Michael Gerber Quotes

It's not about working harder; it's about working the system.

Continuous productivity manifests itself as an environment where the evolving tools and culture make it possible to innovate more and faster than ever, with significantly improved execution.

Being able to dedicate 100 per cent of my time to impacting more businesses without being operational, it just gives me a bigger platform.

I generally disagree with most of the very high margin opportunities. Why? Because it's a business strategy tradeoff: the lower the margin you take, the faster you grow.

When e-commerce companies build scale, cost comes down. Companies that can handle scale and reduce costs over time will win. Margins will come from reducing costs over time and not by increasing prices. Technology is the answer at large scale.

If you take existing ideas and make them affordable and scalable, you substantially change business models.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs worthy of the title need to build systems that replace themselves.

The only choice that leads small business owners to real success in their endeavors is the one that requires real thought. Understanding and building the systems they need within their company to afford them a framework of organization that can scale the business from a company of one to a company of one thousand.

As the number of people who work at Basecamp has grown, I've noticed places where we could use more features, like management, structure, and guidelines. I've also noticed places where we've overengineered ourselves and should pull back.

I'm always trying to think of ways to make something more efficient. If I have to do something once, that's fine. If I have to do it twice, I'm kind of annoyed. And if I have to do it three times, I'm going to try to automate it.

Companies with significant revenue (more than $100 million) have, by definition, significant traction. They have proven out their thesis and can scale up or down as investment capital becomes available.

As with any other crucial aspect of a growing business, you need the right technology and tools.

There's a historical view that adding process into a scrappy start-up kills innovation, but I'm a firm believer that you need process at some point to remain agile.

What's the problem you solve? Solve it for one person. Create a system to do it without you. Duplicate.

In my experience, most small businesses are worried about the client fulfillment - 'getting the Job done' - and lead generation far more than they are in how the sales process flows.

You've got to close deals quickly, or else you'll miss out.

Generally speaking, if you control matter more precisely, you can get more efficiency out of any process.

Every business has to figure out how to make itself more efficient. They've got to use technology. They've got to use the Internet, things like that. We can do the same thing with our state colleges.

One of the ways I think you make more money is by creating more efficiency.

The whole idea behind virtual integration is that it lets you meet customers' needs faster and more efficiently than any other model. With vertical integration, you can be an efficient producer - as long as the world isn't changing very much.

The entire idea of building a series of systems in a business is simply this - to create the tools that allow you, as a business owner, to increase productivity and get the job done. The idea behind these systems, of course, is to quit needing your judgement or input in every area of the business.

When I think of revenue growth, I think of the words 'mix' and 'shift.'

If we focus on processes, the results will automatically take care of themselves.

I think any time you increase focus, increase speed, all those are going to help any business.

Extra capacity makes manufacturing competitive, keeps pricing in control.