I just finished The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.
It was a super helpful, albeit cheesy book on running a business.
Here are my two biggest takeaways:
1) Being a Technician—i.e. being skilled at your craft/service—does not qualify you to be a business owner.
Great bakers, coaches, or carpenters don’t necessarily make folks who are great at running bakeries, practices, or home remodeling companies. Running the back end of a business is a completely different ball game.
In short, there’s a huge difference between working in your business and working on your business.
2) Your business is not your life; it should fuel your life.
I needed to hear this.
For the past year, I’ve been growing my first ever business and have become more and more passionate about it as it grows each month. Thinking about my business—creating clients, scheduling calls, inviting people to coaching sessions….I would be focusing on this stuff almost 24/7.
I wore that like a badge of honor, but I had to be reminded that that wasn’t my life. My life is my friends, my family, my health. My life is the freedom I enjoy with the people I love. I want my work to give me more freedom, not chip away at it.
If anyone owns any kind of business, or is at least considering it (no matter how big or small), I would consider this book mandatory reading.
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