How to Apply ‘The E-Myth Revisited’ Strategies to Your Life and Business

I wrote the book summary for The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber recently, and a couple of paragraphs really stood out for me.

In this post, I will attempt to apply those insights to my own life and business. I feel it would be a good exercise for you to do the same, in real time. So grab a pen and paper or open a Word Doc and settle in to write out your vision.

Statement 1:

Visualize your business operating flawlessly without you, develop a step-by-step plan covering all aspects from the primary aim to a systems strategy, and ensure each component works harmoniously to achieve consistent, high-quality results.

Well, straight off the bat, I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew. I don’t like working on these posts for much more than half an hour, and I feel creating this plan is a multi-day process.

It just so happens that I already have detailed plans in progress, which are written down in internal documents that I am not willing to share publicly, mainly because they change all the time, so, perhaps here I will just share the overall plan.

My primary aim is to focus the business into publishing.

We will continue to produce, publish, and market our books.

Marketing will focus on Amazon, as well as book funnel creation with the aim of getting users to join our library membership.

The next step is to create products to help other authors publish and market their books, probably via a book funnel which leads to a membership site.

Once all that is up and running, we will turn our focus onto marketing via an affiliate team.

I expect the above process will take three to five years, unless I really buckle down, though that is unlikely.

Finally, once it is all set up, I may move on to experiment with other businesses.

Statement 2:

Clarify your Primary Aim by envisioning the life you want and the legacy you wish to leave, then ensure your business serves this vision. Actively create your life, rather than passively living it, to find true fulfillment and purpose.

I actually do this exercise quite regularly. Unfortunately, my vision of a dream life changes quite frequently. Fortunately, it always circles back to the same thing every few years.

I have an internal conflict where I like to travel, but eventually I’d love to own something like an eco-farm.

I’d like a small family, a couple of dogs, a goat or two, chickens, a vegetable garden and the property to be eco-friendly, with solar power and things like that. I’d also like to live within walking distance of the beach.

I know all this will mean I can't travel as much as I do now, but perhaps having this means I’d be living my personal paradise and would not want to travel.

But of course, I know that is ridiculous. Material possessions don’t create happiness, but having my vision of a dream life certainly won’t create sadness either. I say go for it anyway.

Lifestyle-wise, I quite like waking up, exercising, then doing a few hours of work every day. The afternoon is free time.

Statement 3:

Develop a clear vision for your life and ensure your business serves that vision. Create specific, measurable standards for your business to ensure it aligns with your personal goals and can be a sustainable, valuable asset.

I'm not sure how to take this statement. I guess it may mean how much income must the business create for me to achieve my dream life. If that’s the case, I think half a million would be more than enough for a home, and perhaps $10,000 a month semi-residual income would be more than enough to sustain family life.

Statement 4:

Focus entirely on the customer's needs and perceptions, use demographic and psychographic data to shape your marketing strategy, and ensure that every aspect of your business—from marketing to operations—delivers on the customer's expectations.

This is something I definitely don’t do at the moment, but I know I should. I think I’m still in the business setup stage so I’ll come back to this in the future, once the publishing business is set-up.

I wouldn’t want to try to apply this to every book we produce. It would be way too much work. The book production is really just to keep up our skills for publishing and marketing, so we are at the forefront to be able to teach the skills to other independent authors.