Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Book Club: My Top 5 Takeaways from E-Myth by Michael Gerber

Episode Date: July 28, 2017

If you have entrepreneurial ambitions of any kind, then you need to read this book. It will teach you one of the most important lessons you can learn if you want to build and own a business, not just have another job: systematization. In other words, if you want to build a business that serves you and your lifestyle–instead of the other way around–then you need to learn how to make it dependent on systems and not people. This is especially true if you also want a business that can scale. And that’s the focus of this book. Want to be notified when my latest book recommendations go live? Hop on my email list and you’ll get each new installment delivered directly to your inbox. Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

Hey, this is Mike from Muscle for Life and I'm often asked about books. People ask me for book recommendations on various topics. They ask me what book I am currently reading and what books I have recently read and what my favorite books are and so forth. And as an avid reader book I am currently reading and what books I have recently read and what my favorite books are and so forth. And as an avid reader, I am always happy to oblige and get some book recommendations in return as well. I also just like to encourage people to read as much as possible because I think that knowledge benefits you much like compound interest benefits your bank account in that the more you learn, the more you know, and the more you know, the more you can do, and the more you can do, the more opportunities

you have to succeed. And on the flip side, I also believe that there is little hope for people who aren't perpetual learners. I know that might sound a little bit pessimistic or cynical to you, but let's face it, life is overwhelmingly complex and chaotic. And if we look around, we can find plenty of evidence that it simply suffocates and devours the lazy and ignorant. So if you are a bookworm and you're on the lookout for good reads, or if you'd like to just get into the habit of reading more, then this book club is for you. The idea is very simple. Every week,

I'm going to share a book that I've particularly liked, and I'm going to tell you why I liked it and give you several of my key takeaways from it. I'm also going to keep these episodes short and sweet so you can quickly decide whether or not a book is likely to be up your alley or not. likely to be up your alley or not. So this week's book is E-Myth by Michael Gerber. If you have entrepreneurial ambitions of any kind, then you need to read this book. It's going to teach you one of the most important lessons you can learn if you want to build and own a business and not just have another job. And that is systemization. In other words, if you want to build a business that serves you and your lifestyle instead of the other way around, then you need to learn how to make it dependent on systems and not people. Now, this is especially true if you also want a business that

can scale. And that's really the focus of this book. So here are my five key takeaways from E-Myth. One, and I'm quoting from the book here, pretend that the business you own or want to own is the prototype or will be the prototype for 5,000 more just like it. That your business is going to serve as the model for 5,000 more just like it. Not almost like it, but just like it. Perfect replicates. Clones. In other words, pretend that you are going to franchise your business. And my note here is the question you want to ask yourself is this, how can I create a business whose results are systems dependent rather than people dependent? Systems dependent rather than expert dependent. All right, here's takeaway number two. And I quote, it's been said, and I believe it to be true that great businesses are not built by

extraordinary people, but by ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And here's my note on this. It's very hard to find and cultivate and keep extraordinary people. It's much easier to create extraordinary systems and teach ordinary people to work them. Takeaway number three, quote, the commodity is the thing your customer actually walks out with in his hand. The product is what your customer feels as he walks out of your business, what he feels about your business, not what he feels about the commodity. What's your product? What feeling will your customer walk away with? Peace of mind, order, power, love? What is he really buying when he buys from you? The truth is nobody's

interested in the commodity. People buy feelings. And my note here is customer experience, not product quality is the real quote unquote secret to building a profitable business with staying power. Takeaway number four, quote, everyone in business has heard the old saw 80% of our sales are produced by 20% of our people. Unfortunately, few seem to know what the 20% are doing that the 80% aren't. Well, let me tell you, the 20% are using a system and the 80% aren't. You can clearly see the theme of the book repeating itself in each of the takeaways. And here's my note on this one. The best systems are usually simple, a small collection of clever but commonsensical guidelines and checklists. All right, the fifth and final takeaway, I quote, in a television commercial, we're told the sale

is made or lost in the first three or four seconds. In a print ad, tests have shown 75% of the buying decisions are made at the headline alone. In a sales presentation, data have shown us the sale is made or lost in the first three minutes. And my note here, first impression is hugely important in customer acquisition. People decide very quickly whether they're going to consider buying from you or not. All right, well, that's it for this week's book review. I told you I'd keep it short and sweet. I hope you found it helpful. And if you did, and you don't mind doing me a favor, could you please drop a quick review of the podcast on iTunes or wherever you're listening

from? Because it really helps boost visibility, which ultimately helps more and more people find their way to the show and check it out. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then simply subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new stuff. And lastly, if you didn't like something about this episode or just about the podcast on the whole, then definitely shoot me an email at mikeatmosterfullife.com and share your thoughts on how I could make things better. I read all the emails myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback. So thanks again for listening to the episode and I hope to hear from you soon. Oh, and before you leave, let me quickly tell you about one other product of mine that I think you might like

specifically my 100% natural whey protein powder whey plus. Now this is a naturally sweetened and flavored whey isolate protein powder made from exceptionally high quality milk from small dairy farms in Ireland. Whey Plus also contains no GMOs, hormones, antibiotics, artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk. And if I may say so myself, it also tastes delicious and mixes great. And all that is why Whey Plus has over 1,400 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5 star average and another 600 on my website with a 5 star average. So if you want a clean, all-natural, and great-tasting whey protein supplement that's low in calories, carbs,

and fat, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of whey plus today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout, and you will save 10% on your entire order.