The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

by Michael E. Gerber

As Alvin Toffler wrote in his revolutionary book, The Third Wave, “…most people surveying the world around them today see only chaos. They suffer a sense of personal powerlessness and pointlessness.” He went on to say that, “Individuals need life structure. A life lacking in comprehensive structure is an aimless wreck. The absence of structure breeds breakdown. Structure provides the relatively fixed points of reference we need.”1 It is these “relatively fixed points of reference” that an orderly business provides its customer and its employees in an otherwise disorderly world. A business that looks orderly says to your customer that your people know what they’re doing. A business that looks orderly says to your people that you know what you’re doing. A business that looks orderly says that while the world may not work, some things can. A business that looks orderly says to your customer that he can trust in the result delivered and assures your people that they can trust in their future with you. A business that looks orderly says that the structure is in place.