The 3 Personalities Inside a Business Owner
"A goal without a plan is just a wish." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Most aspiring entrepreneurs work for someone else. They've been doing the same kind of specialised work for years, and they're pretty good at it. One day, they get the sudden idea of starting their own business, and there's nothing else they can think about. This is the entrepreneurial seizure.
Little do they know that they might fall prey to a fatal assumption.
The fatal assumption
If you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.
— Michael Gerber
This is a false assumption that dooms many aspiring entrepreneurs to failure.
Being good at baking pies doesn't equate being good at running a bakery.
The three personalities
Michael Geber’s book, The E-Myth, introduces three personalities that cohabit inside every business owner. Usually one of them dominates the other two, setting up their business for failure.
The expert
Also known as the technician, the expert loves to do specialised work, whether it be software engineering or enterprise sales. And he’s very good at it. He goes into business to become his own boss and have the freedom to work on whatever tickles his fancy.
When he starts his venture, he spends countless hours taking care of his customers, often burning out when it grows enough.
The expert thinks, “I have these skills, how can I sell them?”
The entrepreneur
The entrepreneur turns the most trivial condition into an exceptional opportunity. He's the visionary within us, brimming with excitement about new business ideas. He considers all the "what-ifs" and "if-whens".
The Entrepreneur wonders "what problems do people care about?"
The manager
The manager is the personality that keeps everything in order. The books, the agenda, the processes. He's the one in charge of executing the vision of the entrepreneur, overseeing all the operations and ensuring everything falls into place.
Where the Entrepreneur thrives on change, the Manager clings to the statu quo.
The manager thinks "let’s find a system to solve this problem at scale".
Closing thoughts
The entrepreneur is the dreamer; the expert is the doer; and the manager is the control freak. The three should be balanced to thrive in business.
It turns out most small business owners are experts who end up doing all the work. They don’t have a business; they have a job in their own business. Oftentimes, they end up burned out, unable to meet all the demands of their budding venture.
I was surprised to know about this. My main incentive to go into business is working less, not more. The expert inside me is the least developed personality of the three.
451/500 words.
How does one determine which of the personalities they are?
Good thoughts Alejandro!
I think the other aspect is emotional intelligence and perspectives in the face of adversity and unexpected changes; an entrepreneur is often tested on these!