The E-Myth for Churches...

I recently read a book given to me by a friend called "The E-Myth" and I must say, I did enjoy it. This is really a book geared toward helping small businesses, but, I thought it applied to small, startup churches (like Commonground!) as well. It points out that many who begin startups are workers who worked for someone else then decided they could be their own boss just as easily and so they quit working for someone else and start their own gig. Sounds good, but the problem is that one cannot just do the work you've always done when you are a business owner - you must wear other hats like vision, marketing, finance, management, etc. So, the book did a good job of pointing out that you cannot run it all well like that - which is why so many small ventures die. Some of us have the entrepenuer strong, others have the management part strong, others have the technician/worker strong. All three are vital. Good insight I think. The book then delves into the solution of sorts which is to decide one's goals in life (personally), then, for the small biz owner to plan the business with those life goals in mind. I did like the idea presented in the book where a small biz learns franchise way of doing things - everything reproducible without the owner's hands having to be in it - a reproducible business that one could sell to an investor or other owner and be able to produce the same great results somewhere else. How could that apply to churches? That's what I've been chewing on...