Before you embark on building or buying a business, first and foremost, love what you do and be dedicated to it. Steve Jobs thought of Apple as his passion. Here are some of my favorite principles that Jobs used as he built his business and bought other businesses that you can apply to your small business and to a potential business you might buy.
1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, “People with passion can change the world for the better.” Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, “I’d get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about.” That’s how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.
2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, “Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?” Don’t lose sight of the big vision.
3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. Don’t live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.
4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period so he could put the “A-Team” on each product.
5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When you walk into an apple store, it’s an experience.
6. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customers. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you’ll win them over.