The Entrepreneur Mindset
and Self Employment

THE MYTH OF THE ENTREPRENEUR

"The E-Myth is the myth of the entrepreneur," says Gerber in his opening line. He goes on to say that most people who become self employed do not have an entrepreneur mindset. Typically, people who choose self employment are following a desire for freedom, for becoming their own boss, for independence from having to work for someone else. In a way, they come 'accidental entrepreneurs' - having the responsibility of running a business but without the skills needed for success.

Gerber desribes an entrepreneur, on the other hand, as someone who has a vision and the will to overcome any obstacle to 'realize the dream of creating a business'. In this sense, starting a small business is an act of creativity, and a key task is to think about - to dream - how to bring a business into being. The E-Myth describes three roles key to the success of any business: entrepreneurial vision, management organisation and doing the daily work.

HOME BASED BUSINESS SUCCESS

From the perspective of home based business success, the key point is to ensure that you spend time on entrepreneurial and organising tasks, as well as simply getting absorbed into detailed work. For example, you don't need to come up with a brand new idea. You can copy from another small business and do it better, or in a different location. However, it is important to think about and develop a clear vision of what your home business will offer. Why would a potential customer buy from you? How do you advertise your business?

The answer according to Michael Gerber is to learn how to run a small business. That is one of the objectives of Successful Home Business.com - to provide some of the information that may help you along the way.

WORK LIFE BALANCE

From a work life balance viewpoint, there is sometimes an apparent choice to be made between the financial security of a job and the freedom of being your own boss. Maybe this was a real choice a generation ago, but nowadays many fewer people have a 'job for life'.

On the one hand then, having a job may not be as secure as it was. On the other hand, simply allowing your entrepreneur mindset to take charge may not bring you freedom. Many small businesses fail in the early years. And many of the survivors struggle to make ends meet, many small business owners earning less each hour than they could get in a job. Yet, many of us still follow the urge to start our own small business.

How can you follow the desire for being your own boss, and yet reduce your financial risk? One way is to start a low cost part time home based business while retaining a paid job.

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