A drive unit, which can be included in an image forming apparatus with peripherals disposed thereto and use a control method therefore, includes an inner rotor brushless DC motor, a driver, a rotation detector, and a controller. The driver supplies power to drive the brushless DC motor. The rotation detector detects an amount and direction of rotations of an output shaft. The controller controls the rotations of the brushless DC motor and obtains a target drive signal of the brushless DC motor externally and a detection signal from the rotation detector and outputs a signal to the driver. The controller controls a speed of rotation of the brushless DC motor by varying the signal output to the driver based on the target drive signal and the detection signal.