Apple and their missed opportunities with small business owners

I read this on Threads a few months ago : « GTD (“Getting Things Done”) culture had a moment online. But there was this funny phenomenon where a popular GTD website called 43 Folders started attracting more people who wanted to talk about productivity than actually being productive. »

Another manifestation of this phenomenon is people switching between apps to manage their notes, tasks, or calendar every few months. I use the built-in native apps on my Apple devices since more than 10 years now because they are good enough (and even more so since a couple of years) for my usage.

But it got me thinking about positioning and the famous product-led growth (PLG). Those apps from Apple (Notes, Reminder, Calendar, iCloud Drive, and to some extent the triptych Keynote, Pages, and Numbers) are cherished by their users because of their simplicity while being powerful enough. They use them for their personal needs, even when they have business for themselves. After a while, they create a small business, hire one or a few people, and then those apps don’t scale. They are not made to collaborate; some are better for sharing content, but the workflow is not really well managed (looking at you, iCloud Drive, how come sharing a public link is so difficult).

This is surprising to me that Apple never got this right. They have people buying their computers; a lot of them are freelancers, independent workers (creative), small business owners, and it would be easy to upsell them towards a suite of tools for small companies. But no, everyone, at some point, is switching to Gmail, Google Drive, etc.

At the same time, I can also understand that this is not part of the DNA of Apple. And that’s why, when you think a market is already crowded or can be dominated by a big player, more often than not, they are not really good at those tangent domains. They are so focused on their core product (for good reasons!) that they are mediocre at others.

My point is that there’s always a use case, a niche market not well served, and this is a good opportunity to position your company there even if a broader or bigger customer segment is more attractive for your eyes (or your investors).