In the announcement for the Women Entrepreneur’s Rock the World Event in New York on May 5-6, 2010 (wish I could attend — sounds great!), there’s a note about something that Michael Gerber, author of E-Myth, has said:
Gerber states that the #1 mistake women entrepreneurs make in running their companies is that they don’t make is “scalable” and they work in their business, not on their business.
How big are you planning on growing your business? Quick, write down the number. If it’s less than a million, you’re thinking small. Which is fine, as long as you’re doing it because you want a small business, not because you think that’s the only size you can have. It’s also good to know that a miniature business can be a lot more work for you than a larger business would be.
Why?
Because if we think we’re running a small business, we see no need to write things down or create processes or procedures that can be replicated and done by many people. That’s what Gerber means by “scalable.” We’re caught up in the daily doing, doing, doing and don’t make time to reflect where we are going with our business, which is what Gerber means when he says we work in our businesses, not on our businesses.
When I work with clients, we spend a lot of time developing written policies and procedures. Most of them are ready to do that because their businesses have grown to where they are hiring employees or contractors and working 80 hours a week to handle it all. They know that they need to do something differently or they won’t be able to continue to grow.
So this week, do yourself a favor. Find at least one thing that you do repetitively that you can document. Then, go find someone else to do it for you.
