A long, long time ago when I would dream about someday starting my own business, I wanted to do some research to make sure I knew what I was getting into. I was told by many people and by my awesome mentor (Google) that I should read this book called E-Myth. What kind of weird title is that?

I found out that the “E” stood for “Entrepreneur,” and the book was about this “Myth” people believe that most businesses are started by those with awesome business skills.

Well, they aren’t.

Most are started by someone who’s good at doing something (let’s call this person “a technician”) who knows nothing about running a business, and therefore, most businesses fail.

I was intrigued. So I read it. And to this day, I can honestly say, it’s one of the most influential business books I’ve ever read. So, I thought I would do a new series on some of my key takeaways from this book, and share how it shaped and re-shaped my perspective and strategy about business. Ready?

Well, I love stories, so I loved that this book started out with this story about his friend Sarah who learned how to bake pies from his dear aunt. She loved baking pies, and not only that…it wasn’t just a pie, it was the most amazing, unique, and delicious pie you would ever eat. Everyone who tried her pie said she should start doing something with this special talent and her secret recipe. That’s when she started dreaming of owning her own pie shop. And eventually, her dream came true.

I was hoping that the story just escalated from there – she would open another shop, and another, and eventually, a thousand more. Then she’d retire and live happily ever after. Well, that didn’t happen.

Three years into it, she found herself getting to the bakery at three in the morning to bake pies. She would then open the shop at 6am to take care of customers all day, then clean up, close up, do all the accounting, have dinner and get the pies ready to bake for the next morning. She did this 6 days a week, all year round. She found that the work she used to love more than anything else became work that she hated. She left her 9-5 job to buy herself a 12-15 hours a day, 6 days a week kinda job. On top of all that, she was struggling financially.

Point of the story? Don’t be a technician. Be an entrepreneur. Don’t have a technician perspective in your business, have an entrepreneur perspective. Don’t work IN the business, work ON the business.

I will break down these points in detail next week to help us understand the difference. I hope it will enlighten you, challenge your perspective, and give you some reassurance as you create strategy for your business.