Apple is huge. In fact, it is one of the biggest companies in the world. But how did it become so big? A company that was once on the brink of bankruptcy witnessed such rapid growth that it is quite impossible to believe.
If you’re running a business and are aiming to build a brand like Apple, then you ought to follow these 7 steps that I have found that made their business successful.
1. Focus
Focus is what gets you clarity in your decisions. And clarity one of the most important aspects of building a successful business.
The reason Apple managed to receive that humongous growth is because Steve Jobs, the CEO of the company, was extremely focused towards working on only one or two (revolutionary) products rather than whole electronics/computer industry.
Steve often questioned his top men:
• What are the 10 most important things we should do next?
• How many absolute world-class products can we create instead of multiple low-class products?
Therefore, focus is important. It defines whether you would be successful in the long-run or not.
2. Put Products Before Profits
Second most vital step to know is – you got to put your products, and business before your profits. Regardless of what business you’re in, you should always target solving a problem more than making revenues.
Apple, as a company, although makes tons and tons of profits, its priority is always building nothing short of great products. The company is extremely disciplined in genuinely building products that solve huge problems.
Because they put money before products, it allows them to innovate and create products that no other company does.
3. Innovation
Innovation is the key to success. Period. As long as you are innovative in your business, absolutely nobody can compete with you. However, the key here is – innovation should not only solve a problem but fulfill consumer needs as well.
Apple is now considered as one of the most innovative companies of the 21st century. Each of its products, iPhone, iPad stands on its own without any competition. The product has its own industry that nobody else can penetrate.
Therefore, your job as a businessman should always be towards innovation problem solving.
4. Hire Only A+ People
Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying “Apple wouldn’t have been what it is without talented people.” As the CEO of the company, Steve insisted on hiring only A+ people in the company.
So, if you want your business to grow rapidly, then building a team that can do an absolutely amazing job. Remember, the more they work, the faster you’d grow and excel in your industry.
When you have great people on your team, you really don’t have to baby them or spoon feed them. Therefore, building a team is the next team that you have to work on.
5. Always Engage with Your Team
The senior executives of Apple always believed in having one-on-one meetings with their team members. They also tried to learn what the team members are doing; they randomly stopped at employees’ desks and discussed their ideas on the fly.
This helped them get more ideas for the current and upcoming projects/products. And, that also helped them create a great work environment that produces great team work, and results in a short period of time.
6. Stick to Your Vision, See the Broad Picture
Great leaders often focus on the minute details as well as understand the broader picture. When you comprehend the bigger picture of your business, you’ll come to know where, how things are, in your business.
Apple’s leadership always tried to keep a track of where they stood in the overall vision and they were also involved in the color, size and appearance of a particular application.
7. Speed
Steve jobs was quoted as saying: great entrepreneurs ship it. And, in order to ship it, the products need to be created with rapid speed. In fact, it is known that speed is the essence of any business.
Apple always focused on delivering and improving products promptly. They not only launched an iPhone in 2007, but in just 4 years, they improved the versions and even launched iPhone 4S. Similarly with iPad; Apple was really quick in shipping the improvised versions of the product.
Therefore, it is really significant for you, as a businessman, to get things done efficiently.
With these above 7 steps, launching and building a successful brand like Apple. The sooner you implement these strategies to your business, the sooner your brand would get the recognition.
Readers: Are you trying to build a business brand? What else can you learn from other successful brands around us?
Steve jobs is an example of an extraordinary visionary who knew exactly what to give out to the world. He was a leader with creativity and farsightedness that helped him succeed, whether it was apple of pixar. And he certainly left behind great leadership examples for the world to follow.