What Real Estate Practitioners Starting Businesses Can Learn from The E-Myth Revisited

If you’re in real estate—whether as an agent, property manager, valuer, or investor—The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber is a must-read. I say this after reading the book, ignoring it all and starting my own service based business, failing and then coming back to these important principles, building the business from the ground up and finally catching a few breaks.

The book highlights why most small businesses fail and how to build a sustainable, scalable business instead of just creating another demanding job for yourself.

The core lesson? Many business owners get trapped in technician mode—they focus too much on the work itself and not enough on building systems that allow their businesses to grow. Here’s how these insights apply directly to real estate businesses.

1. The Technician vs. The Entrepreneur vs. The Manager

Gerber (the author) introduces three business personas:

• The Technician – an individual that loves the work and focuses on doing the job (e.g., a real estate agent who is great at selling homes but struggles with scaling their business or in my case a property manager).
• The Manager – Focuses on organization and ensuring the business runs smoothly.
• The Entrepreneur – Thinks about long-term vision, strategy, and growth.

Most real estate professionals start as technicians—they’re great at selling, managing properties, or valuing assets, but they don’t create systems for scale and to build a business on the back of. To build a thriving real estate business, you must step into the entrepreneur and manager roles by:

• Creating processes for lead generation, client onboarding, and service delivery.
• Delegating tasks (e.g., hiring an assistant or using software to automate property management).
• Thinking about long-term expansion, branding, and differentiation in the market.

These are things that as a technician you never had to worry about because your bosses did that and allowed you to simply do your roles.

2. Work ON Your Business, Not Just IN It

One of the book’s biggest lessons is that business owners often get stuck doing all the work themselves rather than building a business that runs smoothly even when they step away. So a broker will find themselves, communicating to clients, going for viewings, and following up payments, posting listings all that, taking up time that you should be suing to source better clients or work on things that improve the business

So, to avoid burnout and inefficiency, you need to:

• Systematize Operations – Create checklists and workflows for everything from property listings to contract negotiations.
• Leverage Technology – Use CRM software to manage leads, automate rent collection for property management, and streamline marketing with scheduled content.
• Hire & Train a Team – Instead of doing everything solo, hire virtual assistants, junior agents, or property managers to handle daily tasks while you focus on growth.

3. The Franchise Model – Systematizing Success

This one is something of an advanced level of business and only comes after you have perfected your systems, have the right team in place and are producing results, and that’s franchising. Regardless of this, Gerber argues that every small business should be built like a franchise—even if you never plan to franchise it. This means standardizing your processes so they are repeatable and can run efficiently without your constant involvement. So this looks something like:

• Document Your Processes – Write down step-by-step guides for how you generate leads, close deals, or handle property maintenance requests.
• Create a Client Experience System – Develop a structured approach to nurturing leads, responding to inquiries, and ensuring every client gets a consistent, high-quality experience.
• Brand Consistency – From your website to your social media and property listings, make sure your brand’s messaging and quality remain uniform.

By treating your real estate business like a well-run hotel, a well-oiled system, you free yourself from day-to-day chaos and create a scalable model.

4. The Myth of “Being Your Own Boss”

Many people start real estate businesses to escape the 8am-to-5pm, only to realize they’ve created a job where they work even longer hours. The key to real entrepreneurship is designing a business that works for you, not the other way around.

• Don’t Be the Bottleneck – If your business can’t function without you, you’ve built a job, not a business. Delegate and automate where possible.
• Focus on Passive Income – Consider real estate investment or property management structures that generate income without requiring constant hands-on effort.
• Think Beyond Yourself – Build a brand and a team so that your company has value even beyond your personal efforts..

For those who prefer to listen rather than read, check out the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast episode featuring Michael Gerber, hosted by Brandon Turner and Joshua Dorkin. It’s an insightful conversation that applies these concepts directly to real estate.

Have you read The E-Myth Revisited? What lessons have you applied to your real estate business? Let’s discuss in the comments!