Common Traits of Top Entrepreneurs

Episode 177: Michael Gerber - "The World's #1 Small Business Guru" (The E-Myth Revisited)

Michael E. Gerber is a true legend of entrepreneurship. Inc. Magazine calls him "the World's #1 Small Business Guru" — the entrepreneurial and small business thought leader who has impacted the lives of millions of individuals and hundreds of thousands of companies worldwide for over 40 years. Michael is the author of the mega-bestseller "The E-Myth Revisited" and five other E-Myth books concerning small business and entrepreneurship. The Wall Street Journal named the E-Myth the #1 business book of all time (November 2011) having sold millions of copies and has now been applied in 145 countries, in 29 languages and is taught in 118 universities.

The originator, in 1977, of the small business coaching industry, with his founding of The Michael Thomas Corporation, The E-Myth Academy, E-Myth Worldwide, Michael E. Gerber Companies, since that time having served over 100,000 small business clients. And today launching "Beyond The E-Myth: The Evolution of an Enterprise: From a Company of One to a Company of 1,000!: The Course – The Program – The Book" – a revolutionary process to prepare a small company for acquisition by readying it to scale (Scale to Sale).

Episode 177: Michael Gerber - "The World's #1 Small Business Guru" (The E-Myth Revisited)

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The Learning Leader Show

"You must work ON the company to perfect the system IN the company."

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Common themes within the best performers:
  • They don't think about "me"
  • They think about the puzzle... And what's missing from it
  • Steve Jobs, Apple. Tom Watson, IBM.
• The importance on learning how to play the saxophone and having the desire to be the best in the world -- how that translated to success later in Michael's life
  • "I only teach people that want to become the best saxophone player in the world."
• Practice, Practice, Practice -- Doing it the right way. Having a plan
• The most important aspects for Michael's early success:
  • Vision - You must believe that you can do something beyond what seems possible initially
  • Discipline - You must practice
  • A great coach - The importance of great mentors in our lives
• The agreement between coach/mentor and mentee at the beginning of the relationship is critical to the long term success
• Why McDonald's is the most successful small business on the planet
  • Working ON the store to perfect the system IN the store
    • Lesson: So can you. Go to work to prepare you company to scale and sell just like Ray Crock did
• The focus should be on the system (Starbucks, McDonald's)
• The eight steps to grow and scale
• Beyond the "E-myth"

"If you can't scale it, you can't sell it."

Continue Learning:

• Michael's best selling book: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
• Follow Michael on Twitter: @MichaelEGerber
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

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Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

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If you enjoyed hearing Michael Gerber on the show, please don't hesitate to send me a note on Twitter or email me.

Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

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