No Time and The E-Myth
A common objection I get from small business owners, even after they admit that they need help, is that they don’t have the time. They go on and on explaining to me all the projects and activities they have going on in addition to their regular “job” activities running the business.
The biggest reason so many small business owners don’t have the time, is because they are spending too much time IN their business and not enough time ON their business.
“Once you recognize that the purpose of your life is not to serve your business, but that the primary purpose of your business is to serve your life, you can then go to work on your business, rather than in it, with a full understanding of why it is absolutely necessary for you to do so.”
Michael Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited
If you have not read The E-Myth, let me just say right now, it is a must read for any small business owner. The above quote easily summarizes the core advice Gerber gives in The E-Myth. This is the distinction that so many business owners don’t get, and the result is, at worst, business failure and is, at best, a sub-par existence that sucks 100% of the business owner’s energy and time.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR BUSINESS.
You are not your business. Let me repeat: YOU ARE NOT YOUR BUSINESS.
Now you say it. I am NOT my business. (Really, say it outloud).
Your business is separate from you, a creation by you, but not the master of your life. Because it is separate from you, it is crucial that it have its own identity, own rules, and own purposes.
Gerber says the business is like an organism, and this organism lives, grows and dies according to how well it performs its sole functions: to find customers and deliver a valuable service to them and subsequently, to deliver a profit to you, the owner.
Until you have systems and processes that help to automate your business or remove you from the day-to-day, you essentially just have a job. The first step in transitioning from a job to a true business owner is creating the time to work on your business. Working with a business coach is one way, but merely taking time each day to look at your systems that you have in place and tweaking them to improve how they perform, is a simple way to begin as well.
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