For decades, small business leaders worldwide have come to Michael E. Gerber and his book The E-Myth Revisited to learn what it takes for a business to succeed. But for those looking to learn how to document their business, Michael points to The Business Playbook. 

The Business Playbook, written by Trainual CEO Chris Ronzio, breaks down the step-by-step process of building out your business playbook. That way, you can get how you do what you do out of your head and into the hands of anyone on your team. 

Fans of The E-Myth know that Michael truly believes in the power of documenting your business as you go. So much so that he actually wrote the foreword for The Business Playbook!‍

So, in an exclusive After Play session from our small business conference, Playbook 2021, Michael sat down with Chris to talk about the connection between their two books. And why small business leaders should be reading both if they’re looking to scale their business.

👉 Want to catch the rest of the Playbook 2021 sessions? Register for our on-demand replays!

Look at your business from above

For Michael, scaling your business is not about getting out. It’s about diving deeper into your business in the most strategic way. And that comes from getting a bird’s-eye view.

“[You need] to rise above your business so that you could look down from a height that would enable you to see [its] entirety,” Michael explained. “[To see] the way all of the operating structure that made up and constituted your business could produce the explicit results you were focused on producing.”

Take a step back and think about how your business operates. How are you getting your product or service to your customers? What processes are happening daily? Are there any obstacles that constantly come up and slow you down?

Once you know how your business operates and how it gets results, you know where you have room to grow. And you can figure out where to work on your business - a key step from The E-Myth so that your business can reach maturity. AKA when your business has a strong presence in the market.

Having that organizational structure in mind also helps you determine where your processes and systems are. For readers of The Business Playbook, figuring out what those are is among the first steps. The next is documenting them.

“If you don’t document it, you don’t leave it behind. If you don't leave it behind, you're not going to ever replace yourself to the degree that you hope to.”
<blockquoteauthor>Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth<blockquoteauthor>

Document processes: it’s critical

For as long as The E-Myth has been around, Michael has talked about why process documentation is critical to a business’s growth. Without writing down what you do, there’s no way anyone else can do exactly what you do. 

Meaning, you’re the one who has to do those tasks every day. You won’t have the time to work on scaling your business. Because you’ll be too busy working on the day-to-day tasks that you should be delegating.

Only 4% of businesses succeed. And according to Michael, most of them fail because business leaders get too overwhelmed by the day-to-day work. They lack the time to work on the business because they’re too busy working in the business.

So, to avoid getting bogged down by the daily routine, start by writing down the systems that run your business at maximum efficiency. Like how you order new supplies or close the monthly budget. 

And thankfully, The Business Playbook gives you the guide you need for developing your documentation process. 

With the step-by-step instructions on how to write your playbook, you don’t have to worry about how to document your processes. All you need to do is figure out what processes work best for your business.

🔥 Tip: Don’t know where to start writing your playbook? Try Trainual, the best business playbook software for documenting your company, processes, and policies!

Use Michael’s business format franchise model

Documentation is just one step to scaling your business. To be among the 4% of businesses that succeed, Michael insists that SMB leaders use the “business format franchise model.”

With the model, franchisors allow franchisees to use their brand and business model. This model creates replicable systems at every franchise location (think McDonald’s or Dunkin).

Every single entrepreneur can use the franchise model, even if they’re not trying to build a franchise. The goal is to build the perfect representative model to produce the results you want. When you have the perfect model in place, you know exactly how your business should run for maximum results.

It’s a method that helps business owners think about every aspect of their business. You get to build a replicable system for what you want in your business. That way, you have processes in place so you can do tasks over and over again for maximum efficiency. 

And to get those perfectly replicable processes in place, Michael puts it best: “By testing, by testing, by testing.”

And it’s not about hitting a certain number of attempts before you start documenting a process. It’s about taking the process you’ve documented and continuing to perfect it. As you do each task over and over, keep perfecting the process and document your changes.

“There’s no ‘when I get done,’” Michael stated. “There’s ‘when [the business] works to produce the dream, the vision, the purpose, and the mission I have in my heart and mind.’”

Read the book, then do it

And Michael’s final advice for any small business leader thinking of picking up The Business Playbook: “read it, and then do it.”

When you step back to work on the systems of your business, there’s something transformational about seeing the bigger picture of your business goals. You’re inspired to see where your business can grow. 

If your goal is to scale your business to the point where you’re not working on the front-end day-to-day, you need to build your playbook. And The Business Playbook has the instructions to help you do that.