The E-Myth, written by Michael Gerber, was first published in 1986 as a non-fiction book and re-released in 1995 as a business fable, titled The E-Myth Revisited.

According to Michael Gerber, the e-myth, or entrepreneur myth, is that most companies are started by heroic business visionaries. However, in reality most businesses are launched by technicians, not entrepreneurs, and often by accident, rather than by design. This is why 50 percent of American businesses fail within five years.

Gerber makes the case that to succeed, technicians must start working on their business as much as they work in it. Over time, they need to become managers and eventually entrepreneurs if they want to keep growing their business.

Another thesis of The E-Myth is to follow the “McDonald’s model,” by systematizing your business into a replicable “franchise prototype.”

Then scale your business by cloning it in multiple geographic locations, without you as its owner having to be around to run these units.

The rest of the book gives you general instructions for creating your franchise prototype, including…