Tag: Michael Gerber

9 Random things I share about myself in a new podcast.

I love to share stories. That’s probably why I started blogging in the first place. Over the 1001 blog posts I have published, I have shared a small country library worth of stories. But recently I sat down for a fun podcast interview to share stories with Kory Dogs, of ActionCOACH. (I kept thinking he sounded like the action hero Kory whose superpower would be saving Corey Feldman and Corey Haim from themselves.)

Kory asked me questions I don’t often get asked. Which means you hear some little-known details about my life.

9 Things You Learn About Me In This Podcast

  1. The 5 States I lived in as a kid.
  2. My connection to the Shawshank Prison.
  3. My unique experience on a bull stud.
  4. The surprising comment my boss made 2 years into my career that inspired me to start my own advertising agency. (No, it was not You’re Fired!)
  5. How I describe my leadership style.
  6. What I would do differently if I could go back and do it all again. (Which sounds like a Garth Brooks song.)
  7. The new things I want to learn.
  8. The book I recommend to all entrepreneurs.
  9. Who I would give a shoutout to at the end of a podcast when surprised with the question, ‘Who would you like to give a shoutout to, right now?’

You can read or watch the interview here.

Why listen or read when you can watch?

The Book Recommendation

During the podcast I talked about a book I suggest every entrepreneur, or aspiring entrepreneur, or spiraling entrepreneur should read. Here’s the excerpt, in case you don’t have time to watch, read or listen to the full podcast:

Kory: What advice do you have for business owners trying to do everything on their own?

Adam: I often advise business owners and entrepreneurs to read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. This book offers a fantastic framework for developing your business through systems and processes. It teaches you how to structure your business so that it can operate on a larger scale, similar to a franchise.

By thinking through your business in this way, you ensure that all aspects are well-organized. You create a mature system where you’re not overwhelmed by every detail. Instead, you take on specific responsibilities and avoid getting bogged down by tasks outside your main role.

For example, you don’t want to be the person who not only bakes pies but also handles HR, sales, and operations. The book helps you define your role clearly and understand what additional roles are needed in your organization.

I read The E-Myth before starting The Weaponry, and it provided a strong foundation for me. For any business owner feeling stuck in a cycle of chaos, I recommend this book to help you assess and address your challenges effectively.

For those who aren’t familiar, the book is called The E-Myth and its subtitle is “Why Most Small Businesses Fail and What to Do About It.” Essentially, it argues that if you don’t get the business fundamentals right, it won’t survive. But if you do, it can thrive. The E-Myth refers to the belief that only certain people are born to be entrepreneurs. Michael Gerber challenges this idea, asserting that anyone can be an entrepreneur. He presents a process and approach that can make entrepreneurship work for everyone.

Thank You!

Thanks to Kory Dogs of ActionCOACH for the interview. And for making me feel like I know a real-life action hero.

Thank you blog readers for reading this blog. It’s the only way to earn your title.

If you know someone who you thing could benefit from listening to this podcast, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

I’m in the process of creating a process for creating processes.

Most businesses fail at some point. That is just a fact. I knew that 5 years ago when I began making plans to launch my own advertising agency. So I bought the book The E-Myth, because a bunch of smart people recommended it as a way of, well, not failing.

The E-Myth

The book is great, and I always recommend it to anyone thinking of starting their own business of any size or shape. I also recommend it to any business owner who hasn’t read it yet. In fact, The E-Myth is like my Frank’s Red Hot. I recommend that sh#t to everyone.

But I didn’t just read The E-Myth once. I study it. It has become one of my most important reference books. In fact, I handle this book so much it looks like I don’t know how books work. See the pic below. It looks like I tried to open it on the binding side until someone suggested that the other side might offer less resistance.

My copy of The E-Myth indicates I don’t know the proper way to open a book.

One of the key tenants of the book is that there should be a predictable, repeatable process for everything. I fully believe this. From the beginning, I established processes for my team at The Weaponry to follow. I have regularly revisited those processes, modified them, and added new processes.

But I have never been satisfied that our processes are as good as they should be. Which is the point. When people tell you to work on your business, not in your business, they typically mean, improve your processes. Unless those people are roofing consultants. In which case they probably mean you need to do some work up on top of your business.

Back to Business

Today, I am revisiting our processes again. In fact, last night, just before I went to bed, I went all the way back to the beginning, again. I asked myself, ‘What is The Weaponry’s process for establishing processes?’ And here is what I wrote in the notebook on my nightstand. (I translated it into type below so that non-chickens can also read it.)

My nightstand notes.

Process of Processes

  1. Figure out Step 1
  2. Write down Step 1
  3. List each subsequent step to a successful conclusion
  4. Follow established process until it reveals a flaw. Or until a better process is revealed.
  5. Modify process to eliminate the newly discovered problem, or to improve outcomes.
  6. Continuously evaluate each process, looking for flaws, and better ideas that will lead to better results.

Note: Always run the best process you know until you know better.

Note: Even this process process can be constantly improved until a better process process can not be found. At which point the process process will be perfect. (Then check the Vector Victor.)

Note: Run everything the organization does through The Perfect Process Process. 

Note: You will be able to do, make, and deliver anything with this process.

Key Takeaway

Creating a well-run business requires great processes. Creating great processes requires a strong process process. Figure out yours. Then use it. And perfect it until it can’t be improved any more.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.