The E-Myth and Procedure Writing
In his best selling book of the same name, Michael Gerber describes the E-Myth as the myth of the heroic entrepreneur:
…a man or woman standing alone, windblown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock—all to realize the dream of creating a business of ones own.
Are entrepreneurs really like that? According to Gerber, most of the time they’re not. Much more common than the Promethean business owner forging success from ingenuity, inspiration and hard work is the burnt-out, bitter and in-debt business owner who wishes they’d never gone out on their own. How does this happen? What is the mistake that so many people make when they start their own business?
Their mistake is that they believe that business success comes exclusively from creativity and dedication. It doesn’t. Those qualities, as noble as they are, can’t do anything but postpone failure unless they’re combined with something a lot less romantic – systems.
To be successful, businesses have to be reliable, reproducible and measurable. You have to know what you did, what you’re doing and what the results are. Without that information any business becomes a chaotic mess. Too many people think that they can get by on guts and talent, when what they really need is a binder full of procedures.
What’s the magic of that binder? By writing down all of the things you do and breaking them up into pieces, you can take your business apart as if it were a vintage car. You can analyze it piece by piece and make sure that it’s working the way you need it too – or you can make it better. With those plans you can sell your business or expand it, based on a blueprint that you know works. With a binder full of logical, easy-to-follow procedures you have more than a great idea and a lot of hard work – when your procedures are completely recorded and optimized, you have a money making machine.
Most business owners recognize the advantages of having well documented business systems – the problem is actually doing the writing. Either they simply don’t have the time or they lack the perspective needed to make an objective assessment of all the components in their business.
That’s where technical writers can help. Technical writers specialize in describing complex procedures and systems. The same skills that describe how to maintain an engine or use a piece of software can turn your business into a logical system. Technical writers are experts at interviewing and clarifying specialized knowledge so that it can be leveraged throughout organizations.
The inspiration and hard work have to come from business owners, but technical writers add the organization and documentation that mean business success.
…a man or woman standing alone, windblown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock—all to realize the dream of creating a business of ones own.
Are entrepreneurs really like that? According to Gerber, most of the time they’re not. Much more common than the Promethean business owner forging success from ingenuity, inspiration and hard work is the burnt-out, bitter and in-debt business owner who wishes they’d never gone out on their own. How does this happen? What is the mistake that so many people make when they start their own business?
Their mistake is that they believe that business success comes exclusively from creativity and dedication. It doesn’t. Those qualities, as noble as they are, can’t do anything but postpone failure unless they’re combined with something a lot less romantic – systems.
To be successful, businesses have to be reliable, reproducible and measurable. You have to know what you did, what you’re doing and what the results are. Without that information any business becomes a chaotic mess. Too many people think that they can get by on guts and talent, when what they really need is a binder full of procedures.
What’s the magic of that binder? By writing down all of the things you do and breaking them up into pieces, you can take your business apart as if it were a vintage car. You can analyze it piece by piece and make sure that it’s working the way you need it too – or you can make it better. With those plans you can sell your business or expand it, based on a blueprint that you know works. With a binder full of logical, easy-to-follow procedures you have more than a great idea and a lot of hard work – when your procedures are completely recorded and optimized, you have a money making machine.
Most business owners recognize the advantages of having well documented business systems – the problem is actually doing the writing. Either they simply don’t have the time or they lack the perspective needed to make an objective assessment of all the components in their business.
That’s where technical writers can help. Technical writers specialize in describing complex procedures and systems. The same skills that describe how to maintain an engine or use a piece of software can turn your business into a logical system. Technical writers are experts at interviewing and clarifying specialized knowledge so that it can be leveraged throughout organizations.
The inspiration and hard work have to come from business owners, but technical writers add the organization and documentation that mean business success.
In his best selling book of the same name, Michael Gerber describes the E-Myth as the myth of the heroic entrepreneur:
…a man or woman standing alone, windblown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock—all to realize the dream of creating a business of ones own.
Are entrepreneurs really like that? According to Gerber, most of the time they’re not. Much more common than the Promethean business owner forging success from ingenuity, inspiration and hard work is the burnt-out, bitter and in-debt business owner who wishes they’d never gone out on their own. How does this happen? What is the mistake that so many people make when they start their own business?
Their mistake is that they believe that business success comes exclusively from creativity and dedication. It doesn’t. Those qualities, as noble as they are, can’t do anything but postpone failure unless they’re combined with something a lot less romantic – systems.
To be successful, businesses have to be reliable, reproducible and measurable. You have to know what you did, what you’re doing and what the results are. Without that information any business becomes a chaotic mess. Too many people think that they can get by on guts and talent, when what they really need is a binder full of procedures.
What’s the magic of that binder? By writing down all of the things you do and breaking them up into pieces, you can take your business apart as if it were a vintage car. You can analyze it piece by piece and make sure that it’s working the way you need it too – or you can make it better. With those plans you can sell your business or expand it, based on a blueprint that you know works. With a binder full of logical, easy-to-follow procedures you have more than a great idea and a lot of hard work – when your procedures are completely recorded and optimized, you have a money making machine.
Most business owners recognize the advantages of having well documented business systems – the problem is actually doing the writing. Either they simply don’t have the time or they lack the perspective needed to make an objective assessment of all the components in their business.
That’s where technical writers can help. Technical writers specialize in describing complex procedures and systems. The same skills that describe how to maintain an engine or use a piece of software can turn your business into a logical system. Technical writers are experts at interviewing and clarifying specialized knowledge so that it can be leveraged throughout organizations.
The inspiration and hard work have to come from business owners, but technical writers add the organization and documentation that mean business success.
…a man or woman standing alone, windblown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock—all to realize the dream of creating a business of ones own.
Are entrepreneurs really like that? According to Gerber, most of the time they’re not. Much more common than the Promethean business owner forging success from ingenuity, inspiration and hard work is the burnt-out, bitter and in-debt business owner who wishes they’d never gone out on their own. How does this happen? What is the mistake that so many people make when they start their own business?
Their mistake is that they believe that business success comes exclusively from creativity and dedication. It doesn’t. Those qualities, as noble as they are, can’t do anything but postpone failure unless they’re combined with something a lot less romantic – systems.
To be successful, businesses have to be reliable, reproducible and measurable. You have to know what you did, what you’re doing and what the results are. Without that information any business becomes a chaotic mess. Too many people think that they can get by on guts and talent, when what they really need is a binder full of procedures.
What’s the magic of that binder? By writing down all of the things you do and breaking them up into pieces, you can take your business apart as if it were a vintage car. You can analyze it piece by piece and make sure that it’s working the way you need it too – or you can make it better. With those plans you can sell your business or expand it, based on a blueprint that you know works. With a binder full of logical, easy-to-follow procedures you have more than a great idea and a lot of hard work – when your procedures are completely recorded and optimized, you have a money making machine.
Most business owners recognize the advantages of having well documented business systems – the problem is actually doing the writing. Either they simply don’t have the time or they lack the perspective needed to make an objective assessment of all the components in their business.
That’s where technical writers can help. Technical writers specialize in describing complex procedures and systems. The same skills that describe how to maintain an engine or use a piece of software can turn your business into a logical system. Technical writers are experts at interviewing and clarifying specialized knowledge so that it can be leveraged throughout organizations.
The inspiration and hard work have to come from business owners, but technical writers add the organization and documentation that mean business success.
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