Michael Gerber at the AZ Entrepreneurship Conference
2 weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to travel to Arizona and speak on a panel at the AZ Entrepreneurship Conference. As part of the conference, I had the pleasure of listening to the author of the famous entrepreneurial book The E-Myth: Michael Gerber. Michael did a fantastic job — not only was he very inspiring, his speech was engaging and funny. Here are some of the notes that I took during his keynote:
- He’s predicting a new wave and growth of entrepreneurship over the next 200 years
- He’s got a new book coming out in the Fall of 2007 called Awakening the Entrepreneur Within
- I liked his quote about Man’s desire to create: “If man is born in the image of God, then we are born to create!”
He also discussed a concept that really got my mind thinking… he said, “Every industry will be transformed by someone on the outside.” Let me explain…
He used the example of Ray Kroc, Founder of McDonalds. When Ray Kroc decided to purchase the rights to McDonalds, he was an outsider to the restaurant industry. He knew nothing about flipping burgers or making french fries — he had never had experience in the restaurant space.
Gerber explained that the reason that Ray Kroc was so successful at building up McDonalds is because he “worked on the business, not in the business.” He spent his time creating detailed and efficient systems and processes that he could duplicate in every single franchise. The reason that he was so successful was because he created a standard that customers could expect EVERY SINGLE TIME they visited a franchise. It didn’t matter what country you were in, you knew what you were going to get.
He believes that many industries will be transformed by outsiders (like Ray Kroc) that will find a better, more efficient solution to a problem. This concept was very intriguing to me — and I have to concur. Often times, those that are within the industry have blinders on that prevent them from creating an out-of-box concept.
Who do you know that has successfully created a new concept as an “industry-outsider”? I’d love to hear of more examples.
Michael Gerber came and spoke at the Utah Valley Tech Expo a few years ago. His concept of working ON the business and not IN the business has been a constant source of inspiration and difficulty for me ever since.
As a young entrepreneur in a start-up environment it is virtually impossible to NOT work IN the business. The passion that brings one into and carries one through an entrepreneurial experience often stems from ones ability to work ON and IN simultaneously. As the business matures there comes a point of divergence between the technician/entrepreneur when the different roles vie for a pole position and it is at that point that Mr. Gerber’s council is most beneficial.If one remains a technician forever, working IN and not ON, the possibility of progress is stifled and the growth horizon, energy, and vision of the one time entrepreneur is choked by the demands of the everyday. The point of divergence must be cautiously timed and carefully executed in order to foster a breaking point between starting up and stalling out.