When the news broke out yesterday, that Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple) was taking a leave of absence due to complications with cancer, the blogosphere (and Twittersphere) went into a frenzy. From straight reporting of the breaking story to dump-apple-stock urges to "you're an idiot if you sell" articles. Regardless of which side of that argument you support, I think everyone will agree that Steve Jobs is Apple's Justin Timberlake in that he "brought its sexy back". Many would argue that other companies like LG or HP make products that are comparable (or sometimes superior) to respective Apple products but somehow they have not been able to emulate Apple's "other side of the pillow" cool perception. It is valid to argue that Apple will most likely continue on the same path since they're being ran by the same management, marketing and product development teams as before. However, no one can deny that the absence of a such a visionary would be a substantial hit to the company and its market cap.
I told you that story to make this point. Let's set Apple aside for a second and start talking about companies whose "market cap" changes based on how much money is in the owner's checking account that day. Mark Twain's CPA Business. Bob Barker Insurance Agent. YourNameHere Real Estate.
Have you built a business or job?
The money you make has nothing to do with the answer to that question. You may slide the veil of success over it, but the truth remains underneath. If your brand and your company lives and dies with you, you have simply created a job for yourself, albeit a good paying one at times. You have not created a real business until your pitch changes from "Mark's the greatest CPA in the world" to "our way of doing business (i.e. system) makes us the greatest CPA firm in the world". It is imperative that you're selling a system of doing business that can be easily reproduced by properly trained people. No matter how successful one person or a team of people get, there will always be a limit to what they can achieve - at some point there's just not enough hours in the day for more business even at maximum efficiency.
In every business there are people who are just amazing at what they do - True Rockstar Rainmakers. But until they figure out a way to "bottle" that rockstar quality so it can be duplicated by a properly trained garage band member, their magic flame will flicker out with them.
(I wish Mr Jobs and his family a fast recovery to great health and great things. Whether Apple has been able to emulate his legendary magic into their systems will remain to be seen at a future time).
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