E-Myth

[Sid23]

I read the E-Myth revisited last night and thought it was a great book. Exactly what most of us here are looking to do by automating our businesses.

Have most of you already read this book?

I understand the application of Gerber's principles to most businesses, but I am having trouble figuring out the application to investing in apartments or developing real estate.

Once the property is in the "hold and manage" stage, I understand that you can implement systems to make the management the way you want without you being present.

But Gerber talks about looking at ALL aspects of one's business and asking how you can automate it. How can you automate all of the other aspects of a commercial real estate deal?

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on the above and in general your thoughts on the book and if you've used it in your business.

Thanks!

 

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[lightning]

Havent read it yet myself, but I know MJ has said that its one of his favorites. Looking forward to hearing more about it!

 

[G_Alexander]

Although I have not read this book yet, I will add my .02 in hopes that I can answer your question in some way.

My friend Robert is heavy in commercial real estate in Chicago. He had retired in his early 30s and had nothing to do but start a commercial development company to keep him busy in his spare time.

He was explaining to me how everything started small and he intended for it to stay that way. Before he knew it, he fell in love and expanded his new company.

When the investment company was small (just he and a partner) they would drive around, look for properties, investigate the financial records or demographics of potentials, analyze balancing sheets, and go through the ropes (state laws/licensing, zoning, contracts etc etc.) In short...all EXTREMELY time consuming.

As the company grew though, and a few solid properties were established...more things could become automated.

Soon...the process went a little like this.

1. 20 RE agents (he likes to say "20 guys" lol) e-mail/call Robert everyday with potential prospects (these RE agents are completely on Robert's side...knowing if they show him a bad property to make a quick buck, they will not get return business which would devastate them in Robert's case). So these properties tend to have everything that he likes (demographics, good village boards for easy zoning purposes, etc.). This saves him the hassle of going through mountains of paperwork he needed to review in the start of his whole process.

2. Robert and his partner will decide on a location (this is basically the only decision he needs to make).

3. Lawyers and RE agents take care of all zoning, demo work, licensing, contracting, village councils, construction, leasing, closing etc.

4. Robert finances everything, pays all accounts payable, and benefits from the healthy NOI.

The process seems too easy, but again, he is a seasoned professional. I believe once you have a few properties in the "Hold and Manage" stage...and you have built a strong and trustworthy team...that everything has the potential to become automated.

He personally has over 30 multi-unit buildings (Starbucks, Chipotle, Jamba juice, and anything else you can think of) that pay him commercial rent fees that would make your jaw drop. Really makes you want to jump into that career, I'll tell you that haha.

-Alex

 

[Sid23]

My friend Robert is heavy in commercial real estate in Chicago. He had retired in his early 30s and had nothing to do but start a commercial development company to keep him busy in his spare time.

-Alex

How was Robert able to retire in his early 30s? I read this to say he did something else first which allowed him to retire, then jumped into real estate to keep himself busy.

 

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[G_Alexander]

How was Robert able to retire in his early 30s? I read this to say he did something else first which allowed him to retire, then jumped into real estate to keep himself busy.

My introduction post http://www.thefastlanetomillions.co.../13928-new-18-year-old-entrepreneur-here.html has information on Robert...but his father in-law created the machines which mass package your titleist, nike, callaway, ping, and any other brand of golf ball you can think of. Robert marketed it for him and brought the company from super small...to INCREDIBLY large. They moved into other fields as well, mass packaging for the likes of Chicklets (gum), Gillette Razors, Wrigley's, Mattel, and a large list of clients. He sold the company to retire and the new owners started running it into the ground.

He bought the company back and built it up twice as much. Sold it. Started a new company. Brought all of his clients over. Sold that. Retired.

That is a very short gist of it. I might be able to get Robert to type up the full synopsis, and his success story. I will see what I can do.

-Alex

 

[WheelsRCool]

AWESOME book!! Read "The E-Myth Mastery" as well, as this book expands on what "The E-Myth" says. "The E-Myth" is sort of like the short summary, whereas "The E-Myth Mastery" is the textbook, going into extreme detail on all the arenas of business.

 

[Sid23]

AWESOME book!! Read "The E-Myth Mastery" as well, as this book expands on what "The E-Myth" says. "The E-Myth" is sort of like the short summary, whereas "The E-Myth Mastery" is the textbook, going into extreme detail on all the arenas of business.

Thanks Wheels! I'll definitely check out the mastery textbook!! rep speed ++

 

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[Sly76]

The foundation of any company as underlined by Gerber is the development and maintenance of an Operation Manual. I just started a thread specifically on Operating Procedure or Operating Manual. If you have any question just drop a comment!

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/general-business-discussion/35279-must-have-any-business.html

 

[djs13]

I wanted to bring this thread up for additional discussion. I read the E-Myth a few years ago but I've thought about it again recently. I met an entrepreneur who brought three Moe's (a fast-growing Mexican-Food chain) to upstate New York. He is absolutely killing it, every time I am at his location it has a huge line even during off-peak hours. He also just opened a few frozen-yogurt shops that are doing quite well.

The point I wanted to bring up is this: being the franchisor is obviously considerably more Fastlane than being the franchisee. But this entrepreneur saw a huge opportunity in a growing area that wanted something better than Taco Bell/the local Mexican place and he executed on it. He clearly would not win an award for being a creative entrepreneur, but his business is 100% automated and he's making decent money. When an entrepreneur owns several franchises (magnitude over scale) and implements well in terms of market and timing, is that an exemption to franchising as not being Fastlane?