I had always heard that  when the student is ready the teacher appears — but what  I didn’t know my teacher would come in the form of a book. Years ago when I was struggling to grow my business, I read a book called The E-Myth by Michael Gerber.  I was definitely the student and the book was my teacher.

One paragraph in Gerber’s book particularly resonated with me, so I would like to share it with you:

“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. Not almost like it, but just like it. Inother words, pretend that you are going to franchise your business.”

Did that ever speak to me.  You see, I was going in everyday putting out fires, having meetings that were way too long, answering phone calls that I did not want to be on, and then going home. 

When I read that paragraph, I decided that I needed to develop systems if my business was ever going to grow with or without me.

I took 30 minutes every day to work out of my home office and work on my business. I created 29 systems: systems on how the phone was answered, how the invoices were sent out,  I even attacked how our meetings were run.

Magic happened after six months.  The company became a finely-tuned instrument that would run with or without me.  But until my teacher appeared I really didn’t realise that I had bought myself a job instead of a business — although I owned the business’ owner.

BUSINESS TIP #1   Start today to work ON YOUR business by putting yourself on your calendar each day. Be prepared to enjoy your business a lot more once you learn that your business is something apart from you, with its own needs, its own rules, and its own purposes.

(Patricia Drain is a US-based business consultant who has built and sold four recruitment businesses. She will be a keynote speaker at the Third Annual Recruiter Forum on 23 April 2009 in London.)

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