"Well begin is half done" they say but there are men, in the biz fraternity who don't believe in taking any half measures. That's why they are success stories unto themselves. Interestingly, none of these men were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, they carved out their niche from the word go to build empires that we all know today. Every business is a start-up; a Small Business at some time. A correct blend of leadership, strategy and luck is what makes it into a Big Business.
Here are men who symbolize this entrepreneurial spirit, with fabulous feats to their credit. Just read on.
Herb Kelleher : Co-Founder , Chairman Emeritus and former CEO of Southwest Airlines
Herb moved to Texas to start a law firm. He kickstarted the Southwest Airlines along with Texan businessman Rollin King in 1971, after dealing with legal issues for roughly a year. An airline with that suited the budgets and did away with the "Hub-n-spoke" scheduling of flights in secondary airports like Chicago, Albany. The Airlines is listed by the Fortune magazine as the Most Admired Corporation in the US and Kelleher was inducted in Business Hall of Fame in 2004.
John Mackey : Co-CEO and founder of Whole Foods
This Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2003, started his business chain with a mere 19 employees in Austin way back in 1978. They market organic and processed foods. Currently the chain has more than 300 outlets in Canada, US and UK.
Richard Branson: Founder Virgin Group
If anybody symbolizes "maverick" its Branson. Virgin Atlantic Airlines started in 1984 currently carries around 5 million passengers annually. The Englishman's business acumen started cropping up since the age of 16 when he started hi sown magazine and is among the 4th richest man on the planet right now.
Jeff Bezos: Founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Inc
With the founding of Amazon in 1994, the largest shopping site today, e-commerce was given the real competitive push. Having graduated from Princeton and worked on Wall Street in the 80's, Bezos captured the need of the consumer market by facilitating exchange through the Internet with hi sown corporation.
Reed Hastings Jr: CEO of Netflix
The world owes the man for making entertainment,especially viewing movies and other audio-visual media, an innovative experience, with a flat rate service on offer. Hastings is involved in a host of other things from philanthrophic activities like charity schools, politics, trusteeship of other corporations like Microsoft and Facebook.
The man defined innovation per say. Despite the company politics and fall outs in the 80's, Steve revolutionized the digital media by breaking through the cartel of recording industry with iTunes. He oversaw the development of the iMac, iPhone, iPad which are the joy of every tech nerd .
Most of us would have anticipated his name in the roll call. His endeavor represents what the Gen-Y are capable of . Named as top 100 wealthiest persons by the Time, Zuckerburg cultivated the idea of sharing photos socially during his Harvard years. By the age of 23, he was a millionaire and most of the businesses thrive on his innovation for promoting their clientiele and reputation through social media marketing.
Bill Gates : Chairman of Microsoft
The man of the moment will never be out of the limelight; such is his success story. A typical rags-to-riches story. Being a college drop out, he had talent as his yardstick for progress. While his name is synonymous with the personal computer revolution, his wealth supports countless lives accross the globe by promoting livelihoods, scientific research and education.
Warren Buffett : Founder of Berkshire Hathaway
Nicknamed as the "Wizard of Omaha", "Sage of Omaha", Buffett is one of the most influential investors of the century. He is known for his value based investments what has come to be known as "Intrinsic Business Value" i.e a venture's true worth is independent of the stock prices. This accorded the investor greater judgement leverage where and how much to invest. His philanthrophy is spoken off much. He recently has pledged to donate his fortune via the Gates Foundation and other organisations.
Doing business is a serious business unto itself after all. These men have changed the tide in their favor for the world to see. Hats off to their endeavor.
Do tell us if this was an interesting feature and if you derived any worthwhile inspiration for your own business ventures. You can leave your comments in the section below.
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