Systemized processes and operations manuals that allow others to run the business, bring the goal of freeing yourself from work within reach. Unfortunately, the book provides very little actual help on how to write the operation manuals and systems for a business. In my opinion, you d need to be a control freak to implement some of the systems that Gerber proposes. The paperwork would be so detailed and burdensome that it would stifle most small businesses and insult employees outright. The basis of the idea is valid, though.
Consistency does count, and that s where an operations manual can be useful.
It s hard to determine in which parts of the book the author is speaking from experience, and in which cases he is presenting idealistic, wishful scenarios. However, the nuts and bolts of the business lie in market analysis and profit. No amount of marketing or sales will turn an unwanted offering into a success. You can have the most thorough operation manuals in the world, but given a poor idea that doesn t fill a perceived need in the market, your business is doomed to fail. The chapter on sales and marketing presented within the book raised a lot of questions, and answered very few of them.