BUILDING A LASTING BUSINESS

I think being an employee is a lot like catching the bus. If you have your ticket and are at the bus stop at the right time then you are safe. The bus and the driver are the ones really doing the work. They make sure the right people with the right ticket get unto the bus and also know the route to get you to where you are going. As long as you have your bus ticket, are at the bus stop at the right time and also get on the right bus then you should make it to your destination.

Being an entrepreneur is being the guy who starts the bus service. You have to find the buses, the drivers and all the other logistical things that the passengers will never have to worry about. You have to make sure the buses are roadworthy, are on time and get your passengers to where they want to get to. Whilst others talk about climbing the corporate ladder, you have to make a ladder worth climbing. Your ladder needs to be one that people want to climb. Your vision needs to be one that one wants to be a part of. Last week I spoke about how in 2013 Apple had 80 000 people working for it. That means Steve Jobs and co have built a bus service that people are happy to be a part of. Their ladder is one 80 000 people believe is worth climbing.

Most young entrepreneurs think only of their idea and then run full steam ahead to developing plans and seeking investors forgetting this one important thing; your bus is one people should want to get onto. Whether these passengers are your investors or employees it has to be something that they are prepared to pay for the ticket that allows them to be on the bus. Whether this ticket is them investing their skills and time into the idea or them investing their money, it has to be something they want in on. When my best friend and I started out our initial thought was who will be prepared to buy into this? We understood that at any given moment you either buying or selling something; whether it is you trying to get hired at Apple by trying to sell them your skills or Apple trying to sell you their latest iPhone.

Understanding this we immediately got to work on trying to figure out what it would take to get people to buy into this new idea of ours. The trick was we did not just need their money we needed them to be willing to work for the company for free whilst getting it off the ground. So in essence we needed our idea to be so compelling that people would be willing to pay to be a part of it. We got to work not just on doing our research but also working on our presentation of the idea. We knew everybody loves a good story. Everybody dreams of being a part of something much bigger than them. We knew we wanted to change the world, but we needed a group of people who were crazy enough to think it could be done. This is where many entrepreneurs strike out: they have an idea, but are not aware of what they need to make it happen nor do they know who they need.

 Building a great business goes beyond just your great idea. It is about building ladder that people want to reach the summit of. It is about being that bus service that your passengers believe is the right bus to get them to their desired destination. People use the Greyhound bus service because they believe this is the bus that will get them to their desired destination. They get on the Greyhound for themselves, not for the company! People will not pay to be a part of your company because they like you. They will do that for themselves. They do not buy into your idea because it is brilliant; they buy into your idea because they believe what you believe! People did not stand all night outside stores to get the first iPad for Steve Jobs, they did that for themselves! They did it because of what they believe!

People will do not climb the corporate for the founder of the company, they do it for themselves. Paying people is good, a servant is worth his hire, but if that is the only reason people decide to invest into your idea then all they will want is their money’s worth. However, if you find people who invest into your business because they believe what you believe then they will put in blood, sweat and tears into making your company a success. Kirk Phelps who was the product manager of Apple’s first iPhone put this perfectly when recounting his time at Apple by saying “If you had dog, if would have run away. If you had a plant it would have died. If you had a boyfriend or girlfriend they would have left you. The cool thing is everyone working on the iPhone had this attitude.” These people were not doing this for Steve Jobs, they did it for themselves. They were willing to sacrifice so many things for something much bigger than themselves that they believed in. That is how great products and businesses are made, through the belief of others on an idea.

A lasting business is one that grows to the place where it is much bigger than even the founder. As an entrepreneur the trick is not living forever but building something that will. If your bus service only has one bus and you as the driver then it dies when you die. Create something that can survive without you. That is what a lasting business is built on.