The Most Successful Small Business in The World: The Ten Principles [Hardcover]

I don't normally comment in these venues, but was taken aback by the nasty attacks on Michael Gerber. It wasn't even about the book, but about the person. (Makes the attacker look very small, but that's his problem.) I read the book and found it inspiring. Plain and simple. If you are offended by the mention of God, don't read this book then, because Gerber is inspired. Yes, by God. Imagine that! You won't find it over-done in the least, but there are some who actually bristle at the very mention of the Divine, and get very distracted from the main message. And the main message is actually in the title of the book. I always say that if you take away one thing, from a book or seminar, that will improve your life, it was well worth it. Twas a bargain to gain new insights from Michael Gerber for under 20 bucks. One example of what I walked away with was reading very specific guidelines for finding a market and creating a successful business that can sustain the nightmarish economic responses to the acts of our wayward politicians. (My political view, not his.) Go for it!!!

I'll start by saying that I really liked the e-myth and that I was expecting something along the lines of a presentation of pragmatic business practices and ways to think about business (ten principles). Had I merely been disappointed by the fact that this new work was not what I expected, I could have still given a positive review IF there had been something useful for business in this book.
The book started out ho-hum and by about four or five chapters in, I was thinking that it was just basically a refresher of the same ideas he had already presented (Sarah the pie maker becomes Joseph the auto mechanic) with a little ranting about the financial crisis, A LOT of advertising of himself and his services, and what seemed to be just basic information on how to prepare a business plan. Ok, not great stuff, but not awful either.
Then comes a rapid descent into a ridiculous philosophical, theological, political gibberish that's just his own opinion, although he states multiple times that what he says he KNOWS to be true. Don't ask HOW he knows, just know that he KNOWS. Then he finally says that he knows it to be true because he's experienced it himself - as if that fact alone makes it true for everyone. His hubris is obvious and annoying at many points in the book, not least of which where, at one of the beginning-of-the-chapter quotations, he actually quotes HIMSELF.
Then towards the end of the book you get to the REAL point he wants to make, which is a strictly POLITICAL point.
I read the book "The Knack" by Norm Brodsky, which I thought was even better than The e-myth. One of the best points I got from that book was not to let your lawyer (or accountant) give you business advice because you're paying him or her to give you legal advice because he/she has legal expertise. You have other people to give you business advise because those people have business expertise. In this book Michael Gerber is like a business expert that thinks he is qualified and sought after to provide philosophical, theological and political advice because he has had success providing sound business advice. If you read this book, just be warned that you won't get any further insight into business than the e-myth provided. The object of this entire book is to make a POLITICAL point.

Let me start off by saying that I am a great "E-Myth" fan and was really able to benefit a lot from that book and Michael's teachings.

But what happened here???

Unfortunately, I will have to agree with other "1-star" reviewers that this book is way below-par. There is a lot of philosophical rambling that really doesn't make much sense. I mean in this day and age, which small business owner wants to find answer to the question "Do we need a Government?" and how does that help his/her small business?

I really hope that Michael comes out with better books in future. I will still give him another chance since his advice in E-Myth really helped me a lot but this book should come with a refund coupon in it.