We have this tendency to look at all the tech giants — Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft etc. — and attribute their success and size to their core product.
The product that we’re most familiar with.
At one point, we might either discover or sit down, think and then realize that the +$500B market cap is not attributed solely to their core product. But then we forget again.
We think Google is worth +$800B because of their search engine.
We think Microsoft is worth $1T because of their operating systems.
We think Amazon is worth +$800B because of their massive online store.
But it’s not. And again, it’s likely that we’ve broken through this thing. However, if you have a look at their financial reports, you will find at least mentions of their sources of income. Then you might realise that their core product is sometimes dwarfed by something else.
Alas, we forget that time and time again. But the truth is…
Microsoft has got:
- Cloud services
- Their Surface hardware line
- Xbox
- The Office Suite
- Operating systems, of course
- etc.
Amazon has got:
- Their online shop
- Their very well created affiliate marketing programme
- Amazon Influencers
- Twitch
- Fulfilment By Amazon
- Prime Video
- Prime Music
- Even… you know… the Fire Phone
Apple has got:
- Apple Card as of now
- Yes, their whole set of hardware lines
- But iCloud is also a source of revenue
- Beats by Dr. Dre
- etc
It’d take a long time to list every single thing that they do. But I’ve listed both big and small things that make up their empire. And if we were to talk about Google, we’d never end.
The point I’m making is: conquer your little area. Once you’ve done that, you can expand into other things — it’s easier to win again if you’ve already had 3 micro-wins.
And that’s as true for day-to-day life as it is for business.
We do the same thing with humans, by the way, when we call someone successful business-wise and we have no clue how their relationship with their parents is.
The bottom line
We look at companies as a whole and imagine it’s unbelievable for a search engine to be worth $800B. Guess what, it’s not true. Because they’re not just a search engine. They do 100 million other things.
About Ch Daniel
I’ve updated this signature in July 2020, so older mentions of the signature might not make sense.
I currently don’t write on this blog anymore. I wrote daily for 9 months on this very blog, but now I’m focused on building the CH Group.
If you want to follow my newer articles, check out the CH Group’s blog.
See everything I do here: Chdaniel.com
