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In the E-Myth you encourage designing a business as if there will be 1,000 more just like it. This theme provides the focus necessary to design a platform that can be duplicated from one store to the next, from one city to the next city, and then to the next state, and, eventually throughout the country and around the world.
Michael: I understand that AlphaGraphics was the first business of its kind in the Soviet Union is that correct?
Rodger: Yes, our first Soviet Union store opened in 1986 in Moscow on Gorky Street. McDonalds became our neighbor six months later. The Moscow store was the largest volume store in the AlphaGraphics network. In other words, we built the AlphaGraphics System, and we replicated it there. When interviewed by CBS, the reporter asked the Moscow Store Manager to describe what made the AlphaGraphics Moscow store such a success………She stated in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent “ Ve follow da system.”
Michael: You speak of softscape and hardscape systems. Can you provide me an example of a hardscape system?
Rodger: The best example I can provide is a system described by you in the E-Myth. You were frustrated with your office ’s white board hygiene. Seems that when the white board was erased the wall on either side or top or bottom was smudged with the eraser leaking past the board. You held meetings, published an SOP on board cleaning, but only when you installed a Lucite border around the board to prevent the eraser from leaking off the edge onto the wall did the wall stay clean. In other words, you built a hardscape system. An example at AlphaGraphics was the installation of the LazerGraphics System. AlphaGraphics was a quick printing shop. We printed from “Camera Ready Originals”. In order for us to p rint something the customer was required to provide us an original. Our store sales plateaued at $250,000 annually. During 1984, to solve this problem, we installed self-serve Apple Macs and laser printers in The AlphaGraphics stores. The Macs were loaded with templates for letterhead, envelopes, business cards, newsletters, flyers and more. The work stations were free. Customers were turned loose to be creative. We hardscaped the original creation process in 1984, and turned it over to the customer to convert a “ camera ready idea” to a “camera ready original”. Originals were flying at us as customers unleashed their creative juices. As a result, our average store annual sales grew from $250,000 to $1,000,000 per store! Talk about a revolution! In other words, we hardscaped the process and installed a system that made our customers and our people extraordinarily successful. The E-Myth describes that a business with a strong and repeatable business platform
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