The other day I mentioned that I was rereading the fantastic book by Michael Gerber called The eMyth and I told you that you should run your business like McDonalds. There’s another lesson that you can learn from Ray Kroc and that is you should work on your business, not in it.

One of the key ideas in The eMyth that Michael Gerber articulates particularly well is that the typical entrepreneur, and certainly this includes internet business people like us, is really three people when it’s all said and done.

It’s the technician, the person who knows all about the details that their website is about. It’s the entrepreneur, the person who wanted to start the internet business in the first place. It’s the manager, the person who coordinates getting all of the work done, particularly in the case where there are multiple workers or outsourced employees.

The problem with most entrepreneurs, Gerber writes, is that they have passion around the technician role. They know how to do something very well or they’re expert in some area and they just don’t want to let go of it. For example, they’re an expert gardener and that’s why they have a gardening website, or they’re an expert at some other technical aspect like putting up websites and so they don’t want to let go of the technical task of coding HTML.

Whatever it is they are so focused on working in the business they forget about doing the other two roles, the management role and the entrepreneurship role and work on the business. Now, Gerber says it’s very important that you actually let go of this role, systematize it, and outsource where you can so that you can work on the business instead of in the business.

An Internet Business Example

For example, if you’re actually creating all the content for your website, answering all the support emails, doing all the graphics, you’re working in the business. If you actually are planning new products, doing market research and laying the foundation for future growth of the business, you’re working on the business. Doing all the tasks yourself, clearly working in the business. Delegating the tasks and managing those tasks as the manager of your business, you’re working on the business.

This is the difference between working on the business and in the business and I submit to you that you need to take Gerber’s advice and start working on your business a little bit today instead of working in your business.

Thanks, this is Mark Mason from MasonWorld.com where we learn how to build internet businesses one night at a time.