The book contains some useful information but the self-righteous tone of the author makes reading it a chore. There are better books on the importance of business process, with less double-speak, and less entrepreneur-as-noble-visionary rhetoric. ( )

Although I think the book content can be organized better, it opened my eyes to some crucial concepts in entrepreneurship world.

My notes on the book ( )

This is a fine book showing some of the flaws of small businesses and why so many fail. The author uses a fictional small business owner who started a pie shop and running herself ragged. She has a great gift in making pies but is burning herself out. She was thinking about how she her job was making and selling pies when her business could and should be so much more.

Successful companies don’t actually sell the products that they make. They fulfill an emotional need of their clients. For instance, Southwest Airlines is not selling airline tickets but a fun way to travel. Disney is not selling you a Mickey Mouse hat but to experience having the innocence of child again. Harley-Davidson is not selling you a motorcycle – but a membership to a rebellious, unbridled culture.

My mind went racing while I thought of the four or five companies on my mind.

This book finally made some sense about why someone would write a book telling the world their secrets. The author possibly has hit a ceiling on the amount of time he can invest – the amount of money he can make. The only way he could make more money is to leverage himself in making CD’s, doing lectures, and yes, writing books.

The third major point this book made was about systems. I really dislike systems in the workplace because they dehumanize the person. However, the author made some of the best arguments against this notion. I’m forced to rethink my ideas on this subject.

But if you are a small business owner or are looking to become one, you really have to read this.
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I wish I had read this book years ago. I unfortunately now know what went wrong with my father's business. It hurts to wish things could have been different if only we had know what is in this book. If you are going to start a business read this book first. ( )

An interesting book with interesting ideas that definitely get one pondering what it means to be an entrepreneur, rather than merely a technician who dislikes his manager.

Perhaps the biggest idea in the book is that a successful business is nothing more than a particularly ordered view of a piece of the world. By giving your employees and customers a predictable, consistent experience, you are able help them feel that their world is slightly less chaotic and scary. And as the owner of the business, you get to define what that structured view is. Most of the rest of the ideas in the book are corollaries to this idea (even those ideas mentioned before Gerber introduces this one).

The book is written in easy prose and doesn't take much actual reading time at all, although I spread it across several sittings over the course of a few weeks. I started slowing down a little in later chapters as Gerber got into some of the more tactical pieces, such as marketing and different types of systems, but mostly that's I don't see myself getting to that point yet for awhile.

As other comments have mentioned, I was a little put off by the serial installments of the fictionalized pie owner "Sarah" that Gerber uses to reillustrate his points at the end of each chapter. The dialogue between Gerber and his alleged client is simply not believable in many parts, and while I understand the usefulness of the gimmick, it probably could have been done away with or lessened as the book goes on. ( )