We Are Apple

Ah, this song still gets me. Not the music, no. I know the music is terrible! But it's the ideology behind it. This was an Apple corporate song from the 80s that was played before the introduction of the Macintosh. I love this song because it shows a few different elements of Apple and why it such a respectable name in business.

Vision
Clearly Apple's, or Steve Jobs' dream of changing people's lives is portrayed in the song. In the early days, the sole person that drove Apple's vision was Steve. He just had a vision of doing something remarkable and taking down the big guys like IBM. And they did pretty much take down IBM. Though not in size, but they did in terms of the social impact they've had. Oh, and they did do something amazingly remarkable. They brought us the personal computer despite criticisms. ("There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home" -Ken Olsen, then-CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation)

Culture
Apple has always been known for being different, especially in the early days. They show in this song that they're bringing something different to consumers, something better. Their internal company culture was something different too. Steve Jobs was born to take down IBM, the big guys in suits who didn't bring class into their products. He tried to be the opposite of them, walking around the headquarters barefoot and creating quality products people can care about.

Leading the Way
Apple is leading the way. They always have (at least with Steve) and always will. They led many industries into the future. They led the computer revolution with the Macintosh, the music revolution with the iPod. And now the mobile revolution with the iPhone. The rest of the competitors seem to follow after them.

If you want have a great company, be like Apple. Have vision, values, and lead the way.

Entrepreneurship. Yes You Can.

I frequently talk with people who have an itch to start a business, but don't do it because of statistics they read that 90% of start-ups fail, or that they're afraid of failing, or that it's too expensive to start up, or they have a fear of becoming bankrupt.

• So what if 90% of businesses fail? 90% of start ups DO fail within the first year. But this is where the art of entrepreneurship comes in. Entrepreneurship isn't about having your first company become an industry leader. It's about the excitement in failing and trying again with a new business, using the lessons you learned from your failed company. Part of the entrepreneurial spirit is to try and try again until you succeed. There are so many successful businessmen out there who had to start quite a few businesses until they got it right. Don't expect to become rich on the first try. There's a very low percentage of hitting a home run the first time around. Instead, keep trying until you get into that 10%.

• Afraid of failing? If you're afraid of failing, you shouldn't even be trying. Business is all about failure. It's about learning from your mistakes and using your new knowledge in new businesses. You need to get over your fear of failure (if you have one) and realize that you WILL fail sometime in your entrepreneurship career. It's part of the cycle. Instead of focusing on fears, you need to focus on a bright future. You need to believe that you can become successful.

• Too expensive? First of all, a very good idea will take you very far without a lot of money. No doubt. Second, the biggest cost in this age to start a business is TIME. If you're starting a web company, all you need is a couple bucks a month for hosting. If you're starting a pie company, all you need to do is start by making the pies in your own kitchen. You don't need thousands upon thousands of dollars for those. Making a successful business isn't about how much money you have anymore. It's about taking the TIME to make a successful business. Anyone can start a business with as low as $10, but it's really your commitment that makes or breaks your company. Don't worry about money that much. Don't let it decide whether you will succeed or fail. If you're smart enough to get as far as starting a business, I'm sure you'll find a way to get around any money problems you may have.

• Afraid of bankruptcy? A friend of mine told me that he's staying away from business because he didn't want to go bankrupt. He's like me and the rest of the college kids out there. In reality, we're all bankrupt. In fact, many college kids are going to finish school with a huge debt. If you don't have anything to lose, go after your dreams. Is it better to be bankrupt while worrying about being bankrupt, or is it better to start a business and at least have some hope of being successful one day? If that friend is reading this, I want to tell him not to let fear of bankruptcy stop him. There are guys out there who started a successful company while $150,000 in debt. If that's not proof that bankruptcy means nothing when it comes to entrepreneurship, I don't know what is.

NEVER look for reasons to not start a business. NEVER look for reasons to why you could fail. If you can't get over that and look the positive way, you're just not cut out for entrepreneurship. Because looking at the wrong things WILL bring you down. I learned this from experience. For a long time, I didn't start my own business because I was sure that I would fail. I took the 90% failure rate into account too heavily. Only a while ago I told myself to shift my focus to what I really believed in, what my visions were. I've now recently launched ragtees.com, a t-shirt business. If it fails, well that's alright. I'll start another one until I get where I want to be. What about you? Are you going to quit without even trying?

Recession=Opportunity

We're in an "official" recession. Unemployment, major corporation failures, massive debt, low consumer spending. There's no better time to start up a business. There are a couple of reasons why this crazy statement is true.

No Competition
The big companies are staying away from doing new stuff and rather trying to just insure their own survival. They have no interest in spending millions on R&D (Research and Development) at this time. You'll barely have any competition from them to worry about. The small business owners, or former and aspiring entrepreneurs are feeling discouraged because they think recession=bad for business. What's going on through most entrepreneurs heads right now is that there is no hope of even trying to build a successful company in these tough times. Too bad for them, more room for you.

Low Cost
With real estate prices in a record decline, it's easy to find cheap office space. It's even easier to find the best employees on the cheap. With large companies cutting down their work force and with people starving out there, you'll have good workers lining up at your door willing to work for anything. The recession may be bad for the average Joe, but for you, the entrepreneur, it's quite a deal.

Learn Business (the hard, but effective way)
Running a company in a recession where you have a limited amount of money on hand, and a limited amount of income means you have to be frugal with money. You'll be forced to think about decisions and make smart choices. You're not going to be enjoying your private island while watching the millions coming in. (ex. dot-com bubble) Instead, you'll be sitting in your $20 office chair, thinking about every aspect of your company. "What kind of strategy will be most effective?" "What kind of product do people want these days?" It'll toughen you up as a business person. In time, you will emerge victorious because you learned everything the hard way. The private island guys will lose because they have no idea what they're doing, they had just gotten lucky in the beginning.

Greater Appeal to Investors
Investors and VCs cut back in a recession too. They simply can't afford to fund companies left and right. If you have a very good idea or a solid profit making company, investors will come to you. Right now, they're looking for companies that know what they're doing. The ones that can show strength in a bad economy will win them over. You will know what you are doing because the recession will teach you some great lessons to create a successful business. So it's pretty much a win-win situation with investors.


If you're looking to start a business, go for it. There could be no better time than now, when most people are backing out. Don't wait until the economy is in an upswing again, because everyone will want a piece of the pie by then. It'll be much too crowded for your voice to be heard.

Introductory Stuff

Hey guys! Thanks for visiting this blog. Let me introduce myself if you have no idea who I am. My name is Bulent and I live in the Chicago suburbs. (it can get very boring in the burbs sometimes!) I'm an "unofficial" web entrepreneur. I say that because I don't really have any sort of product out yet, but there are a few cool things I'm working on. I hope I'll be able to share those with you. I'm definitely a web enthusiast. I love everything about the web, from it's social media power to the simple awesomeness of it.

Oh, one more thing, I LOVE life. I love always finding different ways to enhance life (the non-hippy way), and live it to the fullest. As Honest Abe once said, "in the end, it's not the years in your life that matter. It's the life in your years."

Thanks for reading. Hope to see more of you guys! Also, if we're not Twitter friends yet, follow me up at twitter.com/bulentm