I know from the feedback I receive that there are many business owners who read this blog.  I’m one too, and regardless of your industry or profession many of the challenges we face as business owners can be pretty similar.

One of the things that I consistently try to focus on in our business is improving the service we provide to our existing clients in a range of ways.  After all, in many of our businesses happy existing clients tend to be our greatest advocates.

I was speaking to a fellow business owner about this recently who suggested I read “The E Myth” by Michael Gerber.  I found reading this incredibly valuable and wanted to share my thoughts about the ideas discussed within this book.

In the book, Gerber talks about systems and processes and how many great businesses focus on ensuring these systems and processes are as effective as possible.  Whilst we use a number of systems and processes to help run our business the book provided us with an insight into how we could potentially improve these processes and as we build, develop and grow our business how we can make sure these systems as robust as possible.

Now, you may feel that implementing “Systems and Processes” may make the personal service you aim to provide to your customers or clients less personal.  However Gerber argues (so effectively that I’m convinced) that by having incredibly robust systems in place allows you to run your business as professionally as possible whilst still allowing you to focus on what your clients need.

As our business grows one key focus is both recruiting the right people and ensuring they are effective as possible within our business.  I’ve found ‘The E Myth’ to be invaluable in helping me understand how important it is to be really clear about our employees roles and responsibilities within the business and providing clear guidance, support and training on how to perform as effectively as possible.

This blog isn’t the place to put all of the lessons learned from the book.  However suffice to say that if you run a business and want to improve the way you run your business, The E Myth by Michael Gerber is well worth reading.

As ever, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.  Have you read it?  If so, what did you think?  Also, what’s the best business book you have ever read?