Today, I will review the E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber (Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it.) Usually, 80% of start-up business fail within the first year. People start by being good at one aspect of the business, i.e. making coffee, making cakes or designing clothes, but don’t know about the other aspects of business; hiring, bookkeeping, ordering, marketing, sales, etc. However, if you build your business as a franchise model, i.e. build it with systems in place, that anybody can take the reins; your chances of success will increase radically. In other words: Work on your business, NOT in your business. Start with the end in mind: Before starting your business, ask yourself, ‘what kind of life do you want to live?’ How much money do you want, and how much do you want to work? These are the key questions for which you need the answers before you start, as you should set up a business in a way to help you attain your goals. Main points: 1. A heroic entrepreneur with a great idea and technical know-how succeeding in business quickly? That’s a myth. 2. Usually, an entrepreneur’s business won’t survive past adolescence. 3. To nurture your business beyond the adolescent stage, you have to plan from the start. 4. Inside, everyone has many different business personalities. 5. There’s an ongoing revolution in small business that provides a path to success. 6. Imagine your small business will one day be a national chain; now build the first store. 7. Start a business to satisfy your personal aim in life. 8. Organisational charts are crucial for your business’s growth and establishing accountability. 9. To manage your employees. Don’t rely on great people – rely on a great people-management system. 10. Next, forget everything and think only about the customer. 11. In the end, you’ll have a business made up of fully functional systems. 12. The process of planning and implementing never stops.   Photo Credit: Kylie Holliman-Rivera (IG: @curlynloud)