how to put those systems in place. Perhaps this is intentional since he makes a blatant pitch at the end of the book for using his business services to help you with your business development. From my perspective, I don't mind the pitch. He makes a living as a consultant and has every right to try to get new business. In talking with an associate of mine about E-Myth Revisted, he recommended I also buy How To Make Your Business Run Without You by Susan Carter -- although more expensive, Carter spends less time focused on what to do and more time on how to do it, which was much more valuable to me. The two books together really made a complete "from theory to implementation" library for me. I've now completely changed my perspective on what it means to be the owner of a business and how to get out from under the day-to-day tasks that prevent me from successfully growing the business. In my opinion, this book is worth your time to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Danger In The Entrepreneurial Zone
Review: This book deserves 7 stars for pointing out the fallacies of how most entrepreneurs operate. The book deserves 1 star for proposing a standard that most people cannot hope to meet and then pushing to sell you consulting services. Pay attention to the former, and go light on the latter. Gerber is correct that most entrepreneurs are limited by a comfort zone of wanting to remain in control as either strong technicians or managers, which limits the potential of the business. As soon as they exceed what they can handle, the business either fails in a break-out attempt or shrinks back to a simpler state. The new businesses that succeed the most are the ones that have a business model that is easy to replicate with ordinary people. Where Gerber goes wrong is in suggesting that many people can develop such business models. I regularly study the top 100 CEOs in the country for stock-price growth, and few of them think they can develop a new business model. Why should someone starting up a new company be likely to do better than that? They won't. In fact, I have a friend who attempted to start a new business following Gerber's principles and almost failed before he adjusted to normal operating approaches. He spent so much time developing his business model, that he never got around to operating it. Gerber's three favorite examples are McDonald's, Disney, and Fed Ex. Notice that two of the three got most of their ideas from someone else for the business model (Ray Kroc from the McDonald brothers in San Bernardino, California and Fred Smith from an Indian air freight operation). I think there is another fallacy here: You can get ordinary people to do simple things (deliver packages, cook and deliver cheap hamburgers, and smile at people on automated rides). But in many businesses the demands of the market are extraordinary such as in many technological product businesses and services. Microsoft has a business model, but it is not one that Gerber would recognize. Finally, he condemns people who want to operate their business as a job by being technically expert. Where would we be if people never did that? What if Peter Drucker spent all of his time developing business systems to make pizzas and tacos rather than writing business books about management? What if great musicians developed business models for teaching children to play the violin and piano rather than performing? In other words, there is room and a need for extraordinarily able one-person companies run by technicians. Skip the pitch for the consulting services at the end. You'll like the book better if you do. But don't let my quibbles keep you as an entrepreneur from failing to appreciate the excellent case Gerber makes for having a business model as soon as possible, and working systematically to improve it. If you can do that, you may well develop a true irresistible growth enterprise.
Rating: 
Summary: Infomercial
Review: Useless - this was just a long commercial for the author's services. Worse yet, I paid for it. Very little concrete information. Very disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth reading and pondering
Review: I would have to rate this is the most influential small business book I have ever read. I've been in some kind of business since I was 11 years old and probably further back than that, but I don't really remember all that. I've never held a full-time job in my life. I had one job, and it was part-time. I say that because I hope to present my review from the perspective of the "business battlefield." I first read this book in 1994. I believe it was first published in 1986. The first time I picked it up, I stayed up all night and read it all the way through. I just couldn't put it down. With that said, I need to point out that if you don't own a business, never have owned a business or never will, this book probably won't appeal to you. It will appeal to you if you already own a small business or are planning on opening a business. It may just save your sanity. It's saved mine. Basically, the point of the book is this: "Your business is not your life" (quote from the book). It took me about 4 readings of this book to figure that out. Business owners tend to think working 16 hours a day is some kind of heroic effort. It's suicide. Been there done that. There's nothing glamorous about working in your business until you fall over. How, then, does the author propose to solve this problem? How many small business owners don't work insane hours and are successful? The key according to the author is to make your business into a system like McDonald's that anyone can run. Too much of a business is dependent on the owner to be there. You're not there, the business doesn't make any money. If you're not there for an extended period of time, you won't have a business when you come back. The key factor in turning a business into a system as the author states, is to have operating manuals which describe each function of the business. One criticism I have of the book, and I suppose he did this on purpose, is that he really doesn't go into a lot of detail as to how these manuals are done. I guess we have to figure that out. The example in the book about the owner of a pie shop, I felt, was a very good example. I know, because I wrote operating manuals for my business, and I started franchising my business back in 1995. I had 15 offices up and running at one point, and I decided not to pursue it any further, so I pared it all back down. This book works, but you better be prepared to take a really long hard look at how your business is run and particulary how it fits into your life. The bottom line on this book is that you can make your business into a system. You can reduce your hours to a reasonable level. Yes, you can even make a good living in your own business. I've been doing it for years. The only problem is, you have to do it. You have to sit down, take a good hard look at your business, and get the thing built or rebuilt from the ground up. You need to have all your financial records in order. You need to know at any moment what your operating margins are, what's going on with everything. It's a big task, and I suspect many people who have read this book don't want to do all that. As for my business, I've implemented much of what he talks about with great success. I haven't implemented all of it because some of it is difficult and time consuming. The other problem is, there's no "step-by-step" method presented, at least not what one would want. There is a methodology to it, but as with most things in life, we have to adapt them to our situation and take the time to do it. The author won't take you by the hand and do it for you. I'm giving this book 5 stars because I think it provides much thought provoking material. If you own a business or are planning on going into business, this book is a must. Even if you ignore most of what he says, it will at least change the way you think about your business. For example, take the total number of hours you work in your business per week, month, year or whatever and divide that by your net business income factoring in expenses that were just for tax purposes. After you do that, find out your hourly wage. I did that, and I was shocked. If you're working 12-16 hours a day, and you're making an average income in your business or if you're breaking even, you're wasting your time. Take a day off and read this book. It will change your focus dramatically. It's not an easy process, but if you're serious about making your business work without you having to work so hard, then this book is worth every penny. Good luck in all your ventures.
Rating:
Summary: Making Business Make Sense
Review: I cannot give a higher recommendation of a book to someone who is considering starting (or running) a business of his/her own. I owned 2 small businesses, I have an MBA, I worked at senior level finance positions for 2 Fortune 500 companies and I must say that the essential knowledge that I have about the business world came from my association with Michael Gerber. I was a client of Michael's for a number of years and I spent a great deal of time with him. Aside from the meaningful, rational and workable concepts that Michael provides he stresses something that is much more important. It is the dignity and divinity of the human Spirit that is the focus of his lessons. It is about the transcendence from a struggle in an indifferent world to an experience of the wonderful adventures that life can provide. Rather than losing oneself in a frustrating, demanding subservience it is about taking dominion over your business and even more over what your experience of life will be. My time spent with Michael has been rewarding beyond my ability to express. I think that your practice of his concepts will most certainly be rewarding to you.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener
Review: Excellent information on how to stay focused on what's important in order to take your business to the next level.
Rating: 
Summary: Sift Carefully
Review: Gerber makes a few very insightful points in this book, especially early on. However, as he progresses they become fewer and more obscure. He gradually deteriorates into a new age/zen rhapsody and becomes increasingly unclear, inconsistent, and wrong. Even some of his more lucid points require hard swallowing or careful synthesis. He then closes with a poorly veiled plug for hiring his e-institute to fill in the blanks, which have mushroomed by then.
Rating:
Summary: The E Myth Revisited
Review: Excellent advice for people starting and running small businesses
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