A peep into the business plans of world’s biggest Three: Apple, Facebook and Google
In the world of business, there are certain individuals and significantly successful businesses you cannot relegate to the background. Ignoring those who have succeeded in your current areas of business struggles does not make any economic sense!
Meanwhile, if you are in business, business plan will always be something you will constantly have to deal with. Just like a building engineer will always need the architectural design of a building all through the construction period of that building, a business owner, in the same way, will always need a business plan all through the lifetime of that business. The deception in the mind of some people is that they can run a successful and great business without a plan. Well, people may be able to do that but there is a limit to how far a business can go without a plan. If there are no plan, and the business seems to be doing well in the immediate, the growth of the business will get to a point where it becomes a problem to the business and the business owner, rather than the growth being a blessing.
Now, that’s one side of the story. The other side of the story is focused on the pattern you adopt when writing your business plan. At best, every plan is merely a replication of what already exist – just like the saying goes: “There is no new thing under heaven”. I am sure you are quite familiar with that statement. So, in business, it is always a good idea to study successful business models of successful companies, and try to emulate them. That is one of the fastest ways to business success. Having said all that, I will like to give you a peep into the business plans of the world’s biggest Three: Apple, Facebook and Google. What are the lessons business owners can learn from these mightily successful businesses? What are the principles behind their successes and how can we duplicate those principles in our businesses? That is what this writeup is all about.
- Apple
Apple first business plan for their product called Mac has proven to be successful as it has formed the bedrock and the basis for the success that the company has recorded over the years. If you are looking for a business plan after which you can pattern yours – a good one to emulate – this, is it! When you need a business plan that is suitable for structuring a product and service aspect of your business, this is your best go-to template. If you really want to explore Apple’s first business plan, you can get the full version here, but let’s take a look at some of the lessons we can learn from Steve Job’s way of doing business.
Innovation and simplicity are inseparable twin for business success. Any product or service that proves too difficult for customers to use or access is dead on arrival, no matter how brilliant the idea seems to be. Apple, through the mastermind of Steve Jobs and the amazing team he worked with, redefined the computer world by creating products that are not just innovative but extremely simple to use. They successfully designed products that consumers ended up “falling in love with”. This is a huge factor in business success. As an entrepreneur, ensure you keep that in mind.
When the Apple Store launched, growing market share wasn’t even on the priority list. Instead, the guiding question was, “How can we enrich people’s lives?” Back then, as far Apple was concerned, opening their sales store was all about helping people – a strategy that seems senseless but works like magic. Greed and lack of understanding are what make many business owners place too much emphasis on sales and profitability when designing their business models or when writing their business plans – and those are what they pursue. They have forgotten, however, that when you focus on the value for the people, the quality of service you want to offer, and how that can help make their lives better, making money will become a naturally flow which comes without stress.
- Facebook
Why is Facebook successful? Most people never ask! Such questions help you to leverage on the success of others, applying their principles, and duplicating their successes. In this section, we will look at some of the principles behind Facebook’s success and you can learn from them and apply them in your business, too.
- Done is better than perfect
At Facebook, all that is required for a product to be birthed is that it occurred to someone as an idea and it is something that can add value. “Done is better than perfect” is a common phrase and slogan everywhere at Facebook Inc. Lack of understanding of this simple principle is why many budding entrepreneurs have given up on ideas that could have ended up as a huge success. They discarded it because when they created it and it first emerged, it came with a lot of imperfections – and as a result, they were discouraged.
After Facebook filed its S-1 to IPO at the beginning of 2012, Zuckerberg explained the philosophy behind this mantra as “The Hacker Way.” He said, “Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works.” By doing so, Facebook embraces an optimistic culture that allows them to test boundaries and say, “This can be better.”
Read Also: What Mark Zuckerberg said about writing effective business plans
- Failure is part of the steps to success
Facebook is celebrated all over the world today and Mark Zuckerberg’s name is quite synonymous with Facebook which he created. Little did many people know that Mark created 10 different apps and websites before Facebook which weren’t as successful. Most people erroneously assumed that Mark Zuckerberg’s first creation was Facebook – far from it! I’m sure you probably didn’t know that. The reason why many entrepreneurs aren’t equally successful isn’t because Mark is superhuman! Most people fail in business simply because their interpretation of failure is lopsided and warped. For those who want to be as successful, it is an important lesson to learn on time: Failure is part of the steps to success. On your way to resounding success, you may fail a number of times, and if you keep at it, the big success will eventually show. If you quit, however, you would have denied yourself the privilege of being able to prove that becoming as successful as Mark Zuckerberg is, is a possibility for you too!
- Google
Another giant business worth studying is Google Inc. This is one company that has its impact felt in almost every aspect of our lives – and that’s an important key for business success worth noting. How much of impact your business creates in the lives of people determines the level of success you will record. Now, let’s have a peep into Google’s business ideals and what lessons we can draw as entrepreneurs.
While there are lessons from these three companies that overlap, I have tried to focus on the ones that stand out for each one, to avoid repetitions. So, for Google, here it is.
It is on record, and I personally think that this is a big lesson to learn, that all decisions at Google Inc. are data driven. Google believe that facts are always superior to opinions – anytime, any day, anywhere! Many business owners rely on mere “experience” or “gut feelings” to drive decisions rather than using analytics and testing. In fact, most business owners do not consider keeping business data to be anything important in their business. That is not how Google did it, that’s not the way the company and its leaders have journeyed to attain the level of success and greatness the company has today. So, having read this, you might surely want to have a re-think over your business strategies and ways of doing things.
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