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The Topline Summary of Michael E. Gerber's The E-Myth Revisted: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to do About it
The Topline Summary in a Sentence is: Most new businesses fail because they have a fatal assumption: if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.
“What’s good, if brief, is twice as good.” – Baltasar Gracian
Don't you hate it when you've always wanted to read a book but never able to quite find the time?
Or do you just want to extract the key ideas of a book without having to spend weeks and months reading through it all?
Fret not!
Welcome to Top Line Summaries, brought to you by BrevityBooks Publishing™ - encapsulating the core concepts, big ideas and best bits from all your favourite business and leadership, personal development and self-help bestselling books.
In an age where personal time is more limited than ever, our core belief is that ‘being brief is best.’ Whether in business or at home, BrevityBooks Publishing™ will get you on the express road to success!
In a nutshell, this phenomenal summary of the bestselling book dispels the myths about starting your own business.
The author extracts the key concepts from the book and points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get in the way of running a successful business. For example, the reason some small businesses may not work is that they are run by a "Technician", someone who knows how to do the technical work involved in a job, without much thought to two other, equally important roles described in the book, the "Entrepreneur" and the "Manager". These are not separate people, but distinct elements of our personalities. In other words, while we might be biased towards one, we all have all of them, and to successfully run a small business, they must all play a role.
“What’s good, if brief, is twice as good.” – Baltasar Gracian
Don't you hate it when you've always wanted to read a book but never able to quite find the time?
Or do you just want to extract the key ideas of a book without having to spend weeks and months reading through it all?
Fret not!
Welcome to Top Line Summaries, brought to you by BrevityBooks Publishing™ - encapsulating the core concepts, big ideas and best bits from all your favourite business and leadership, personal development and self-help bestselling books.
In an age where personal time is more limited than ever, our core belief is that ‘being brief is best.’ Whether in business or at home, BrevityBooks Publishing™ will get you on the express road to success!
In a nutshell, this phenomenal summary of the bestselling book dispels the myths about starting your own business.
The author extracts the key concepts from the book and points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get in the way of running a successful business. For example, the reason some small businesses may not work is that they are run by a "Technician", someone who knows how to do the technical work involved in a job, without much thought to two other, equally important roles described in the book, the "Entrepreneur" and the "Manager". These are not separate people, but distinct elements of our personalities. In other words, while we might be biased towards one, we all have all of them, and to successfully run a small business, they must all play a role.
29 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 7, 2014
6 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
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December 23, 2025
E-myth: Why Most Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About it by Michael E. Gerber
This review reflects my impressions and what I took away from the book. Although The E-Myth was written in 1986 and mainly framed around franchise-style businesses, its ideas seemed timeless. What stood out most to me is how clearly the book suggests that a business becomes a reflection of its owner’s thinking. When a business feels chaotic, exhausting, or inconsistent, it’s often the predictable result of systems that were never intentionally designed.
Reading it, I kept thinking about W. Edwards Deming and his emphasis that outcomes are properties of systems, not individual effort. While Gerber doesn’t frame it this way, I experienced The E-Myth as an accessible illustration of systems thinking: if success depends on heroics, memory, or constant firefighting, the system itself is the problem.
To me, the idea of building a business “as if it were a franchise” isn’t really about franchisin, but clarity. It was about clear roles, clear processes, and clear standards. As he showed, results don’t depend on who happens to be there or how hard they’re pushing that day, but on how well the systems are designed. It was a good and worthwhile read.
This review reflects my impressions and what I took away from the book. Although The E-Myth was written in 1986 and mainly framed around franchise-style businesses, its ideas seemed timeless. What stood out most to me is how clearly the book suggests that a business becomes a reflection of its owner’s thinking. When a business feels chaotic, exhausting, or inconsistent, it’s often the predictable result of systems that were never intentionally designed.
Reading it, I kept thinking about W. Edwards Deming and his emphasis that outcomes are properties of systems, not individual effort. While Gerber doesn’t frame it this way, I experienced The E-Myth as an accessible illustration of systems thinking: if success depends on heroics, memory, or constant firefighting, the system itself is the problem.
To me, the idea of building a business “as if it were a franchise” isn’t really about franchisin, but clarity. It was about clear roles, clear processes, and clear standards. As he showed, results don’t depend on who happens to be there or how hard they’re pushing that day, but on how well the systems are designed. It was a good and worthwhile read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review