Technician, Manager, or Entrepreneur?

Michael Gerber stated in The E-Myth Revisited that most entrepreneurs are technicians having a spasm of entrepreneurship.

Perhaps I can illustrate his meaning. Kay, an award-winning graphic designer, decided to open his own business. As a graphic designer, he decided that he was not making any money unless he was drawing or designing. That goal belongs to a "graphic design technician". Unfortunately, Kay did not see the "accounting manager" role of sending bills and ensuring they were paid. As a result, Kay would not receive money for many of his projects because he either did not send all the invoices or collect on accounts receivable. Why? Because he followed the technician role and not the management role.

SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES REQUIRE 3 SIGNIFICANT ROLES:
The technician creates the product or service. They are the producers. Without a technician, clients do not receive products or services. They view distractions, like billing or planning, counter to productivity. Technicians live in the "now".

The manager monitors what the business already provided. They are the organizers. Managers create reports to evaluate how much product or service the business provided. They ensure that the business processes accounts payable and receivable. They order supplies to ensure that the business creates enough product or service. Managers live in the "the past".

The entrepreneur envisions the next big improvement. They are the dreamers. Status quo never satisfies the entrepreneur. They see modifications, improvements, and new horizons essential for survival. The past and present bore the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur lives in the "the future".

The three roles tend to irritate each other. Technicians view the manager's reports as non-productive busy-work. Managers view the technicians failure to appreciate the need for organization and reporting as unprofessional. The entrepreneur irritates both of them with their constant changes and pie-in-the-sky dreams.

The challenge for one-person businesses occurs when all three roles must dwell in just one person. One person must live in "the now", "the past", and "the future". That one person irritates themselves with distracting reports, constant constant changes, and inadequate delivery.

Successful business owners either

• Reconcile all three roles, balancing them adequately to keep the company going.
  
• Find someone else to fulfill the roles that do not excite them (possibly hiring, outsourcing, or partnering)
  
• Let the business suffer or fail due to lack of effort in one or two roles

You can learn more about this in the E-Myth, Consulting News, Sources of Light, and other sources.

Should You Own a Business?

Bob loved working in information technology. He excelled at data protection and security. His passion led to frequent promotions and assignments to the plum projects. He did so well that he decided to open his own business providing data protection and security to mid-size firms. He and his partners analyzed the market, found the right products, and even came up with a great name for their firm. So, with hopes high, fanfare, and flourish they opened their company.

It did well, at first.

In a couple of months, however, the glamour had left. Bob and his partners still loved doing the high-tech/information work. They discovered that they did not like the others parts of owning their own business: marketing, sales, accounting, hiring and firing employees. The partners left one by one, until Bob remained. His dissatisfaction grew. Finally, Bob closed the business and found a job working with a major IT company. Bob once more is happy. He receives generous raises and promotions.

Many may judge Bob a failure. I do not. Bob, like many people who start their own businesses, found that business ownership did not meet his expectations. I do not judge Bob a failure because he realized that he did not like responsibility for the entire business--and he found an exit strategy that allowed him to return to his passion and leave the rest behind. I believe the failure lies with those who do not recognize their misery and keep trying to do something that makes them miserable.

The fact remains: not all people should own businesses.

Bob and his partners did excellent research on their market, their product, and their strategy. They neglected to research one essential element of their plan: themselves. Potential business owners must ask several questions about themselves before spending any money to start a business. Some of these questions include:

1. Why do I want to start this business? What assumptions am I making?
2. What have I done to validate my assumptions? Are my perceptions accurate?
3. Am I willing to assume the risk of ownership as well as the perceived benefits?
4. Is my spouse and family willing to assume the risks and uncertainties ownership requires?
5. Am I willing to work the 50-80 hour weeks a business owner must work?
6. Am I capable of sacrificing the family time that I think I will be gaining, but will not?
7. What skills do I lack to run a business? How will I compensate for those inefficiencies?
8. Am I planning on the help of others? Have I discussed it with them?
9. Can I stand the uncertainty of providing the income my family expects?
10. Am I excited about creating the business? How about maintaining it?

This list will reveal a little bit of the information you need to discover --about yourself--before you spend any money starting a business. Study the following links to learn more: SBA's 20Questions to Ask Before You Start a Business, Small Business News, Entrepreneur's Journey, Small Business: Canada.

Like most entrepreneurs Bob and his partners assumed that because they were good at what they did, they would be good at doing it in a business of their own. Michael Gerber, the author of The E-Myth Revisited, states that most entrepreneurs are "technicians having a spasm of entrepreneurship". Bob and his group definitely met that standard.

We will explore the difference between the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician next week.You need to fulfill all three conflicting personalities for your business to succeed.

Grow Your Business

Today, we launch Larry on Business, my new blog designed to help you, as small- and at-home business owners:

• Earn more money
• Increase sales
• Improve your product or service
• Reduce overhead
• Have fun doing all of the above

Let me share an example. Dave loved doing stained-glass. He had a passion for it. He wanted to share his passion with others. His stained-glass business had drifted along, but he had to augment his income with another job. He got involved with one of our self-employment groups. He took our workshop. Six months later he wrote "I've been involved in your program for six months and have tripled my business".

Today, Dave teaches stained-glass to others. His works now adorn symphony halls, commercial buildings and homes. He publishes a newsletter and loves his life.

We hope to help many of you do the same. Our blog will focus on the fundamentals of business: planning, sales and marketing, accounting and financing, operations, legal, human resource management, growth, exit strategies, and more. While I will author many of the blogs, we will also feature content prepared by others just for this blog.

We will publish the blog on Fridays each week. We hope that you will enjoy the blog. Your comments will also enhance the blog. We hope that you share your experiences and reactions to the topics. We invite you to share your success stories, but also to be willing to share a challenge--and respond the comments posted by others. This blog will be better the more you get involved.

It will be even better if you also invite friends to contribute.

Our goal is to help you grow your business, increase profits, and enhance your personal satisfaction about owning a business.

Larry on Business Opens June 10

Don't miss it