Every entrepreneur starts with a vision: “The freedom to create, the will to build something meaningful, something to make their mark, something to secure their financial independence.” But what Michael E. Gerber writes in “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work And What to Do About It”: ‘It means being stuck in their own business, creating their own success, with no other means to support themselves.’ Every small business owner discovers too late that they are stuck in their own business, creating their own success, with no other means to support themselves. They end up being ‘overworked technicians, not entrepreneurs.’ Gerber’s thesis is profound: ‘The entrepreneur’s job is to create an ‘invisible business, needing no ‘visible’ owner.’ It’s life transforming to realize, ‘That means no matter what his strengths, there’s no dependence on his talent, skill, or genius.’ It’s not about being smart; it’s about having ‘good enough systems.’ It’s not about what I have, it’s about what I ‘can.’ It’s not about what I ‘do.’ It’s about ‘what I enable.’
Gerber’s solution is to adopt what some might call a radically different mindset: from day one, think about running your business like you mean to franchise it. Yes, you read that right: from day one, think about franchising your business. Of course, you might never end up franchising or expanding to multiple locations, but what it boils down to is that to think in such manners, you have to have a clean, simply defined, replicable blueprint for success—a franchise model that drives you to create such a business model that any person, not just you, could operate effortlessly.
It is easy to draw an interesting parallel from India’s own history to Mr. Gerber’s philosophy about franchises. The charkha, or Gandhi’s spinning wheel, became an instrument for empowering millions, not because it was complex or technologically adept, but because it could be comprehended, utilized, and benefitted from by anyone. Its beauty lay in its simplicity. It is what a franchise business wants to create in its prototypes—a franchise model for empowering growth, which is to be effortlessly replicated. Just like Gandhi’s charkha allowed multiple productivity, a scalable business with efficient systems multiplies value.
Gerber’s most interesting finding: your business value isn’t what you think, it’s what your customers think it is. This is crucial for success. Where some kinds of value lay in being affordable, for others, in being faster, friendlier, more ambient, or more reliable. Take, for example, Café Coffee Day, set up by V. G. Siddhartha. It wasn’t its remarkable coffee that made it such an iconic brand. It was its affordable prices, its comfortable seating, its young, lively atmosphere, its dependable presence in every nook. It’s these dependable experiences, these consistencies, which mattered most to customers. It’s these consistencies which, in essence, have value. Now, for example, imagine a barista not only being expert in her latte-making, she also hands out complimentary cookies with each pour. What she really offers? It’s the comfort of being cared for. And, indeed, in those beautiful words from Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
To provide value on a consistent basis, Gerber is emphatic about the importance of systems: “Systems drive the business. People drive the systems.” If your business requires your presence in person to operate, chances are you have not built a business—it’s a job. Its scalability begins, then, with whether or not its results are less dependent on you, the entrepreneur. If your barista is somehow uniquely qualified to create the ultimate latte, chances are she’ll be stuck to the bar. But if she has a process, in some kind of logical, foolproof, step-by-step fashion, to create an optimal latte, with training in such a fashion for any employee, she’ll have freed her business from individual dependence. It’s why there’s such a gigantic difference between ‘neighbourhood eateries, which shut down if their star chef gets sick, and McDonald’s, which puts out objectively identical-tasting burgers whether in Mumbai, Tokyo, or New York.’ McDonald’s isn’t just any restaurant—it’s a ‘system.’
Another core tenet of Gerber’s philosophy is documentations. Every process needs to be documented in such a way that your business is not dependent on memory or observation. An operation manual becomes, in essence, the living constitution of a business, which helps to guarantee that process remains, no matter what, after employees, after cycles of training, after changes in leadership. J.R.D. Tata’s renowned stability and long life literally testify to these basics being in place. J.R.D. Tata’s philosophy on ‘organised systems versus individual efforts’ has moulded the group’s excellence for many decades. Without documentations, it’s simply impossible to talk about any scalable business, since your business’s ‘knowledge’ will remain in ‘minds.’
Consistency is perhaps the most crucial ingredient in reaching success in running a business. One thing a consumer must not have to wonder about is what to expect. If one day the barista’s latte is sublime, and the next day it is not, she has built a gamble, not a business. Consistency leads to trust, leads to loyalty, leads to consistency, leads to profit. Warren Buffett’s sage warning about reputation is timeless: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
The Indian market environment is home to excellent case studies for Gerber’s concepts in action. Saravanaa Bhavan, which initially operated from a small food joint in Chennai, is now an international food chain due to its founder, P. Rajagopal’s, obsession with recipes, training, taste, and documented business process. Whether ordering food in Chennai or in Dubai, the taste is consistent, and consistency leads to growth.
What works best, finally, is working on your business, not in it. And once your business ceases to rely on you being there, you will have enough room to create, grow, and enjoy your life, just as you dreamed when you embarked on your entrepreneurial adventure. Chanakya expressed this idea in his ‘Arthashastra’ with these words: “As soon as fear draws near, attack it with all your forces, destroy it.” From then on, your fear to be locked inside your own business will no longer be there.
Final thoughts: “The lesson Gerber’s wisdom imparts is: Success is not about being irreplaceable, it’s about creating an enterprise that functions, grows, and prospers whether you’re there or not. By creating your franchise prototype, you’ll literally create a value-generating ‘machine.’ And one day, after you’ve disappeared on some long-awaited vacation, you’ll suddenly understand what it means to have attained entrepreneurial mastery.”
Dr. Prahlada N.B
MBBS (JJMMC), MS (PGIMER, Chandigarh).
MBA in Healthcare & Hospital Management (BITS, Pilani),
Postgraduate Certificate in Technology Leadership and Innovation (MIT, USA)
Executive Programme in Strategic Management (IIM, Lucknow)
Senior Management Programme in Healthcare Management (IIM, Kozhikode)
Advanced Certificate in AI for Digital Health and Imaging Program (IISc, Bengaluru).
Senior Professor and former Head,
Department of ENT-Head & Neck Surgery, Skull Base Surgery, Cochlear Implant Surgery.
Basaveshwara Medical College & Hospital, Chitradurga, Karnataka, India.
My Vision: I don’t want to be a genius. I want to be a person with a bundle of experience.
My Mission: Help others achieve their life’s objectives in my presence or absence!
My Values: Creating value for others.
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Dear Dr. Prahlada N.B Sir,
Your blog post is a masterclass in wisdom, distilling the essence of Michael E. Gerber's "The E-Myth Revisited" into actionable insights. As a visionary leader in healthcare, your perspective on building a business that runs without you is invaluable.
The key takeaways are profound: *systems drive the business*, and *people drive the systems*. By creating a franchise model, documenting processes, and focusing on consistency, entrepreneurs can build scalable businesses that thrive without their constant presence.
I'd like to add a few more points to amplify your message:
– *Empowerment through simplicity*: Gandhi's charkha is a powerful example of how simplicity can empower millions. By stripping away complexity, we can create systems that are easy to understand and replicate.
– *The power of documentation*: Documenting processes is crucial for scalability. It's the difference between a business that's stuck with its founder and one that can grow exponentially.
– *Consistency breeds trust*: Customers value consistency, and it's the key to building trust and loyalty. By delivering exceptional experiences consistently, businesses can create a loyal customer base.
Your vision, "I don't want to be a genius. I want to be a person with a bundle of experience," resonates deeply. By focusing on creating value for others, we can build businesses that make a lasting impact.
Thank you for sharing your insights, Sir. Your words will undoubtedly inspire many to build businesses that run without them, freeing them to pursue their passions and create a better life.
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