The E-Myth Enterprise: How to Turn a Great Idea into a Thriving Business

You are either going to love this book or hate it.  First of all if you haven’t read any of the E Myth books yet, DON’T start with this one!  I suggest going with The E-Myth Revisited and first have your world rocked about what it means to be in business.

The subtitle of The E-Myth Enterprise is almost a misnomer because it is so much more than just having a thriving business.  What Gerber refers to as “E-Myth Enterprises” are rare gems indeed, that we can only hope to aspire to but very few indeed will achieve (bummer –sort of…)

The author (who is a very powerful and compelling 70+ year old speaker as well) waxes absolutely philosophical and even existential in bravely exploring how important one’s business needs to be in alignment with their purpose in life.  And that ultimately the only hope for us as a species will be if more of us realize this and act accordingly (told you this was different ).  While he does give some specifics of what constitutes an “E-Myth Enterprise” (even if only of a company consisting of one person —you.)  They tend to be high level concepts and not much more meat than that.

I give this book a mixed review: 6 out of 5 for inspiration, 3 out of 5 for content and writing style.  I was profoundly inspired when I realized that here was someone who so powerfully articulated the vision I always had for my companies and providing clues on how I might reach this vision.  On the other hand, his last chapter rant makes me wonder if the editor that allowed this kind of disjointed thinking to make it to the printing press still has a job.  He almost builds into a rage and then stops abruptly with a self-serving suggestion to contact him on how to create an E Myth Enterprise.  I’m afraid that last chapter will hurt his otherwise great reputation.  Everything else before it is very much worth the read.  This is not Gerber’s best book, but in some ways it may be his most profound.

(**** Four Stars – reviewed 8/1/09)