I’d like to put an end to the myth that you need
a business plan if you want to succeed as an
entrepreneur. This should do it.
Here are ten billion dollar companies or
corporations that didn’t start with business plans.
1. GOOGLE :
2014 Revenue: $65.83 Billion
Google was started as a class project by Sergey
Brin and Larry Page while in graduate school at
Stanford in January 1996. They simply wanted to
create a better search engine that ranked
websites based on their relationships to one
another rather than the number of times the
search term existed on the page.
Google wasn’t even a company until 32 months
later when they incorporated in September 1998
so they could hire their first employee.
2. YAHOO!
2014 Revenue: $4.6 Billion
Yahoo! was started as “David and Jerry’s Guide
to the World Wide Web” by Jerry Yang and David
Filo (also Stanford graduate students) in
February 1994. Their solution to finding
information on the internet was to create a
directory of websites, as opposed to a
searchable index of pages.
It was just two dudes creating a database of
websites they found and liked.
This is a quote about the history of Yahoo! from
Yahoo.com:
“
“Due to the torrent of traffic and enthusiastic
reception Yahoo! was receiving, the founders
knew they had a potential business on their
hands. In March 1995, the pair incorporated
the business and met with dozens of Silicon
Valley venture capitalists. They eventually
came across Sequoia Capital, the well-
regarded firm whose most successful
investments included Apple Computer, Atari,
Oracle and Cisco Systems. They agreed to
fund Yahoo! in April 1995 with an initial
investment of nearly $2 million.”
3. APPLE :
2014 Revenue: $182.35 Billion
Apple got its start in 1976 when Steve Wozniak
convinced Steve Jobs to sell the Apple I
Computer. So Jobs took the computer to a local
computer store and the owner agreed to buy 50
of the machines at $500 apiece.
Then Jobs took the purchase order to a parts
distributor to order the parts they needed and
proceeded to build 50 computers in 30 days. Just
in time to get paid by the retailer and pay their
distributor.
Apple Computers started with a few simple
transactions of a quality product. Not with a
business plan.
4. FACEBOOK
2014 Estimated Revenue: $12.47 Billion
As most of you probably know, Facebook was
started by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004 as
a social networking site for his fellow Harvard
students. They didn’t incorporate until later that
summer.
Like Google and Yahoo!, it wasn’t a business so
it didn’t need a business plan. It was just a
promising idea that created a growing community
with big potential.
5. General Electric:
2014 Revenue: $148.94 Billion
General Electric was founded in 1890 by Thomas
Edison as a vehicle to sell his inventions. Edison
had been inventing for 14 years prior to founding
the company. Some of his 1,000+ inventions
included the incandescent light bulb, motion
picture camera, and alkaline storage battery.
From an entrepreneurial perspective, Edison
created over 1,000 products before he started
his company. Maybe he could’ve benefited from
a business plan. But maybe that would’ve
thwarted his inventing.
This is my favorite Thomas Edison quote and an
incredible lesson in entrepreneurship:
“
“I never perfected an invention that I did not
think about in terms of the service it might
give others… I find out what the world needs,
then I proceed to invent.”
6. DISNEY :
2014 Revenue: $48.81 Billion
If you read about the 10 World Famous
Companies that Started in Garages
, you’ll know that the world’s largest media
conglomerate had humble beginnings. Walt
Disney started the company with his brother Roy
as a creative studio with a character named
Alice.
They started filming the Alice Comedies , which
was part of Alice’s Wonderland , and sold their
short films to a distributor.
No business plan required.
7. PEPSI :
2014 Revenue: $66.68 Billion
What is now PepsiCo started back in 1898 when
a pharmacist and drugstore owner named Caleb
Bradham invented a fountain drink he called
“Brad’s Drink.” He sold the concoction in his
store, so he was his own distributor.
Pepsi got its big break in 1909 when automobile
racer, Barney Oldfield, endorsed the drink as, “a
bully drink…refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer
before a race.”
It took 11 years to hit their big break. Maybe a
business plan would’ve expedited that process,
but I believe it’s best to let businesses grow
naturally rather than trying to rush things.
8. NIKE :
2014 Revenue: $27.79 Billion
Nike’s roots started in 1962 when its company’s
founder, Philip Knight, graduated from the
University of Oregon and decided to travel across
Japan. While in school, Knight was a star track
athlete. During his visit to Japan, he came
across Onitsuka Tiger Co and offered to import
their shoes so he could resell them in the US.
To satisfy the Japanese company’s request, he
filed a company and named it Blue Ribbon
Sports. They didn’t change their name to Nike,
Inc. until 1978.
9. CISCO :
2014 Revenue: $47.14 Billion
Cisco started in 1984 when the manager of the
Stanford computer science laboratory, Leonard
Bosack, wanted to communicate with his wife,
Sandra Lerner, from across campus. Bosack
devised a way to connect the two local area
networks which later became the inspiration for
the multi-protocol router.
That year they mortgaged their house, deferred
their salaries, and hired their friends so they
could sell this internetworking technology. Three
years later they were selling $250,000 worth of
routers per month.
10. WALMART :
2014 Revenue : $485.65 Billion
After working in retail stores across the country,
Sam Walton opened “Walton’s Five and Dime” in
Bentonville, Arkansas in 1945 with a $20,000 loan
from his father-in-law and another $5,000 of his
personal savings.
The first Wal-Mart Discount City store didn’t
open until 17 years later in Rogers, Arkansas.
Walmart was successful because of Sam
Walton’s experience and disruptive philosophy
within the retail industry, not because of a
business plan.
What’s the Point?
Just because many of the world’s most
successful businesses didn’t start with a
business plan doesn’t mean the business plan is
an worthless tool. But it does prove that it’s not
necessary.
If you want to start a business, start with a
simple idea that can help a lot of people. Create
something out of that idea and let it grow
naturally.
A business plan could and probably would help,
but don’t let it get in the way of creating.
No comments:
Post a Comment