The Journey to Business Mastery
A lot of my successes over the years is a combination of the lessons I’ve learnt as I built my 8 businesses, having some amazing mentors along the way, and reading some great business books. One of those books is the E-myth and if you are a small business owner who’s trying to get out of the trap of doing everything in your business, then this is a must read for you. The E-myth concept explores the pivotal transition from being a Technician to evolving into a Manager and, eventually, ascending to the role of Entreprenuer in your business. Let’s delve deeper into the E-Myth’s wisdom and unveil the secrets to sustainable business success. If you’re looking for more insights on business growth, check out our blog on business success.
The Technician Phase: Mastering Your Craft
Let’s begin by immersing ourselves in the Technician phase. This is the role you are playing when you’re starting up your business. As the Technician, you have the skills that your vocation had taught you. Or if you left a past company to start your own, then you honed your Technician skills from that past company, whether you are a designer, a contractor, or any other vocation you went to school for.
As you mature in the Technician role, you become the quintessential doer, the linchpin of operational excellence. At the outset of your business building journey, you’ll find yourself comfortably nestled in this role.
As a Technician, you’re the hands-on expert who thrives on getting things done. Your technical prowess drives the initial success of your business. But here’s the twist – the E-Myth reminds us that as your business grows, remaining entrenched solely in the Technician role can inadvertently shackle your business’s potential. And this is the trap that I talked about in my last episode so make sure you look it up if you’ve missed it. Discover more about the importance of mastering your craft in our article on building your digital storefront.
The Transition to Manager: The Art of Delegation
Next, we venture into the critical phase of transitioning from Technician to Manager. It’s a pivotal shift that marks your journey towards building a business, not just a job.
This is a very hard shift for many business owners because you were never taught how to be a Manager and everything that comes with it like delegating and developing people. Your vocation school never taught you this and even in your past company when you were working for someone, you were probably only doing the Technician job. For additional insights on embracing the entrepreneur role, check out this Forbes article on entrepreneurial leadership.
As you move into the Managerial role, you acquire the art of delegation, systematization, and people management. This is where you develop structured processes, empower your team, and shift your focus towards strategic thinking and business expansion.
The E-Myth asserts that this transition is non-negotiable if you aim to unlock your business’ full potential and I would have to agree. Having gone through this transition myself in my businesses and seeing it over and over again for my coaching clients, this is a very real obstacle to many entrepreneur’s growth. It’s a plateau that you’ll need to break through so that your business can scale. For more on effective management, explore our insights on avoiding a single point of failure in your business.
Embracing the Entrepreneur Role: Vision and Leadership
The pinnacle of your business journey awaits – and that is the Entrepreneur role. This is a position that the E-Myth regards as the zenith of your business.
As the Entrepreneur, your primary duty is no longer bogged down in the day-to-day operations. Instead, you’re tasked with crafting and nurturing a compelling long-term vision for your business, inspiring your team, and cultivating indispensable relationships. By now, you have built and nurtured a capable team to take on all the other relationships and your time must be spent performing these high value duties, instead of being distracted by the day-to-day tasks.
Going through this transition represents another plateau for many business owners. Just like how you had to get uncomfortable as you learned new Managerial skills, this transition will also have lots of discomfort as you are asked to let go of everything you’re used to. Many business owners get addicted to the adrenaline rush of solving the day-to-day problems and they like the dopamine reward of being the hero for their team.
In this transition phase, not only are you in your discomfort, learning new skills, but you are asked to relinquish the identity of being the “Doer” and “Hero” of the business which you’ve been attached to for so long. To this end, your very sense of self worth is questioned so this represents a very big psychological and emotional barrier that you’ll have to break through.
I have seen many business owners try to break through this without success. The sad reality is that many people stay trapped in the “doing” of their business and lots of times, this leads to burn-out and break-down. Learn more about leadership in our article on crossing the chasm.
Building a Business, Not a Job: The E-Myth Philosophy
So, what’s the ultimate takeaway here that can guide us in this transformative journey?
The E-Myth underscores the significance of constructing a business, not merely a job for yourself. It encourages you to create and meticulously document systems and processes, which in turn facilitates your transition out of the Technician role. The ultimate goal? To transform your business into an asset that can thrive independently, generating income and affording you the freedom you crave.
The analogy that I like to use for this is the fable called the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg. In this fable, there is a goose that has the magical power to lay eggs of gold for a farmer. The goose is your business, the golden egg is your business profits and you are the farmer. You want to develop and nurture your business to a point where it can bring in continual profits for yourself and your family.
I hope by now, you can see the importance of making this transition for yourself. With that, I want to leave you two tips which could be very helpful as you make this transition, you can also take a look at our post on how to start working on the business.
Key Strategies for Transitioning Through Business Phases
1. Learn the Art of Delegation
Effective delegation is the cornerstone of progress. It’s not just about assigning tasks but about empowering your team to take ownership. Delegation is an art that requires clear communication, trust-building, and ongoing feedback. It’s a skill that every Manager and Visionary must master to ensure the business operates seamlessly even in their absence.
2. Develop yourself first
As you go through these transitions, your natural tendency is to go back to what’s comfortable. But I’ve seen it over and over again in my own growth, my business is stifled until I can grow internally as a leader. So my tip here is to invest in yourself and break through those difficult psychological and emotional hurdles. Train your mind for a success mindset! This is key! There are many personal growth workshops out there and many self-help books that you can read. There are a lot of personal development programs that you can take. They key thing is that you need to get yourself out of the way first, remove yourself as the obstacle, before your team can grow, read our thoughts on mastery vs perfection.
Conclusion: Charting Your Path to Entrepreneurial Success
In conclusion, the E-Myth offers us profound guidance for a transformational journey – from Technician to Manager to Entrepreneur. It imparts the wisdom that embracing change, delegation, and cultivating a mindset shift from “doing” to “directing” are paramount for long-term business success.
If you recognize these hurdles for your business and need help getting through the transitions, reach out to me and let’s have a chat. I’ve done it for myself over in my businesses and have helped many of clients do the same. If you’re looking for personalized guidance, consider our 1-on-1 business coaching services at Starfish Coaching
Remember, you hold the reins to shape the destiny of your business. I’m Eric Lee and I can turbo charge your success!
