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Small Business Growth Strategies - Three Lessons from Steve Jobs

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Posted by John Beveridge on Jun 14, 2012 8:30:00 AM

steve-jobs-inbound-marketingI’ve spent the first three days of my beach vacation reading Walter Isaacson’s fascinating biography of Steve Jobs.  The book is a chronicle of a great American life.  Steve Jobs revolutionized several elements of everyday life – from personal computing to video animation to mobile phones.  While Jobs had negative traits (he could be brutally callous), he had three traits that all small business owners and entrepreneurs should emulate.

BE REASONABLE, DEMAND THE IMPOSSIBLE! (French Situationist slogan from 1968)

 Many of Jobs’ colleagues described his refusal to accept the limitations set by conventional wisdom as “The Reality Distortion Field.”  Jobs simply refused to accept limitations such as “there’s no way we can get it done by then!” or “that just can’t be done.”  He not only challenged his colleagues to push through the barriers of conventional wisdom, he got them to believe that they could do it.  In most instances, he was right.  His team met the impossible deadlines and came up with engineering solutions that defied conventional wisdom.  They did it solely on the basis of Jobs’ indomitable will.  While we can’t change the laws of physics, the human mind is incredibly adaptive and resourceful.  Instead of running through a brick wall, we find a way to go over or around it.  I challenge all small business owners and entrepreneurs to incorporate this thinking into your mindset – you can do the impossible!

FOCUS!!

When Jobs returned to Apple in 1989, the company was a shadow of its former self.  It was no longer producing great products and had lost much of its market value and prestige.  There were literally hundreds of research projects taking place to develop potential future products.  At one of the first board meetings after his return, Jobs presented a proposal to the board in which he drew a square with four quadrants – Professional Desktop, Professional Laptop, Personal Desktop, and Personal Laptop.  The company then focused like a laser beam on those four products and started down the path returning them to arguably the preeminent technology company in 2012 America.  There is a lesson to be taken from this by my fellow small business owners and entrepreneurs – focus on those things that matter to you and your customers and don’t be distracted by unimportant things.

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BUILD GREAT PRODUCTS AND PROVIDE GREAT SERVICES, MONEY IS SECONDARY

Steve Jobs:  “My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products.  Everything else was secondary.  Sure, it was great to make a profit, because that was what allowed you to make great products.  But the products, not the profits, were the motivation.” 

Be the best at whatever you do – if you paint fences, be the best fence painter in the world!  If you provide great products and/or great services that improve the lives of your customers, you will make money.  Of that, I have no doubt.  There are numerous examples of Jobs’ quest for perfection, including re-designing products days before they were scheduled to be introduced.  We can all, in our own ways, strive for perfection and provide truly memorable products and services to the world.  Don’t be a hack, be the da Vinci of whatever you do!

I’m certainly not an Apple groupie – I own an iPhone, but am writing this article on a PC.  However, I do think that Steve Jobs will go down in history as a great, revolutionary American along the lines of a Henry Ford.  He has inspired me and I hope that all of you who haven’t read the Isaacson book will do so and draw great inspiration from it.

John Beveridge is the President of Rapidan Strategies, an inbound marketing and social media agency and HubSpot partner located in Fairfax, VA.  Please feel free to contact John at john.beveridge@rapidanstrategies.com with any questions on this article or any other inbound marketing and social media issues.

 

Topics: Business Management

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