One of my favorite small business books is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.
I hated it the first time I read it because I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to get the money to pay all of the salaries that I needed to follow his model. I've recently "revisited" the E-Myth Revisited, about 2 years later, and I have to say I think he's right. One of the main themes that runs through out the book is that of The Entrepreneur, The Manager and The Technician (defined below). His point is that if you consider yourself a "technician" who started a business to work in, than you didn't create a business. You created a job.
The Entrepreneur - Turns the most trivial condition into an exceptional opportunity. He's the visionary. The entrepreneur lives in the future, never in the past, rarely in the present and he craves control. He likes, "What if's" and "If when's."
The Manager - Without the manager there would be no planning, no order, no predictability. The manager lives in the past. The manager craves order.
The Technician - Doer. Lives in the present and loves the feeling of things getting done. He wants control of the work flow. Thinking is unproductive.
The author goes on to say that if you want to be the technician in your business, you need to close your business. Pretty harsh words. The idea is to create a system that you plan to grow into. Not that you can't be the technician to start, just don't plan to stay there.
I bring this up, because I'm tired of my technician role! How 'bout you?
