It’s kind of crazy when you sit down and think about how much one man’s vision changed the way we work, interact with the entire world and keep in touch with our loved ones.
Yet what I think is even more remarkable for all of us small business owners to consider is how Steve Jobs responded to failure.
Early in his career he was kicked out of the company he founded, but that didn’t stop him from creating.
He chose to take that rejection and turn it into an opportunity to keep pushing. To fine tune his vision. And to try relentlessly to find the next thing that we didn’t even know we wanted, let alone needed.
Had Steve Jobs made a career change when he ‘failed’ the first time at Apple, would we have the iphone, ipad, imac, and ipod as we know them today? It’s doubtful.
When your small business has you down, how will you respond?
When you’ve experienced failure, whether it be in the form of losing a client, a sale, or screwing up what will you do?
Will you quit? Move on to a different career path? Or will you pick yourself up and keep creating? Will you listen harder to what your customers really want? To what is missing that they aren’t getting from your competitors.
Steve Jobs was an inspiration to small business owners because of his refusal to quit. His name is synonymous with the products we use every single day. That’s not true for many brands nor is it easy to achieve.
What are you doing to achieve that type of association and inspiration in your brand?
Do you remember your first experience with Apple? I do.
How many companies can you say that about? I can say in my life that there aren’t many.
Can your customers recall their first experience with your brand? If not, you have some work to do. Go create.