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Reddit mentions of The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
Sentiment score: 61
Reddit mentions: 114
We found 114 Reddit mentions of The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It. Here are the top ones.
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| Color | Blue |
| Height | 0.69 Inches |
| Length | 8.03 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Release date | March 1995 |
| Weight | 0.47619848592 Pounds |
| Width | 5.43 Inches |
The E-myth revisited, by Michael Gerber. I'm sure this will be recommended many times, and for good reason.
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
Not sure if it's a cultural thing between the US and the UK or just society evolving now we have social media and stuff but I recently reread How to win friends and influence people and though it was massively overrated. Same goes for The 7 habbits of highly effective people.
Anyway, heres my list of books and why:-
Bounce
Excellent book in my opinion. Based on variations of the 10,000-hour rule with plenty of examples. Also touches on how the unknown habits and circumstance of someone can lead to outstanding abilities.
Zero To One
The first book that I couldn't put down until I completed it. Picked a fair few things up from it as well as a bunch of things I hope to move forward within the future with startups.
The 33 Strategies of War
Not a business book but definitely my style if you take the examples and strategies and turn them into business. This is the second book I have not been able to put down once picking it up.
The E-Myth Revisited
Although I had a decent understanding of how to allocate duties to people depending on their job role this helped me better understand it as well as the importance of doing it.
ReWork
Another book I loved, just introduced me to a bunch of new concepts with a fair few I hope to use in the future.
Black Box Thinking
Coming from and engineering background I was already used to being ok with my failures provided I was learning from them but this book is based around how different industries treat failure and how it is important to accept it and grow from it.
Millionaire Fastlane
I feel this is an excellent book for reality checks and getting people into a better mindset of what to expect and the amount of work required. It also explains a few common misconceptions of the get rich slow style methods where you may end up rich but you will be 60 years old or more.
I update this post with all of the books I have read with a rating but here are my top picks.
Not a book, but great resource to vet out a business plan: Lean Canvas
Books:
Lean Startup for sure, as it relates to small, lifestyle or scalable business. Zero to One is a phenomenal book by one of the Paypal Founders, but is geared a bit to tech startups. E-Myth if you are starting more of a small business, as opposed to tech startup.
"You only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror. And I find that lack of sleep enhances them both.”
― Ben Horowitz
Excited for you venturing into your own business! Kick ass!
In The E-myth Revisited, Michael Gerber paraphrased a quote from Gen. George Patton. It has stuck with me for many years after having read the book.
>The comfort zone makes cowards of us all.
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> I think the primary problem is that the business is "me" and I'm having a difficult time transitioning from a "freelancer" to a "business" in a way that still keeps me flush with reliable income.
Read The E-Myth Revisited.
The first chapter or so will resonate with you deeply as the whole book is about turning your business into an actual business that can function without you so you can get your life back.
The key being successful in the cake business actually has little to do with the ability to make cakes. The problem is that bakers often times make terrible business people. Making a cake here and there is great, but does your mom have the ability to manage inventory, follow-up with customers, keep costs down, keep good financial records, market her product well, etc.?
There is a great book you and her should both read, it's called the E-Myth. After reading it then decide whether you should move forward with a cake business.
Former virtual assistant here wanting to put in my two cents from the internal side.
>Think of a task you need to do for your business, but you don’t have the time, or the knowledge on how to properly execute it.
Yes and no. You should have a general idea of how the task should be done.
For example, if you have no idea how to write a blog post, you should make an attempt to learn the basics of how to write a blog post before hiring someone to do it for you.
That way, you know the type of voice you're going for, what type of content your business puts out (authority/expert type? gathering info and presenting it? opinion piece?), the format, and relay that information to your contractor.
You can't delegate it if you don't know what you're looking for. You also won't know if the end product will be effective.
You don't need to know how to do it exactly or even how to execute it, but you should know the basics of what you're asking for.
> I have seen many freelancers in the Philippines charging up to US$50 per hour to manage an Instagram account. That’s a lot of money for such a task. Try to figure out what is the hourly rate in the country where you are hiring... This will help you to estimate the budget you can allocate on a task.
I don't get out of bed for less than $45/hour as a virtual assistant and a lot of people will balk at that price.
Here's what my former clients got at $45/hour:
Or, you can pay someone in India $10/hour to schedule your Instagram account, but good luck getting that VA to go above and beyond at that rate.
>Use a "hidden word"
On my end, when applications have these "hidden word" things, it screams inefficiency to me. You are REALLY going to base my ability to perform my tasks on whether I can I spy with my little eye a single word in your wall of text?
Here's a more accurate way to do it:
Here's an example: I recently hired a project manager/assistant to keep me on task with my clients. My clients text/email/call/etc. and I needed someone to organize and schedule my tasks out through Asana (a project management type of app) in an organized fashion because it's so tedious to do it myself.
I asked the following two questions:
That being said, this advice will not work for everyone.
Your ability to teach, delegate, or pay, will impact your relationship with your virtual assistant. If you have money but no time, go high-end and hire an expert VA at $35/hour or higher.
If you have time but no money, hire an entry-level/foreign assistant and take the time to train them.
I'm currently transitioning out of being a VA to start a digital marketing agency. I am now hiring my own team of virtual assistants to help me. Here's what I've learned from the hiring end:
A lot of businesses fail in hiring because they want to hire someone to solve a problem they can't solve themselves. $10/hour virtual assistants are ENTRY LEVEL and will need a lot of hand-holding and training. You can absolutely go this route if your budget is low or you have a lot of time to train (or have processes at the ready) but in my experience, few business owners have been organized or patient enough to train someone entry-level.
Within 6 months, they usually fire the entry-level assistant in favor of a more high-end one.
The other thing is... if you got a "good one" who can handle their own at the lower rate, get ready to have people try to snatch your assistant for $12/hour or $15/hour or be forced to match a competitor's rate.
However, what isn't replaceable and what is difficult to teach is culture and work ethic.
I personally work with entry-level VA's due to lack of budget (I have more time than money) - but I hire VA's whose visions and lifestyles align with mine.
For example, I am starting a digital marketing agency. I DO NOT want to hire entry-level virtual assistants who are digital marketer wannabes because they'll just work for me for a few months, gut me for all my knowledge, and take what they learned from me to compete with me.
Fuck that.
Instead, I hire people who have a full-time job, or children, or family obligations, and are seeking "side income" NOT full-time hours. They are happy with entry-level $15-$25/hour pay and they have no intentions to eventually compete. I've noticed they're usually easier to work with because they're not constantly looking for more/higher-paying clients and they aren't burnt out from the industry.
Ultimately, I am working with a niche group of people (spiritualists, cannabis entrepreneurs, sexual empowerment coaches, zero waste/environmental coaches, etc.) so the people I hire MUST have a current interest in those subjects. I can freakin pay for a $29 Instagram course in Udemy or give them my Skillshare login to teach them Instagram but I can't teach them to care about our clients.
(Note: I'm not saying hire people who are absolute newbies with no experience. You can hire a mom who has a huge Instagram following to manage your Instagram account for $15/hour and then send her to take a Udemy course to refine her marketing skills in Instagram. You can hire a college student who wants to be a scientist but codes websites on the side, to help you manage your clients' Wordpress websites).
I know this was super long-winded... Just wanted to give a perspective from a former virtual assistant who now works with virtual assistants.
I run a small IT shop with about 25 repeat customers. All but 4 are business clients, I do very little residential (with the exception of the home PCs of some of my business owner clients). My business has two parts: managed services and break fix. Managed services are contracted, and basically I guarantee "x" level of uptime for the client per month. For that, I bill about 50 bucks per PC per month, and anywhere between $250 and $300 per month per server. Break/fix services - I offer onsite or remote support, I emphasize remote where possible (much cheaper for all involved and less overhead for me). Break/fix is billed hourly and/or could be a project rate.
Servers and business clients - generally if I come in your door (whether remotely or physically) I'm on the clock, and therefore diagnosis and repair are included in the service call. Its expected that you'll spend time researching a problem to arrive at a fix. That's called due diligence and good customers aren't afraid to pay for it. Just don't be blatantly googling and saying things like "No shit!" and "uh oh, really?"
Three big things to keep in mind:
And finally: Don't be afraid to fire a customer.
Rule # 1 - DO NOT HAVE A PARTNER.
TLDR - We failed due to a lack of trust between partners that grew over time and I was going through a divorce and emotionally checked out of the business. (I was in charge of all production...ie. when I checked out, shit fell apart)
Here's what we did to scale from $120K the first year to $1.2 mil in 18 months (10x growth).
We hosted all client sites through 2 reseller accounts with Hostgator and Godaddy. Hosting revenue pays the light bill and cable bills. Plus, your contractors only need to know how to do everything in 2 Cpanels. It's more efficient and profitable.
Outsource: ALL design. Wireframes in-house.
Outsource: Hosting setup, domain pointing, CMS/Wordpress installation, theme installation
Outsource: Email marketing. You define strategy and design etc. but the build and automation is all outsourced.
Outsource: Bookkeeping. Automate everything using IFTTT and Freshbooks. Automate as much as you can.
Outsource: All Local SEO - We used LocalOxygen.com to scale production 10x.
Outsource: All social posting. Give the workers access to your posting software and let them post that shit. You do the strategy, they do the execution.
Outsource: Adwords management. Find a certified overseas crew to access your MCC and again, talk to them about how you want the accounts managed.
Outsource:Remarketing/retargeting - Overseas Adroll team or GDN team. You'll have no problem finding teams that know more than yourself overseas at reasonable rates.
Hire a part time VA (Virtual Assistant) for $3.00/hour and have her handle your email, send out client intake forms, invoice reminders, all reporting that isn't automated. After 3 months, this person can basically serve as your remote office manager for $4.00/hour from Peru,Greece or the Philippines.
When/if hiring overseas workers, look for countries with a favorable exchange rate and a bad economy + strong English presence. They must be available during US business hours and have a microphone and camera for face time chats throughout the week. https://Upwork.com and https://www.onlinejobs.ph (we actually bought mics and cameras for those who did not have them.)
We handled SEO in-house and had a small overseas team to help with link building.
90% of my time as founder was spent on project management and helping sales people understand this stuff so they could sell it better. You can find competent workers all over the world for under $10/hour. We used Odesk/Upwork and took the time to build a solid base of loyal contractors. We trained our contractors to do the work the way we wanted it done. I was paying several people in Pakistan full-time @ $38/week or $.96/hr) to do link building. Profile creation etc. etc. I simply made a video explaining what I wanted them to execute on and how to do it and they went off and did it.
We had writers in Isreal (with Masters Degrees) paying the $15/hour to write great content.
If I got back into the game again, as an owner, I would literally outsource 99% of the work. Some to overseas and probably the SEO to a US based company. The rest of my time would be selling. I'll never work IN an SEO company again knowing what I know now...so much easier to train people on systems and let them execute. This way I get to stay working ON the business, not in it.
Remember taxes take 39% roughly.
Number 1 lesson - Find a great sales person who is wide but not deep in their understanding and who is also great at establishing rapport , then you go along with them on the sales call. You're the credibillity. Rapport + Credibility = Trust = Signed Contract
Lesson 2 Create documented processes and train others on how to execute.
Lesson 3 As quickly as possible put yourself in a spot where you are able to work ON the business and not IN it. If you do not do this then the business is owning you.
Lesson 4 Read the E-Myth - https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
Lesson 5 - Bask in 80%-85% margins and pay yourself well. Also bonus your contractors often and healthily ($20-$50 bonus every two weeks) and they'll never leave.
Hope this helps...
Not an affiliate link btw
E-myth Revisited
OK, so here is my advice.
First, some background on me so you know where I'm coming from with this. I started my own business almost 5 years ago. It's a tech company, but I think I've learned enough that there are applicable lessons, not only from my work but from the other entrepreneurs this has put me in contact with. Currently my company is self sustaining, has 5 full time employees, and Fortune 100 customers (we make B2B software).
First thing - you have to be really careful starting a business around your passion. This can be an easy way to come to hate your hobby. Remember that it is a business first. While I haven't reread it in years, you might want to read a book called The E Myth which talks about starting a small business.
Second, if you're serious about this, I hope this post wasn't some sort of customer validation experiment. Of course people here are going to be interested. However, most likely no one here is an actual potential customer. I've read some of your other answers here where you've mentioned that games sell "like hot cakes" and there is no real competition and it's a large market. If you do this without any real customer validation you're going to have a rough time at best and be out of business quickly with a ton of debt at worst. Who are your customers? How are they going to know about this place? How do you know what they are willing to pay to participate? How do you know THEY want a place like this? How do you know they are actually willing to pay you money to come to this place? A good book to help understand the various ways you can gain traction is Traction which discusses 19 different traction channels and how people have put them to use to grow their business.
Can you deal with competition? Even if there isn't another business like this in the area, how do you know someone isn't working to start one? If your business is a success will someone start a competitor? Are you ready for that? What if a month before you open a competitor beats you to it? If you have a solid business and plans to grow in place you'll be fine.
I don't know if you plant to raise money or not, but regardless of that fact, think of how you would pitch this to someone who could invest but doesn't give a crap about boardgames or pubs. Would someone who is looking at this from a purely objective money making standpoint be interested? Have you generated enough traction, attention, and interest to make this an appealing business prospect? If not, what can you do to change that? If you can't figure that out now, do you really want to wait until you're deep into this business to try and figure it out?
Set up some metrics. Probably the best way to do it for your business is to measure revenue per visit. How much profit do you expect to make per person per visit? If you are charging $4 per person and then you expect some % of them to buy additional things (food, games, drinks) - your avg per person should be over $4, obviously. How many visitors and at what average profit per visitor do you need to stay afloat? You can increase your overall profit 2 ways - increase the number of visitors or increase the average profit per visitor. You'll have some limits - you an only fit so many people in the building, for example. This will help you determine if this business can be profitable and give you an idea of where you need to be so you know early on if you're tracking well or not. Measure everything that you can.
Basically, just be careful. You're mixing your hobby with your work, but you have to remember it's a business first and foremost. Treat it like a business and be honest with yourself and you'll be fine.
Also, fried foods with games sounds like a good way to end up with a library of greasy games.
Read like your life depends on it. All topics. Grow yourself.
Also, a couple that I found useful around the concept of building a business (rather than being self employed):
Reading like a fiend will also help you in your job. You’ll become more effective in leading teams, leading yourself, influencing change across organizations. Your worth will climb whether you stay with the same company or move around or work for yourself.
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3tMADbCN4D5Y0
The book focuses more on regular local small businesses and explains that if an owner is working IN the business (doing the work) instead of ON the business (improving the business) then the owner just owns a job and not a business. In order to truly have a business and a quality of life as an owner, all the day to day responsibilities need to be handled by employees so that the owner can focus on growing and improving the business. This isn’t realistic for some owners, which is why they only own a job and may never have a quality of life that makes owning a business “worth it”.
It sounds like you want to do this as a hobby instead of a business. If you are wanting to do this to play more games then you will end up playing less games if you run a good business and if you try to run it as a hobby it's not going to be able to support you and will end up being more of a "clubhouse" than a professionally run game store. My largest piece of advice is to read https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280 If you do read that and still want to open a store feel free to reach out to me and I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you have.
I've always found E-Myth and How To Make Your Business Run Without You to be good resources for documenting processes. If there was software to walk you through the process it would be even better.
Read this book:
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JMjdBbQQQEE10
The sooner you go from the employee to the business owner the sooner you'll start building a company and huge wealth.
You don't need to set up as a limited company, but it will look more professional, and it will increase your accounting costs.
Being is sole trader is very simple from an accounting/tax point of view, being limited means you need to properly record everything, and you need to pay yourself a wage each month. There's other considerations which an accountant will talk you through. You'll also need him/her to submit your accountants each year for a cost of circa £400
There are tax and other benefits to being a limited company, but it really depends on your turnover/situation. If you're not selling goods, investing a lot or employing people then the tax benefits are negligible imo.
If you decide to be a sole trader, by law you have to write YOUR NAME Trading As YOUR COMPANY NAME somewhere on your invoices.
A decent accountant will walk you through the up and downsides and it's up to you really. You might ask yourself will your target audience be prefer to (or maybe only allowed to) buy from a registered company, or are they OK with a sole trader.
This is me speaking as a sole trader for the last 4 year, if any accountants respond they might see this differently.
Beyond that, you can make yourself look more professional by using a virtual office in a proper address. These start from about £30 pm for just the address and go up in cost if you add more services like mail forwarding, meeting space or even a telephone receptionist. Most of these business centre type places have upgrade paths so if things go well you could upgrade to a shared space or even a dedicated one.
If you're operating near a bigish city try to get a virtual office with an address with a central postcode, this will help you show up in Google Map results better.
You can also get VOIP numbers that travel with you wherever you're working so you can move office addreses if needed. I use a Skype Landline number which only costs £20 odd a year and means I can keep my number wherever I'm based, have an area code for the area I want to do business, it rings through on my PC, and (if the Gods are smiling) rings through on phone app as well.
If you don't have someone to turn to for logos/business cards drop me a PM and I can recommend a very good/value graphic designer. I can point you in the direction of more featured VOIP. And -whilst you probably don't need this- I make small business websites. Feel free to ignore this pargraph because I'm not trying to push anything on you, you'll soon discover that when you run a small business -initially at least- there's a lot more people interested in selling to you than buying from you.
I'd strongly consider looking into local business network meetings. Some are paid for and some are free.What they deliver varies wildly. If you want more in this just ask.
I'd also consider having a read of this.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465382377&sr=8-1&keywords=the+e+myth
And have a glance over here. There's not much of a UK business community on Reddit.
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/
Good luck, anything else just ask.
Grass is always greener... where there's shit all over the ground...
If beer making is a cathartic hobby to your well-paying day job, think long and hard as your hobby you enjoyed is now mandatory work that you must upkeep on a schedule, and you might need to have a significant bankroll when time get tough. Also, take a reasonable estimate of cost and double them, same with time to complete.
I also suggest reading the "E-Myth Revisited" which talks about how having the technical knowledge is not the same as having the business acumen to run a business. With "technical passion" being a notable driver for you, read this book as it makes distinctions between working on your business and working in your business. If you are leading the company, you
wontshouldnt be making the beer...Your location, your knowledge base, financial backing, prior experience in dealing with the management of resources (people, product inventory, logistics) will all play a huge part in your ability to pull it off. A SOLID marketing plan is critical as there are lots of new breweries popping up EVERYWHERE, and distinguishing yourself during your infancy is getting harder and harder to do. Not all will succeed.... cash flow is PARAMOUNT.
Anyway, good luck in your endeavors. I still wonder if this was the right choice for me.. hours are long and compensation low (but I have substantial equity!) but people like the product so I have that going for me.
I've read most of Kiyosaki's books and listened to the audio versions of him and after initially being swoon by him and the enthusiasm he drummed up in me by appealing to emotion, I later came to the conclusion he is a hack. He and Tony Robins has a similar style.
Gary Vaynerchuck is a decent alternative, though he does the same thing as Robert, but at least gives you something to work with.
E-myth was one of my favorite books to read about entrepreneurship mainly because it helps you realize what you're going to get into by working on your own thing. I can't recommend E-Myth Remastery though because it's very much a rehash of the original.
This just scratches the surface. It's not rocket science, but it's a lot.. it will take time. CONSTANTLY evaluate and look for things that can be improved.
Source: Started a few businesses, the current one being a filmmaking one.
The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
Online courses are really hit or miss. Most college courses on "business" don't really teach how to start or run a small business. They either teach big business... how to work in a large corporation... or how to create a startup. Both of those are markedly different from starting and running a small business (even an online one).
There are some great books about starting and running a small business, though. Here are a few of my favorites:
Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs
This is an excellent book on business finances for the non-accounting types. I took accounting classes in college but never really got what all the financial reports really meant to my business' health. This will teach you what's important in the reports, what you should look out for, and how to read them. This is critically important for a small business owner to understand, even if you plan to hire a bookkeeper and accountant.
The E-myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Awesome book about building systems in your business to really grow it to the point where it's not just a job for the owner. It's easy to read and probably one of the top 5 business books of all time.
Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey
This is a good book and covers several different aspects of entrepreneurship from hiring and managing employees to marketing, setting the vision, etc. It's hokey at times, but is a good read.
The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey
Not necessarily a "small business" book, but easily my top #1 book recommendation of all time. It's hugely applicable to any professional, or anyone really. I re-read this book every couple of years and still get more out of it after almost 20 years.
Getting Things Done by David Allen
THE productivity book. Even if you only absorb and implement 25% of the strategies in this book it will make a huge difference in your level of productivity. It's really the game-changing productivity system. This is one of the biggest problems with small business owners - too much to do and no organization. Great read.
No problem, glad you enjoyed it.
If you are interested in game design, read The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schnell. At least skim it. It's great and gets deep into the emotion and psychology of game design.
For business stuff, I got a lot of input from the classic E-Myth Revisited. I won't say it didn't get boring, but the actual point of it (systematize EVERYTHING) is a really important concept to learn. That changed the way I do things and now we have systems for everything in the company.
Read Crossing the Chasm when you start getting traction. It's a very important book that answered a lot of questions for me.
Right now I'm reading Behind the Cloud by Benioff, and man, this book is also great. I had no clue they used a lot of fairly controversial tactics to get press and traction. It's a good read.
Amazon reviews
What /u/edmontonpi said.
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I'd highly recommend you read The E-Myth Revisited.
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I frequently tell people that I am a part-time investigator and a full time entrepreneur. I spend a majority of my time on bookkeeping, marketing, and correspondingly little investigation work. Most people want to do the work of being an investigator, and not doing the work of running and building a business, and owning your own firm is definitely the latter.
Presumably this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
(From googling)
> The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
I agree with the other comments; this is a relationship issue. No amount of resources will help her if she refuses to use them. I suggest buying her a copy of the E-myth book because it sounds like she just wants to work for herself, instead of actually running a business.
My advice to you would be to isolate your finances from hers if you can do it without destroying your marriage. If her business goes down / gets sued, your (both of yours) money can go down with it even if she's under an LLC. Best of luck with this! Let me know how it turns out.
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
It should really be: here's what happens when you focus too much _in_ your business, not _on_ your business.
The E-Myth is required reading to combat this.
> Your job now owns you.
In the short term, yes. But it doesn't have to be that way for the long term. And by short term I mean a couple of years, not 10 or 20.
Compare it to a professional athlete, who trains like hell even in the offseason. They only have a short window of opportunity to excel, so the sacrifice is worth it if it pays off (granted, it doesn't always).
There are tons of books and web sites about how not to fall into the self-employee trap. One that comes to mind is The E-Myth though it's probably a little out of date.
There are jobs, and there is work. I get fulfillment from my work, but it took me a while to figure out what exactly fulfills me. I know that I need to work the rest of my life. Retiring and hitting the golf course every day would make me suicidal.
Without knowing more about your current financial situation (current net income and net worth, goal net worth and net passive income), it is hard to comment on what may be the strongest investing strategies for you.
If I assume you have basically nothing (no assets and no debt), then for you to be financially free in 10 years (lets say 2M net worth, 75K passive net income/yr) will almost certainly require you to either have a VERY high income and savings rate from now until your goal age or to build something of significant value you can sell to fund your freedom. I suppose you could speculate a bunch in the market and wind up winning big, but the prevailing opinion is that you might as well go to Vegas and put it all on black if that is your overarching strategy.
My opinion, is that if you want to achieve financial freedom by 30 (and are starting from nothing today), than you are best off building a business and spending your time increasing its value. This is not a path for the faint of heart, and a lot of people who try quickly find out they are not up, but if you want to get out of the rat race in such a short time span it may be a good option. Maybe check out this book. I have found it useful, and it does a decent job explaining why systems development is key to the success of most businesses.
Real estate may also be a good avenue for you to look into as well. If you do go that route, understand that the majority of your profit on a real estate investment will be based on buying heavily undervalued assets. Finding motivated sellers is essential (people moving right away, kids squabbling over their dead parents house etc.) and you need to be extremely conservative when analyzing potential buys. Also, property management is very demanding and more complex that it may appear so be prepared for that.
Good luck!
I've read a lot of business books in the past year. These include:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Think and Grow Rich
How to Win Friends & Influence People
Secrets of Closing the Sale
How to Master the Art of Selling
The E-Myth Revisited
The Compound Effect
The Slight Edge
The $100 Startup
The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
I have 4HWW waiting to be read, in addition to about 15 other books that are sitting there, waiting to be read.
The $100 Startup is very inspiring, especially for people who have no chance at securing a "normal" job (I dropped out of college). The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is also very informative. But out of this list, by far, my two favorite books are The Compound Effect and The Slight Edge. #1 going to The Slight Edge. Read this book. Maybe it won't apply to everyone as much as it did to me, but it totally changed my attitude towards life.
Unfortunately, this is a journey you have to take yourself. We can't help you outside of giving you whatever resources we've found in our own megre quests for a career that makes us happy. Although I must say, it feels like you are approaching this from a difficult angle: "what can I study to get a career" should change to "what career do I want, and how can I get there?". Speaking as someone who is pushing 40, if you don't know what career you want, and if you don't really give a shit as long as it puts food on the table for you and your family, learn a trade. Plumbing. Electrician. Nearly anything that you can get a certificate for and then find a job. Pull 40 hour weeks and get paid well. There will be stumbling blocks as you go forward, but as an ex-marine small-business owner once said to me: "a hoop is just something you jump through." Get a loan if you need to. Check out your local trade schools, and see what financial aid they have. If you have the time, read The E-Myth Revisited by Gerber. It will help you if you are thinking about opening a business.
If you want to start your own business, read this book: http://smile.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427331465&sr=8-1
It's all about people like you and me. Technicians (people who do things, bake pies, make widgets, repair sofas) who want to break out of working for someone else and start their own business. The problem is that most Technicians don't know anything about running a business. It was a real eye opener for me. Karl Palachuk says it's the one book he'd get every business owner to read if he could and I agree.
You might need a few more years under your belt before starting your own MSP, though. Right now the work seems easy because it's all technical work and it's handed to you. You sit at your desk and the tickets show up. When you run your own business, you have to find that work, sign clients up, chase down payments, everything. It's all on you. You'll likely need to transition out of the technical role altogether at some point.
What an interesting question.
I don't think I've ever read before of a business idea to start a brick and mortar business where you will cut and run if you are not making money within 3 to 6 months. And then start another, and then another. Most leases are for 6 months or a year.
The start up costs for day trading are a computer or your cell phone, a few hundred dollars, and you fill out an online form with a broker. I don't think day trading is a good example to use when looking at a brick and mortar business.
I spent almost a full year doing market research before I started my small business. It was time well spent.
The E Myth Revisited is a book that was very helpful to me. There are many web sites that have reviewed this book over the years so you can find great summaries of the book if you don't want to buy it.
Best of luck.
I'm going to check out the other book listed below (Built to Sell), but I highly recommend reading the E-Myth. You can check out the website below:
http://emyth.com/
And/or the book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
They really emphasize building a system that you teach your employees to mimic what you would do and then finding the right employees so that the product never changes.
Only one title of overlap, nice.
Out of your list, where would you start? Have you read any other in our original list?
Built to Sell, John Warrillow
The Automatic Customer, John Warrillow
How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors, Lawrence Steinmetz
Start With Why, Simon Sinek
Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek
The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber
Selling the Invisible, Harry Beckwith
What Clients Love, Harry Beckwith
Question Based Selling, Tom Freese
If you haven't yet I'd implore you to read The E-Myth Revisited, which is a book that deals precisely with the situation of taking your passion and turning it into a business, and what most people do wrong in attempting to do so.
Check out The E-Myth revisited:
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_uqS0CbAT7R6NE
He literally uses a Bakery as an example.
Also applicable to startups.
Sorry about the loss.....
I recommend two books.
Target 40 hours with the rest dedicated to exercise, non-work writing, non-work reading, and non-work socializing.
I've tried the other way, and this way helps me be more productive.
Keep in mind that how physically healthy and attractive that you look as outsized impacts on how people react to you in sales and business development situations. People who put in 'hero' 80 hour weeks months on end usually suffer badly in the health department. Few businesses can really be run by just one person. That's why you hire other people.
Good books on this:
The E-Myth, $12
I would highly recommend that you read this.
Depends what your end goal. If its your primary source of income and want to make a nice living 100k. Also, is the bank loan in your name or the corporations name? If you are the one personally liable its probably a bad idea. You still have a ton you need to learn about business and the gaming industry based on your comments. If you want to learn more I would recommend starting here http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416079505&sr=8-1&keywords=e+myth
These are the books I recommend to start with:
All direct amazon links, no referral links.
Is it The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael E. Gerber?
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
this book : E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
Many of us are deeply analytical which is what makes us see opportunities in the first place. Sadly we get stuck in "analysis paralysis" and we analyze things until we are exhausted, but haven't actually taken action. This is where Michael Gerber in E-Myth explains that for every Entreprenuer there must be a manager and a technician. Entrepreneurs create the ideas. Managers build the systems to get things done. Technicians do the work. We all have some form of all three in us, but often one is stronger than another. If we like ideas, we usually are bad technicians and managers because we hate managing and we hate working. We like thinking. Likewise technicians hate change because they have routines and they hate new ideas because it makes a mess of their routine. You can see the dilemma.
Wow, your story is so similar to mine. Sorry these posts are so long, but I wished I had someone to tell me all this stuff along the way..
I started a residential painting company. But I had no clue what I wanted to do when I started back to school at 25.
The key is that I started moving in a whole new direction. I had lots of job opportunities prior to college that I sabatoged for myself because I didn't want to wait to go to the next level. I would always excel, but I hated working for other people - busting my ass so some jerk can take his kids to Disney World while I trudge through another day.
Finally at my last job before going back to college, I struggled to work 40hrs a week because they just didn't have work all the time. That was it for me. I knew if I was going to get to a place in life where I could make the money I wanted and live the life I wanted I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO IT AS AN EMPLOYEE. Due both to my past and in general that's just the way it goes when working directly for someone else.
I had no clue but I knew I wanted to be a boss, create jobs, be the man. And I knew to get to that I would have to work harder and smarter than the average Joe's in school and business.
I ended up going to a really good business school and through that experience I learned about the painting industry.
I'm not saying you have to start a business, but you have to start a journey. It took me 6 years to get my bachelor of science accounting degree. I met my wife and had a child along the way. I struggled with strained relationships, financial hardship, car troubles and even classes sometimes (which I dropped and took in the evening or summer when they're easier). But, I didn't waiver in my zeal to be the new me. A college man, father, businessman, job creator, client pleaser.
Just start SOMETHING. Choose a general direction and MOVE. You don't know for sure, but go in a direction that's forgiving. For me I reasoned an accounting degree will work regardless of what I choose to do in business. Once you gain new experiences you will realize your talents. Or find some you never knew you had. I thought I would never be a salesman, but through a close friend I met in college I learned that other than the owners of a business salesmen make the most money. And to create my own business I had to become a salesman. And I'm really good at it thanks to my past experiences.
Oh, And my buddy from college- he makes bank too and was just like us-that's why we got along so well. Because we had a deeper drive than the rest. We had to succeed to get where we wanted. And so will you.
Regardless of what you choose to do, you should read "E myth" as soon as possible!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0887307280?pc_redir=1404788599&robot_redir=1
You won't need to really do anything as far as getting your business in order, but it will give you a perspective on business that gives you an advantage over most regular people in society. The perspective the book gives is one of three things I paid thousands of dollars to learn in a top business school. The second thing I learned is to have a goal and move toward it; along the way make meaningful connections / network, and finally I learned about the opportunity in the industry I now work. You get most of this wisdom for free. You simply must do it. It's that simple; do it.
Let me know if you have any other questions, any time.
May I suggest the book "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It"
It seems to cover this topic really well. Recommended reading to any mom and pop business.
One book that i found useful, early in my startup life was this: http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280. It helped me differentiate "business" from what i love doing(coding).
Hoow. Well, I'm in the middle of re-reading The E-Myth, since it's a good refresher and I find myself having to scale up one of my businesses.
I'm looking at (re)reading Deep Survival next week because I'm going on retreat. I have saved it for a close reading and copious notes because I think there's something similar in the people who survive dangerous situations and the people who survive and thrive in starting small businesses.
I'm in the middle of The Social Animal, by David Brooks, which I adore. I think I'm going to keep it. (That's saying something, since I read voraciously, but I have only one shelf of books I felt was worth revisiting.) The way he's tackled the book is very interesting and it's incredibly deftly done.
I have Republic of Thieves out from the library, the newest in the Gentleman Bastards series. I don't know when I'm going to get to it. When I start a fiction book I tend to read it straight through, and nothing else gets done, so I'm loathe to start one.
I also have TapDancing to Work the new Warren Buffet autobiography, The Compass of Pleasure (which has been on my wishlist so long I've forgotten what I wanted it for) and Medieval Mercenaries a book about the history of mercenaries. I've always been very interested in mercenaries. I don't know why.
Today a friend recommended The Small Business Life Cycle which I already own, so it will be moving up on the list. I really admire the author, a US Army veteran and philosopher.
The E-Myth Revisited
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
These situations do exist, but they can't be bought into. At least not for $120k. They require time, education, luck, patience, and practice.
I built something like that, but it took years of work combined with esoteric knowledge of a specific niche and a unique skill set. And even still, I do not trust it to be around for 10 more years because anything online is inherently volatile.
>Currently we have a business that has a storefront, has employees, cant take too much time off, and work 50hrs+ a week.
Have you read the E-Myth ?
What is holding you back from implementing standard operating procedures and improving the business you have?
If you have the time, I would enroll here:
http://fasttrac.org/entrepreneurs/programs/FastTrac%20NewVenture.aspx
If you live in NYC:
Helpful books/resources:
This quote helped me:
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.” -Jim Jarmusch
Services:
I would read a handful of books first - I'd highly recommend reading The E-Myth Revisited
and Business Model Generation
As for courses, I wouldn't just stick to one resource to learn these things, but take advantage of free trials like lynda.com, they have super good courses on SEO and Marketing.
There are also thousands of great YouTube videos, articles and blogs which you can follow too. Stanford Business School have many lectures online also.
Trust me, you don't want to rely on one resource for this stuff, build your knowledge from many different places.
Good luck.
The E-Myth Revisited - Should be required reading for anyone starting a business.
No. And it's often the reason for business failure.
Read a bit of The E-Myth Revisited on Amazon
TL:DR; Experts in their fields often prefer to focus on the technical aspects of their skill set (i.e. The Technician), at the expense of their equally important roles as The Manager, and The Entrepreneur.
I like the following book. It reenforces the difference between being in business to work vs being in business to reach your goals. It also lays out steps to take to migrate towards being able to delegate effectively mainly by thinking of everything you do as a checklist.
I'm ESTJ though so the checklist ideas feed my appetite for order.
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_QCCwyb4EX21TM
Great! I would recommend starting with The EMyth Revisited and Fanatical Prospecting. Both books are great to give you some good tools to start out with and put you in the right mindset to succeed. I like Managed Services in a Month as well, but realistically if you've worked in the industry at established MSPs, there's not a lot groundbreaking there. It's a good re-affirmation, though.
> sforming from break-fix to monthly contracts. How do you price the monthly contracts, what do clients get? 2) I'd like to scale employee-wise. Meaning, I'd like to have a number of techs working along-side me. How do they get paid, as a salary?
I'm currently reading it, almost finished, like 30 pages only left but when I started reading it, I quickly bought also the The E-Myth (revisited edition) from Micheal Gerber. You should definitively read it too. I'm a tech on the break/fix model since the last 9 years and in the next months I will switch to a MSP model. Other quick recommandation if you need help/inspiration to create your service agreement, buy also the Service Agreements for SMB Consultants, from the same author of Managed Service in a month. Definitively worth the money and time to read it.
make sure everyone knows that you are the first and the best (politely)
"the original jonwondering adjustable bench!"
imitation is flattery, even if it does cut into your profits. just be better than the copy-cat. Be careful to build a business, not a job ( one of my failings). I highly recommend The E Myth, I read it too late to save my first business, next will be better.
Aye. I've financed over 6 million dollar deals at banks with 1.5 locations in towns with population under 20k.
go to the first bank and see what they need, put all that info into a package, put that in gdrive/dropbox etc. and print it out a dozen times.
we've literally done 5 million dollar deals with handmade spreadsheets and sketched drawings.
but every fucking lender needs all these damn documents. and glad handing.
Good luck, and I'd recommend getting the business in your name or your SO's. also, I'd recommenced putting in writing what each other's responsibilities are. Read/listen to http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
Before you do that though, read the E-myth.
Hey man, I'm just trying to save another poor schmuck from entering specialty retail. It's a horrible business.
Read The E-Myth and you'll understand why someone who knows about guns doesn't make a good gun retailer.
Read E-Myth Revisited and Built to Sell.
Get help from someone who's done it before. Some sources:
http://e-myth.com
http://www.thesellabilityscore.com/
Yeah sure, It's E-myth revisited: Why most small businesses don't work.
There's loads of e-myth books but I don't rate them, this one however was very good.
Not sure if it fits into your conception of what you're looking for, but consulting is your own business.
Get 1-2 clients while at your current job and then dive in headfirst.
As long as you stay vigilant about treating it like a company and not a job (read the E-Myth). You don't want to wake up 5 years later and realized you've owned a job. Look to hire. Look to scale. Look to outsource. Look at your margins.
I started that way and now there's 30 people here.
What is your margin? I know you said that you will have a $10 markup, but what are your total expenses?
Besides quickbooks, intuit purchased the homestead website builder company and they offer websites for $5/month or web stores for $25/month which are directly linked to quickbooks to make things easy.
Remember that at this point it is not a business as much as it is self employment. Pickup a $1.50 copy of The E-myth Revisited and at least skim it.
very interesting reply, i also work with my dad and brother. would you mind if i DM you and ask you some questions? hard to find places for relevant information on improving a company with such a specific family environment.
also, i read this book recently (fairly commonly read i believe), it talks about the three roles within a startup/small business. may be of interest to you if you have not seen it before. very easy read. some parts focus more on creating franchises IIRC, which is not relevant to our business, but an excellent read regardless.
You need to read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
So I have to be an entrepeneur? Finishing up The E-myth Revisited.
Watch the Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3755718939216161559#
Also be sure to read The Emyth
http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
As I posted in /r/atheism...
This has nothing to do with religion/atheism... your friend didn't get to market fast enough and didn't protect her trade secrets. Business is harsh, she better hurry up and buy a few books on marketing and make employees sign non-competes:
http://www.biztree.com/Templates/Non-Disclosure-and-Non-Compete-Agreement.html
Beyond that, this book is very helpful:
http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
Hi, Do check out brightpod for managing your projects. It's a new project management software and is really easy to use. We have been using it since 2 months now and really like how simple it is to use.
Two good book to read would be The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It and The E-Myth Manager: Why Management Doesn't Work - and What to Do About It
E Myth helped me a ton. It's a book by Michael Gerber. The E Myth site also used to have free resources on it, but I don't think it does anymore.
Otherwise Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc. Magazine and SBA.gov are all good.
I've also learned a ton from iTunes University podcasts by Yale Entrepreneurial Institute.
The E-Myth Revisited
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887307280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dRTTDbDKHC1JV
If you have time for a read, this is a great one. Everything you said here is covered in some form or other.
Being a hobbyist game dev you can take your time and enjoy it as an art form. If you want to make money as an independent professional, then (whether you understand it or not) you have now started a small business and all of the rules of entrepreneurship now apply.
I tool around in my spare time because it makes me happy to animate things with code, and it's a break from the monotony of corporate dev. I have owned several small businesses in the past and can say from experience that the best way to make a small fortune in game dev is to start with large one, but that's how it is with all of the entertainment industry, a winner take all scenario.
Still worth the time sink because it's fun - just know what you are getting into :)
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
10x Rule 10x
The E-Myth Revisited E myth
48 Laws Of Power 48 Laws Of Power
I have to draw a lot of conclusions from your post, but I have to second therapy or talking to someone about your thoughts. It seems like you might be doing that already.
About your business, it sounds like you're so stressed out because you don't know how to deal with problems that arise or why they're happening in the first place. First thing is you need to learn how to blame the process, not the person. When someone makes a mistake, you need to figure out how your process has allowed them to make that mistake in the first place. I think if you had better tools to solve your business problems, your passion for the business might spark up again. Hiring an additional person as people are suggesting I don't think is the right move. You'll have to pay them a large salary to deal with the stress and then you'll be held hostage when they quit or ask for a huge raise. The real problem is the stress itself and that's what you have to focus on getting rid of in your business.
Read the book The E-Myth Revisited if you haven't already. I think that can relate to a lot of your struggles and will help you to hopefully work more on your business than in it.
Then I would try and read 2 Second Lean. I don't know what kind of business you have, while this book is geared towards manufacturing, it doesn't matter. Lean is all about making work struggle free and even fun. The concepts can be applied to any business and for me implementing the ideas has made my business fun for me and gave me a new found purpose within it.
I'm sure you can turn things around for yourself. It's impressive you've gotten as far as you have and you're bound to have bumps along the way. Just have to keep looking forward.
read E-Myth Revisited - it's about a woman who bakes great pies, so she opens a bakery:
http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335464106&sr=8-1
First, read the E-Myth Revisited. Never turn something you love into a business.
If you still want to tackle this, what need are you filling? Are there no rescues or animal shelters in your county currently? Are they inadequate/corrupt? Are there grooming/boarding businesses that are thriving? What about dog walking services? Is there an organized network for pet sitters? Are there illegal breeders on Craigslist?
Zoning laws are going to be a big hurdle. It's probably not allowed to have too many animals in one place that isn't a farm.
Ironically after 6 years I just changed careers. If you're thinking about photography think about small business first. It's like having 2 jobs. You can be successful as a crappy photographer with a great business ability but not the other way around.
relevant reading
There is actually a book about this subject with a howto-approach: The E-Myth
E-Myth
Come over to r/smallbusiness and read E-Myth Revisited.
Have you read "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber?
It lays out the concept and process for setting up your business to run itself without you.
Entrepreneur Reading List
Computer Science Grad School Reading List
Video Game Development Reading List
Go read the book e-myth revisted RIGHT NOW.
It will answer all these questions, or more importantly. What you should do about all these questions. You'll quickly find that the skills need to run a welding shop are not at all related to the skills needed to do fabrication and repair jobs and most people suffer at the former.
1: Quote based on what makes sense for you, track the accuracy of the quotes and revisit to learn where you're over or under bidding. Don't race to the bottom, if you're this busy raise prices. Do it now.
2: Yes, you walk in or call them up and ask them if they have any work they are looking to sub out. Owning a successful business is a large portion of having good people and sales skills. Listen to them and find their pain points. Is it turn around time, quality of work, difficult jobs they can't/don't want to do (large pieces, small pieces, one-off, difficult alloys). Pick something you're good at and layout why it's better to go with you than to do it in house.
3: No clue, all my work was B2B or done through web portals. Probably doesn't hurt to spend a few hours on a nice clean website as it makes you look legit.
4. Common rule of thumb is that you shouldn't be extract more than 2-10% of net profit. That is highly dependent on way too many factors. As a data point my side business did about 150K a year in sales and I was extracting 5-15K in profit the rest was reinvested. Once you start getting big enough I highly suggest you get an SBA loan or similar for working capital so that you don't have cash flow issues.
5: Make sure your business insurance, liability, waivers and paperwork are in order. Get good legal and tax advice for your area so you don't have any surprises come tax time.
Congratulations, your business is growing.
You need to systematize whatever it is you do. Stop blaming employees, start fixing what doesn't work.
Most small businesses don't work because their owner can't or won't share knowledge. Sit down, breathe and read this s .
The E-Myth Revisited
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
The 33 Strategies of War
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The E-Myth
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Mastery
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Crucial Conversations
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Great Business Teams
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Power vs. Force
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Barbarians to Bureaucrats
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How to Win Friends & Influence People
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The Hypomanic Edge
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The Law of Success
ITT: A lot of people who could do with a read of The E-Myth Revisited.
e-myth revisited
Any advice I'd give is better presented in this essential book: E-myth
About 10 years back I came across recommendations for an oddly-named book. It was a great read.
I never did start a business but if I had, I would have jumped from the sole do-everything person to a designer/manager/facilitator as soon as I could. One huge problem with a small business is success, which kills a lot of operations. How many 20-hour days can you work? What happens when you need to work 30-hour days and 9-day weeks to keep up?
From the PDF summary (below)...
> The E-Myth, or Entrepreneurial Myth, says that most new businesses are not started by entrepreneurs who set out to build a strong business but by technicians who enjoy the hands-on work themselves. Because of that natural bias, most business owners focus on working in their business when really they should be working on their business.
> A business that is built and managed by someone who combines the approach of the technician, the manager and the entrepreneur will have a far greater chance of future success than one guided by someone thinking like a technician alone.
References:
> [Michael Gerber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gerber_(non-fiction_writer) (Wikipedia)
> Michael E. Gerber Companies
> The E Myth: Why Most Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It (Amazon)
> The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It (Amazon)
> Summary of "E-MythRevised" (PDF)
The book the E-Myth does a good job at answering this question.
http://www.amazon.ca/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
Don't have much input on your financial situation (other than as other people have mentioned, grow that business!), but may I suggest that you read a book like The e-Myth Revisited - Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber.
It has some great advice for how to take a business of passion where you are an employee (like yours) from something that consumes your life to something that can enrich your life and increase your free time instead of taking all of it. It's a quick read, and your situation sounds like you could really use it's advice. I really want you to succeed!
I don't have any relationship to the book by the way, financial or otherwise, I just think it could help you, and it is a quick read so it wouldn't kill you with your schedule.
Edits were because I suck at reddit formatting.
Your job is to lead them, not to do the same job as them.
A person who starts a car company doesn't spend all day building cars. He/she figures out how to make both the company, and the employees, successful.
I'd highly suggest you check out a book call The E-Myth. It covers this topic extensively.
What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team, NY Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html
One-On-One Meetings - https://getlighthouse.com/blog/how-to-start-one-on-ones-your-teams/
Growing Great Employees, Erika Andersen - http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Great-Employees-Extraordinary-Performers/dp/1591841909 (though I hate the stupid comparisons with plants)
The Year Without Pants, Scott Berkun - http://www.amazon.com/The-Year-Without-Pants-WordPress-com/dp/1118660633
The E-Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
Don’t know, but it’s a popular book.
Amazon Link They also have an audiobook version
I think the trick is to read the book and allow the book to inspire you to create ideas for yourself. For example, I read "The E-Myth" which is somewhat crap if taken too seriously. But, it gets the ball rolling in my head and then I think of good ideas for making my own business better. I've also gain inspiration from "Influence, the science of persuasion."
As with any self help book, the value is in the inspiration. You have to come up with the idea then execute it. Ideas are easy, putting them into action is a pain.
http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Revised-Edition/dp/006124189X
http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
Read this https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280 to see if it´s still a good idea for you. Do your research for your target market before jumping all in.
Start marketing asap: A website and building your online presence is a must. This one is a good one for one on one service: https://microbusinessapp.com or if you plan on selling a bunch of stuff online then https://www.shopify.com/ is good for selling a lot of stuff for shipping.
Use social media to start getting your brand name out there and just letting family and friends know you´re serious about starting your business they will help you get your name out there.
Use services that will help you automate your business where you may lack the skills: Some people use https://www.fiverr.com/ and the like to help when money is tight.
Have patience, be adaptable, roll with the punches and have fun!
Best of wishes on your new adventure!!
The E-Myth Revisited: https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0887307280&linkCode=as2&linkId=OKQNEFFPLTGGYABL&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl&tag=writin08-20
Fully agree. This book's an oldie but a goodie in terms of getting you thinking about process and automation in building a business: https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
Second this. Also E-Myth Revisited. link
This post is spot on. I feel like this kind of behavior is often overlooked in the community. Headlining these kind of excuses is a very common "anxiety of finishing things" (there is probably a psychological term for this that I don't know) that goes along with perfectionism.
What also comes into play is a theory from "The E-Myth Revisited" (big recommendation btw), where it says that many entrepreneurs are in fact technicians who love the work they do instead the act of running a business. As a technician from the graphics department you will love reading for hours about the perfect logo for your company and how to create it. What you need to do instead is think like a manager and pick any good logo real quick and launch.
So if you ever get lost in reading to much about stuff instead of doing it, ask yourself: "Is this technician in me? What would the manger do?". Do this over and over and eventually you will learn to act like the manager more than like the technician.
Now I'm asking myself if there are any reports of failed businesses because any of those excuses were actually true? Does anybody know any business that failed, because the owner wasn't passionate about it or because the market was already saturated but the owner didn't notice beforehand?
Glad you found it helpful! You may also want to check out:
Might I recommend a book.
Read this book
The E-Myth teaches that in order to run a successful business you need to fill three roles:
In order to be successful, you need to be good at all three areas but the problem is that most people are only good at 2/3. Let's say, I can do the work (technician) and have the vision of where I want to be (visionary) BUT I can't focus enough on the plan to see it through...can't break it down to small manageable chunks. That's when I hire or partner with a manager. Someone that sees where you are going and helps you focus on taking care of the small things, so the big things can take care of themselves. I hope this helps because it helped me.
Source: first generation American with no idea how to start a business in this country. The E Myth definitely made me see things differently. I now own 2 businesses, one has been going for 6 years grossing 15k per month and the other we just launched back in January. The key was to figure out my strengths very early on and delegate the rest either by hiring or establishing a strategic partnership.
Read the E-Myth before you quit your job or invest any real money into starting a business: https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
This is the classic E-myth story: http://www.amazon.ca/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
YOU ARE NOT AN ENTREPRENEUR.
Please, Read the E-Myth:
http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251200958&sr=8-1
Hey mate, i just read the first 2 paragraphs and I instantly recommend you read the book "The E - Myth Revisited" http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/dp/0887307280
Im in the process of drawing up a business plan for a food service vehicle dishing up fruit and juice to customers along busy beaches. I have no business experience although this book has given me a lot of confidence to move forward. I hope this helps.