What a way to learn about business from watching and analysing the development of Google. There is a lot to learn – in business and beyond, honestly. So, friends, a lesson for entrepreneurs from Google. But let’s start with a little bit of history.
How did Google itself learn the business?
In the late nineties, the Internet world was dominated by search engines such as Yahoo, Altavista, Lycos, Inktomi, Excite, AOL Search, AllTheWeb. At the time, they were giants – especially about Google. Today’s world leader did not start in a simple competitive environment, as many think. Nonetheless, the start-up, which started in a garage, succeeded by outperforming all competitors (at incredible speed – the search engine became a world leader, not today or yesterday, but only a few years after starting the business).
How did this happen? What did Google do better than anyone else? Let’s look at how and what Google learned and how Sergey Brin and Larry Page grew the search engine and their business. Thanks to these tips, you might be able to fulfil your dreams and even use boat rentals miami.
What is the best thing Google has learned in business?
Firstly, Google has made a very simple design. A search bar, its logo and… that’s it. And people loved it. The search engines, cluttered with pictures, we’re going out of style. To be honest their pages opened slowly, probably because they were too heavy to load Simplicity was what users needed.
Secondly, Google has improved its search engine. At Yahoo, users sometimes had to search for relevant results on as many as the 5th or 10th page. Google never had this. Even in the beginning. Today, it’s the best (and by an order of magnitude) search engine.
Thirdly, Google was constantly bringing in new things, both new services and new search functions (image search, blog search, news search). I am not even going to talk about services, there are so many that an article would not suffice.
Fourthly, they were constantly improving their main advantage – accurate search and relevant answers. There was no such thing as doing a better search and then stopping. Their competitors didn’t doze off (yours don’t doze off either, by the way, mind you). Their search algorithm is changing year after year and getting better and better – practically unattainable for competitors.
What lessons can an entrepreneur learn or learn from Google?
- Lesson number one: competition is not a critical hindrance to your business. Be better than them and you will beat them. It is possible to start a business from scratch and conquer the market.
- Lesson number two: look at your product through the eyes of the customer.
- Lesson number three: look for and solve the audience’s real problem and they will follow you. Google found and solved it: it offered users a very correct (for those times) search and relevant answers to their queries.
- Lesson number four: constantly improve your product. Constantly! Not a day goes by that you don’t think about how else you can improve your product, your offer, your business as a whole…
The basic lesson, I think, can be this: give people what they want, as quickly and as easily as possible.
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