E-Myth Accountant - who else has read it?

E-Myth Accountant - who else has read it?

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I was excited at the prospect of reading E-Myth Accountant having felt that the general E-Myth range of books did not address the special characteristics of a small accountancy business.
The book itself is pretty thin and the advice generic and not particularly focused on accountancy despite the co-author Darren Root being a qualified accountant. It struck me that it was more of a glorified promotional product for Michael Gerber and Darren Root's other business ventures and products.
Am I being too harsh?

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By petersaxton
26th Apr 2011 21:33

Beware of franchises

It sounds like a typical franchise product.

What about good comedians who are asked to do a TV show and don't have the time to write the material so they get some monkeys to write the jokes instead?

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Kieran Phelan
By KPEM online
26th Apr 2011 21:44

I was happy enough to be honest

I thought the book was OK, maybe that's because I'm in my first year of practice and can see the chance for me to set up my "business" using the methods noted in the book.

I can see why others may have reservations about some of the concepts within the book, but it's really down to how you want to live your life.

The book gave me some energy to make changes in the way I currently do things as a sole practitioner and to get plans in place to become a "business" instead of a practice.

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By petersaxton
26th Apr 2011 22:01

Such as?

"to get plans in place to become a "business" instead of a practice."

What are they?

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By cymraeg_draig
26th Apr 2011 23:02

why?

Buying these books is a bit like paying to watch adverts on TV. 

Whenever people buy them the saying - "a fool and his money are soon parted" comes to mind. 

When will people realise that the E Myth and all the rest of these books written by alleged "gurus" are total rubbish. No two firms are the same, no two people are the same, and if you want to run your own business - and be happy doing so - thenm you must run it your way, not someone elses. 

There are people on this forum who make far less money than I do, but are perfectly happy with their business.  There are others who no doubt make far more, and are probably miserable because they have no time left for anything else. Some people like working as part of a team, others are happier working alone. What makes one person happy doesnt neccesarily work for another. 

I have absolutely no doubt that some on here would feel right at home in my practice and would love it - and there are others who would hate it and see it as disorganised chaos. 

Running your own practice, be it large or small, should be all about building what YOU want. Building something that you enjoy working at.

Don't ever make the mistake of buying into the idea that you can retire in comfort after selling your nice profitable practice - because there are no guarantees. I've seen too many people work to build a business, be miserable doing it, finally sell it, then die before they get to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

None of us can guarantee waking in the morning, so we should buld businesses we enjoy, we owe it to ourselves to enjoy every single minute of every single day as if it were our last - anyone who doesnt is a fool. 

 

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Kieran Phelan
By KPEM online
27th Apr 2011 08:55

@ CD

I totally agree with your sentiments CD. What gives me a bit of a buzz is getting some of the ideas in this particular book into practice, as I actually believe they can work. These things arent for everyone as you quite correctly say, but if it works for me in its own way specific to how I want to run my business, then no harm done.

A lot of these books are repetitive and only written to make money, but there are some good ideas therein and if someone can make use of it, it's been worth a few bucks I think.

I worked for a practice for many years and the whole thrust was time, timesheets, chargeable hours, higher fees, look at the time on the clock, add 20%, thats the fee, to hell with what the customer thinks about it......etc etc etc.

Now that I have started my own business, my focus is always on the customer - what they want, what they need, what seems fair to me.............and these ideas do come out in this book somewhat.

But as you say, each to their own.........although I think we are singing off the same page a bit!

:-)

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By andypartridge
27th Apr 2011 14:15

@ Sparkey
Back to the book. I would agree that there were some common sense ideas, but ideas are cheap. The difficult thing is putting them into practice and on that it seemed to go a bit spiritual and 'mind-over-matter' when, to be of real assistance, it should have concentrated on the processes.

Ultimately, it raised more questions when I expected them to be answered.
--
Kind regards
Andy

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FT
By FirstTab
27th Apr 2011 14:36

Worth a read/listen

I thought it is well worth a read/listen. Here are my thoughts.

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By andypartridge
27th Apr 2011 16:12

@ FirstTab
I read your thoughts.
A good summary. So good that I think the book consists of your summary + waffle. I thought I might get a manual for a £30 book. The word count is lower than your average Enid Blyton and runs to about 120 pages.

--
Kind regards
Andy

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By cymraeg_draig
27th Apr 2011 16:26

Competative edge

Like all these books - it is plain common sense (or should be if you are running a business), but, it is then sprinkled with assorted buzz words (meaningless tripe), and twisted to promote (sell) further books/services.

In other words - a complete waste of money intended to make the writer rich, not the reader.

After all, exactly what is "new" about advising people to utilise technology to give them a competative edge?  I'm sure that exactly the same advise was given to mill owners when the first steam engine was built, and no doubt our anscestors "took advantage of the latest technology to give them a competative edge" by using the wheel, iron tools, or indeed stone tools which gave one cave a competative ege over another. Hardly a new concept is it ?

 

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By andypartridge
27th Apr 2011 16:42

@ C_D
I agree with you. There would have been value if the writer (in the context of IT for example) had made recommendations, what they tried and didn't work, what they had tried and did work etc. In other words a means of short-cutting the process for the reader.
It wasn't there - it was more a case of, 'I did it, you should do it, if you are any good you will do it, and you won't need me to show you how. But if you are in any doubt why not buy some more of our product to give you a helping hand.'
--
Kind regards
Andy

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By ShirleyM
28th Apr 2011 11:20

Sometimes we don't see the wood for the trees

For a period of time I became a sort of 'trouble shooter' and went into struggling businesses to help them get organised and become more profitable. Mostly, the solutions were fairly simple and I could never really understand why the owners couldn't see the obvious solutions that I could see. I basically reorganised the businesses to make them more efficient, introduced new procedures for both the admin and the 'production' side of things.

Years later, when I started my own practice, I now fully understand how difficult it can be. You can get too involved with the business, you get stuck into routines, other things creep up on you with realising it, and this prevents you from seeing the bigger picture.

I will openly admit that I was better at getting other businesses profitable, than I am with my own! Enjoying my work, and my practice, is my priority so maybe I am being a little hard on myself, but more profit wouldn't be sneezed at either.

Sometimes, things may be 'common sense', or obvious, to the onlooker, but as I said earlier ... sometimes we don't see the wood for the trees, and a book, or an outsider, or even a posting on AWeb, can often spark off something that can be of great benefit.

I have read E-Myth and I think there are some excellent ideas within it that are helpful to my practice, and I don't regret the £few it cost me.

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By andypartridge
28th Apr 2011 11:27

@ Shirley
What you say makes a lot of sense. Have you read the 'original' EMyth or have you read the new EMyth Accountant? Funnily enough EMyth didn't disappoint me, but many have identified that an accounting practice is no ordinary business and many of the EMyth principles could not easily be applied. I had hoped that EMyth Accountant would fill the gaps, but for me it didn't.
--
Kind regards
Andy

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By ShirleyM
28th Apr 2011 12:18

Andy

I have read E-Myth, and E-Myth Revisited. I haven't read E-Myth Accountant.

I learned quite a lot from those that I could implement in my own business, and have benefitted as a result, and I wouldn't dismiss these books as being worthless. They are not 100% full of ideas that I could use in my particular business, but that would be an unrealistic expectation anyway.

Has anyone read both E-Myth & E-Myth Accountant. Is there anything new in E-Myth Accountant that makes it worth purchasing?

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By Tim Charles
03rd May 2011 20:47

E-Myth

I really enjoyed reading the E-Myth revisited book and it certainly inspired me in my first year of setting up my practice to set up and implement systems and procdures that have been vital as my practice continues to grow.

I would be interested in any further comments on the differences between the general E-Myth books and the specific E-Myth accountant book.

Does anyone have any other recommendations on books designed for accountants in business?

 

 

 

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By Nick Stewart
04th May 2011 08:46

Other practice managemenr books

You might like to try "The Firm of the Future" by Dunn & Baker or any book by David Maister.

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By petersaxton
04th May 2011 08:52

Starting and building your own accounting business

By Jack Fox

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By johnhaylock
04th May 2011 22:16

Absolute Certainty

Another book you may want to check out is my own "Absolute Certainty - How to give your clients exactly what they want".  It has been widely read by accountants in Australia and New Zealand and is now available in the UK in e-book format on Amazon UK. You can find out more at www.absolute-certainty.com 

Here is what a few other people have said about it:

"Absolute Certainty is one of the most easy-to-read business books you will come across . . . When we read this book we were forced to look at our business and accept that we were guilty of not providing our clients absolute certainty.   We have had a good hard look at what we do and how we do it, and made some big changes as a result . . . In a time when many service industries are focusing on efficiencies, this book points you back to focusing on the service being provided to your customers. Certainty of Price, Certainty of Timing and Certainty of Standard of Delivery will turn your clients and customers into an avid referral source for your business."  Clifton Accountants, Australia.

"Every partner of every accountancy firm should read this book and implement the findings. Better than Gerber even!" Paul Shrimpling, Remarkable Practice, UK.

"Haylock conveys critically important lessons in an easy-to-absorb manner. Highly recommended." David Maister, author of "Managing the Professional Service Firm" and "The Trusted Advisor", USA.

"John Haylock manages to do in 112 pages what most university courses fail to do – gets you to look at your business from your client’s perspective.  This easy to read story keeps the pages flipping like a Grisham best seller, and the impact of the book could last you a lifetime.  No matter what type of process based professional firm or business you operate, I recommend you grab a latte, kick off your shoes, relax in a quiet corner, learn and enjoy.  Then go back to your office and prepare to make much more money!”  Steve McIntyre-Smith, CEO MFA Group and consultant to the public accounting profession, Canada.

“This book absolutely connects.  From the moment you open it, you realise it’s written for you . . . A story brilliantly written, that carries you along, page after page . . .I’m sure that by reading this book, like me, you’ll be inspired to take action because of the connection John makes with you through the great story he ‘weaves’ here.  Read with it.  Connect with it.  Do it.  And enjoy the absolute certainty of the impact all of that will have on you and the people you serve.”  Paul Dunn, co-founder of Results Accountants Systems, co-author of "The Firm of the Future" and Chairman of Buy1GIVE1, Singapore.

 

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By shrihari
06th Jun 2011 10:34

e book readers
The prospect of reading E-Myth Accountant having felt that the general E-Myth range of books did not address the special characteristics of a small accountancy business.The book itself is pretty thin and the advice generic and not particularly focused on accountancy despite the co-author Darren Root being a qualified accountant.Thanks for the sharing.

e book readers

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By Captain
05th May 2017 21:01

wow, 6 years later, just got a hold this book :)

Just one comment, any advice that gives you a bit of edge is worth a lot.

Some people complained about the money .... only if you get one idea for $20, it is worth it!!! :)

He is giving you the concept which is amazing, I have being using the same things that he says and I'm loving the results.

Keep on reading ...

Cheers

Moe

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Steve Edwards
By stevo5678
12th Apr 2018 22:21

Adding to this, the books is a gem for me. I think some readers are missing the point. The ideas in here are inspiring for any small business (accounting or not) owner to have control over his business. Only caveat is that it's more relevant for business with staff. If you are not that in to the idea of a systemised business then you will not relate to the book as warmly, if you already have this mindset it will literally be a light bulb moment.

While I'm here do yourself a favour and look at Goproposal owned by James Ashford as his philosophy is one and the same as this.

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