From $0, Need and Grit to $1.2B in Few Years. Here’s Why You Must Persist in Your Entrepreneurial Journey, Just Like This Inspiring Business Mogul
Sara Blakely, owner of Spanx, came up with a brilliant idea that changed the world: women could wear any type of clothing without exposing their undies.
Did she simply think about the success of her brand? No. She focused mainly on comfort, which is the main benefit of the product. She then experimented to build a billion-dollar business and took years of hard work and perseverance to bring her company to international recognition, following these steps;
RESEARCH WHAT THE MARKET NEEDS
Before Spanx was established Sara Blakely worked as a marketer for a company called Danka. She was selling fax machines from door to door and she was required to put on pantyhose under the hot weather of the city of Florida. She hated the appearance but liked how the control top of the pantyhose eliminated the pant lines and made her body appear firmer. During this period, she noted the discomfort women had not being able to wear some clothes and she researched ways to solve the problem.
For any business to thrive, there should be extensive research on what the users want and how to make it easier for them. Sara focused on the comfort provided by this new design she got and made that the core point in her marketing strategy to expand Spanx.
PITCH YOUR IDEA
Most people with brilliant ideas or plans are too scared to take the step to pitch their idea to the right set of people, some people share the plans and get discouraged while a lot just bury it under their beds. Sara Blakely while developing and researching her hosiery idea drove to North Carolina to pitch her idea to hosiery manufacturing companies after being repeatedly discouraged over the telephone. During her period in North Carolina, she was constantly turned away by all the representatives she met.
KEEP PUSHING
During the course of sharing her pitch and exploring all available options to expand her business, the representatives did not see the value in the idea she was developing. But that didn’t discourage her, before she decided to push her idea into Spanx, she had failed to get admission to study law which was her first passion, she tried her skills as a stand-up comedian and soon after worked with Walt Disney World. Through all these, she was met with failure and discouragement but she did not let that lead.
After her failure stint in North Carolina, she was contacted by an operator of one of the companies she visited and who told her he was going to offer his support. This was possible after the man got strong encouragement from his three daughters.
INVESTING IN YOURSELF
In every story of Spanx, the singular breaking point was the initial $5,000 USD savings invested by Blakely. This investment was channeled towards researching and developing the hosiery idea and it obviously paid off. Before most investors can choose to invest in your business, they need to know and see that you’re ready to do the same thing. The effort put into a startup by its owners can be the difference needed by the investor in taking that leap of faith.
HER SKILLS IMPROVED HER CHANCE FOR SUCCESS
Each person has a skill-set, either learned or as a talent, Sara’s success can be attributed to the marketing skills she developed over the years working with Danka. For years, Blakely was the sole employee of Spanx, she was in charge of logistics, marketing distribution and a lot others, selling Fax Machine for Danka gave her all the necessary skills needed to thrive as a sales expert in her business.
Sara Blakely transformed $5,000 USD into a billion dollar company, it was not achieved in a year even though the company was profitable right from the very first year, she made a smart decision to bet a patent for a product sealing her originality and making it difficult for her ideas to be stolen. The company grew over the past decades and the growth can be attributed to proper research, planning and development.
While it may be tempting to think you can just come up with an idea and be successful overnight, the above story should serve as a potent reminder that building a billion dollar company takes time, hard work and perseverance. This is why you’ll find many billionaires who continue to work day in and day out despite their success. It’s because they know how much luck plays into their success, so they want to make sure that their success isn’t just about luck alone.
In today’s world digital entrepreneurship is the future. There are countless opportunities and innovations which will take place in the next decade. People are becoming more creative, and have a lot of innovative ideas, so they start new business with little funds. Digital Entrepreneurship helps these people to test their innovative ideas on a small market and if it succeeds they get more funding which will help them expand.
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