A WALK THROUGH for BUILDING your OWN BUSINESS!
First of all, what is Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is an individual who accepts financial risks and undertakes new financial ventures. The word derives from the French "entre" (to enter) and "prendre" (to take), and in a general sense applies to any person starting a new project or trying a new opportunity.
Many societies place great value on the entrepreneur. To encourage their activity, they may be offered access to inexpensive capital, tax exemptions and management advice. An entrepreneur has the greatest chance of success by focusing on a market niche either too small or too new to have been noticed by established businesses. To help new technologies come to market, many universities establish business incubators for entrepreneurs hoping to turn leading edge research into marketable products.
Characteristics of an entrepreneur include spontaneous creativity, the ability and willingness to make decisions in the absence of solid data, and a generally risk-taking personality. An entrepreneur may be driven by a need to create something new or build something tangible. In the Austrian school of Economics, entrepreneurs are described as being engaged in the creative destruction of existing products and services. As new enterprises have low success rates, an entrepreneur must also have considerable persistence.
Many societies place great value on the entrepreneur. To encourage their activity, they may be offered access to inexpensive capital, tax exemptions and management advice. An entrepreneur has the greatest chance of success by focusing on a market niche either too small or too new to have been noticed by established businesses. To help new technologies come to market, many universities establish business incubators for entrepreneurs hoping to turn leading edge research into marketable products.
Characteristics of an entrepreneur include spontaneous creativity, the ability and willingness to make decisions in the absence of solid data, and a generally risk-taking personality. An entrepreneur may be driven by a need to create something new or build something tangible. In the Austrian school of Economics, entrepreneurs are described as being engaged in the creative destruction of existing products and services. As new enterprises have low success rates, an entrepreneur must also have considerable persistence.
What should you know Secondly?
Here's some stories of successful Entrepreneurs:
Abdulrahman AlZanki
Male
14 years old
Kuwait
Abdulrahman AlZanki might be the youngest Arab and Muslim entrepreneur at the age of 14 ( as far as we know) and he is still in 10th grade but aims to go to Stanford once he finishes his high school. ( I do not think he will have any problem getting full scholarship.)
At the age of 11 he started to learn how to make websites, according to Kuwaiti blog p0ach, he always loved playing games but always wondered how these games are made! So it took him 2 weeks to finish his first iPhone game, he didn’t have any programing experience before that, he learned it all by him self.
Male
14 years old
Kuwait
Abdulrahman AlZanki might be the youngest Arab and Muslim entrepreneur at the age of 14 ( as far as we know) and he is still in 10th grade but aims to go to Stanford once he finishes his high school. ( I do not think he will have any problem getting full scholarship.)
At the age of 11 he started to learn how to make websites, according to Kuwaiti blog p0ach, he always loved playing games but always wondered how these games are made! So it took him 2 weeks to finish his first iPhone game, he didn’t have any programing experience before that, he learned it all by him self.
His flagship free iPhone app Doodle Destroy was his most successful app, the game offers its players a goal to” keep the blue cube on the gray blocks. Tap to destroy the red blocks. While at it, the other blocks may fall or tip over based on real physics action. Good timing and smart thinking will help you to complete your goal.”
With over 800,000 downloads Doodle Destroy reached the top 50 in the US App Store. It also reached the top 5 in many other countries in Europe. Doodle Destroy is averaging about 20,000 downloads per day. My other game “DoodleBounce” was also successful -Top 5- in Canada.
Doodle Destroy is not the only iPhone game developed by Abdulrahman there many more with a price range of 0.99 cents: doodle destroy 2, bowAndArrow 2 , Lines Remover, Flying Taxi, Monkey Mood, Wood Destoryer, Lines Remover 2, Blocks Destoryer2, and Ibannana.
The story of Abdulrahman shows that self driven interest and determination are the main ingredients for success, he made this achievement at the age of 14 while many computer science graduates at the age of 23+ in Jordan, other Arab countries and even around the world can not write a single clean line of code!
With over 800,000 downloads Doodle Destroy reached the top 50 in the US App Store. It also reached the top 5 in many other countries in Europe. Doodle Destroy is averaging about 20,000 downloads per day. My other game “DoodleBounce” was also successful -Top 5- in Canada.
Doodle Destroy is not the only iPhone game developed by Abdulrahman there many more with a price range of 0.99 cents: doodle destroy 2, bowAndArrow 2 , Lines Remover, Flying Taxi, Monkey Mood, Wood Destoryer, Lines Remover 2, Blocks Destoryer2, and Ibannana.
The story of Abdulrahman shows that self driven interest and determination are the main ingredients for success, he made this achievement at the age of 14 while many computer science graduates at the age of 23+ in Jordan, other Arab countries and even around the world can not write a single clean line of code!
2
Bill Gates or William Henry "Bill" Gates III
Male
55 years old
America
William H. Gates is chairperson and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
Male
55 years old
America
William H. Gates is chairperson and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in a family having rich business, political and community service background. His great-grandfather was a state legislator and a mayor, his grandfather was vice president of national bank and his father was a lawyer.
Bill strongly believes in hard work. He believes that if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence, you can achieve anything. From childhood Bill was ambitious, intelligent and competitive. These qualities helped him to attain top position in the profession he chose. In school, he had an excellent record in mathematics and science. Still he was getting very bored in school and his parents knew it, so they always tried to feed him with more information to keep him busy. Bill’s parents came to know their son's intelligence and decided to enroll him in a private school, known for its intense academic environment. It was a very important decision in Bill Gate's life where he was first introduced to a computer. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in computer and formed "Programmers Group" in late 1968. Being in this group, they found a new way to apply their computer skill in university of Washington. In the next year, they got their first opportunity in Information Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. ISI (Information Sciences Inc.) agreed to give them royalties whenever it made money from any of the group’s program. As a result of the business deal signed with Information Sciences Inc., the group also became a legal business.
Bill Gates and his close friend Allen started new company of their own, Traf-O-Data. They developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project they earned around $20,000. The era of Traf-O-Data came to an end when Gates left the college. In 1973, he left home for Harvard University. He didn’t know what to do, so he enrolled his name for pre-law. He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard's toughest mathematics courses. He did well over there, but he couldn’t find it interesting too. He spent many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next day asleep in class. After leaving school, he almost lost himself from the world of computers. Gates and his friend Paul Allen remained in close contact even though they were away from school. They would often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one fine day. At the end of Bill's first year, Allen came close to him so that they could follow some of their ideas. That summer they got job in Honeywell. Allen kept on pushing Bill for opening a new software company.
Within a year, Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft. Microsoft's vision is "A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer". Bill is a visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hard work has put him where he is today. He does not believe in mere luck or God’s grace, but just hard work and competitiveness. Bill’s Microsoft is good competition for other software companies and he will continue to stomp out the competition until he dies. He likes to play the game of Risk and the game of world domination. His beliefs are so powerful, which have helped him increase his wealth and his monopoly in the industry.
Bill Gates is not a greedy person. In fact, he is quite giving person when it comes to computers, internet and any kind of funding. Some years back, he visited Chicago's Einstein Elementary School and announced grants benefiting Chicago's schools and museums where he donated a total of $110,000, a bunch of computers, and provided internet connectivity to number of schools. Secondly, Bill Gates donated 38 million dollars for the building of a computer institute at Stanford University. Gates plans to give away 95% of all his earnings when he is old and gray.
Bill strongly believes in hard work. He believes that if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence, you can achieve anything. From childhood Bill was ambitious, intelligent and competitive. These qualities helped him to attain top position in the profession he chose. In school, he had an excellent record in mathematics and science. Still he was getting very bored in school and his parents knew it, so they always tried to feed him with more information to keep him busy. Bill’s parents came to know their son's intelligence and decided to enroll him in a private school, known for its intense academic environment. It was a very important decision in Bill Gate's life where he was first introduced to a computer. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in computer and formed "Programmers Group" in late 1968. Being in this group, they found a new way to apply their computer skill in university of Washington. In the next year, they got their first opportunity in Information Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. ISI (Information Sciences Inc.) agreed to give them royalties whenever it made money from any of the group’s program. As a result of the business deal signed with Information Sciences Inc., the group also became a legal business.
Bill Gates and his close friend Allen started new company of their own, Traf-O-Data. They developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project they earned around $20,000. The era of Traf-O-Data came to an end when Gates left the college. In 1973, he left home for Harvard University. He didn’t know what to do, so he enrolled his name for pre-law. He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard's toughest mathematics courses. He did well over there, but he couldn’t find it interesting too. He spent many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next day asleep in class. After leaving school, he almost lost himself from the world of computers. Gates and his friend Paul Allen remained in close contact even though they were away from school. They would often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one fine day. At the end of Bill's first year, Allen came close to him so that they could follow some of their ideas. That summer they got job in Honeywell. Allen kept on pushing Bill for opening a new software company.
Within a year, Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft. Microsoft's vision is "A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer". Bill is a visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hard work has put him where he is today. He does not believe in mere luck or God’s grace, but just hard work and competitiveness. Bill’s Microsoft is good competition for other software companies and he will continue to stomp out the competition until he dies. He likes to play the game of Risk and the game of world domination. His beliefs are so powerful, which have helped him increase his wealth and his monopoly in the industry.
Bill Gates is not a greedy person. In fact, he is quite giving person when it comes to computers, internet and any kind of funding. Some years back, he visited Chicago's Einstein Elementary School and announced grants benefiting Chicago's schools and museums where he donated a total of $110,000, a bunch of computers, and provided internet connectivity to number of schools. Secondly, Bill Gates donated 38 million dollars for the building of a computer institute at Stanford University. Gates plans to give away 95% of all his earnings when he is old and gray.
3
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg
born May 14, 1984is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur.He is best known for creating the social networking site Facebook, of which he is chief executive and president. It was co-founded as a private company in 2004 by Zuckerberg and classmates Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes while they were students at Harvard University. In 2010, Zuckerberg was named Time magazine's Person of the Year. As of 2011[update], his personal wealth was estimated to be $13.5 billion.
On Zuckerberg's Facebook page, he listed his personal interests as "openness, making things that help people connect and share what's important to them, revolutions, information flow, minimalism". Zuckerberg sees blue best because of red–green colorblindness; blue is also Facebook's dominant color.
In May 2011, it was reported that Zuckerberg had bought a five bedroom house in Palo Alto for $7 million.
Zuckerberg was born in 1984 in White Plains, New Yorkto Karen, a psychiatrist, and Edward Zuckerberg, a dentist. He and his three sisters, Randi, Donna, and Arielle,were brought up in Dobbs Ferry, New York.Zuckerberg was raised Jewish, and had his bar mitzvah when he turned 13, although he has since described himself as an atheist.
At Ardsley High School he had excelled in the classics before in his junior year transferring to Phillips Exeter Academy, where Zuckerberg won prizes in science (math, astronomy and physics) and Classical studies (on his college application, Zuckerberg listed as non-English languages he could read and write: French, Hebrew, Latin, and ancient Greek) and was a fencing star and captain of the fencing team. In college, he was known for reciting lines from epic poems such as The Iliad.
At a party put on by his fraternity during his sophomore year, Zuckerberg met Priscilla Chan, a Chinese-American fellow student originally from the Boston suburbs (Braintree, Massachusetts), and they have dated continuously, except for a brief period, since 2003. In September 2010, Zuckerberg invited Chan, by then a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco, to move into his rented Palo Alto house. Zuckerberg studied Mandarin Chinese every day in preparation for the couple's visit in China in December 2010. As of 2010[update], Facebook is blocked by that country's Internet firewall.
When Mark Zuckerberg showed up in Palo Alto three years ago, he had no car, no house, and no job. Today, he's at the helm of a smokin'-hot social-networking site, Facebook, and turning down billion-dollar offers. Can this kid be for real?
“I'm just lucky to be alive." Mark Zuckerberg, the 22-year-old founder and CEO of social-networking site Facebook, is talking about the time he came face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. It was the spring of 2005, and he was driving from Palo Alto to Berkeley.
Just a few hours earlier, he had signed documents that secured a heady $12.7 million in venture capital to finance his fledgling business. It was a coming-of-age moment, and he was on his way to celebrate with friends in the East Bay. But things turned weird when he pulled off the road for gas. As Zuckerberg got out of the car to fill the tank, a man appeared from the shadows, waving a gun and ranting. "He didn't say what he wanted," Zuckerberg says. "I figured he was on drugs." Keeping his eyes down, Zuckerberg said nothing, got back into his car, and drove off, unscathed.
Today, it is an episode that he talks about only reluctantly. (A former employee spilled the beans.) But it fits the road he has taken--an adventure with unexpected, sometimes harrowing, moments that has turned out better than anyone might have predicted.
Zuckerberg's life so far is like a movie script. A supersmart kid invents a tech phenomenon while attending an Ivy League school--let's say, Harvard--and launches it to rave reviews. Big shots circle his dorm to make his acquaintance; he drops out of college to grow his baby and Change The World As We Know It. Just three years in, what started as a networking site for college students has become a go-to tool for 19 million registered users, including employees of government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. More than half of the users visit every day. When a poorly explained new feature brought howls of protests from users--some 700,000--the media old and new jumped to cover the backlash. But Facebook emerged stronger than ever. According to comScore Media Metrix, which tracks Web activity, it is now the sixth most-trafficked site in the United States--1% of all Internet time is spent on Facebook. ComScore also rates it the number-one photo-sharing site on the Web, with 6 million pictures uploaded daily. And it is starting to compete with Google and other tech titans as a destination for top young engineering talent in Silicon Valley. Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst at eMarketer, says it is on track to bring in $100 million in revenue this year--serious money indeed.
Yet there is an undercurrent of controversy about whether Mark Zuckerberg is making the right decisions about the juggernaut he has created. Late last year, a blog called TechCrunch posted documents said to be a part of an internal valuation of Facebook by Yahoo. The documents projected that Facebook would generate $969 million in revenue, with 48 million users, by 2010. The New York Times and others reported that Yahoo had made a $1 billion offer to buy Facebook--and Zuckerberg and his partners had turned it down. This followed an earlier rumor of a $750 million offer from Viacom. Yahoo, Viacom, and Facebook would not comment on the deal talk (and they still won't). But Silicon Valley has been abuzz ever since.
"It's all been very interesting," deadpans Zuckerberg, sitting in a conference room in Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters. He looks every bit the geek in his zippered brown sweatshirt, baggy khakis, and Adidas sandals. He came into the room eating breakfast cereal from a paper bowl with a plastic spoon. He still lives in a rented apartment, with a mattress on the floor and only two chairs and a table for furniture. ("I cooked dinner for a girlfriend once," he admits at one point. "It didn't work well.") He walks or bikes to the office every day.
Zuckerberg's college-kid style reinforces the doubts of those who see the decision to keep Facebook independent as a lapse in judgment. In less than two years, the two reigning Web 2.0 titans have sold out to major corporations: MySpace accepted $580 million to join News Corp., and YouTube took $1.5 billion from Google. Surely any smart entrepreneur would jump at a chance to piggyback on those deals.
born May 14, 1984is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur.He is best known for creating the social networking site Facebook, of which he is chief executive and president. It was co-founded as a private company in 2004 by Zuckerberg and classmates Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes while they were students at Harvard University. In 2010, Zuckerberg was named Time magazine's Person of the Year. As of 2011[update], his personal wealth was estimated to be $13.5 billion.
On Zuckerberg's Facebook page, he listed his personal interests as "openness, making things that help people connect and share what's important to them, revolutions, information flow, minimalism". Zuckerberg sees blue best because of red–green colorblindness; blue is also Facebook's dominant color.
In May 2011, it was reported that Zuckerberg had bought a five bedroom house in Palo Alto for $7 million.
Zuckerberg was born in 1984 in White Plains, New Yorkto Karen, a psychiatrist, and Edward Zuckerberg, a dentist. He and his three sisters, Randi, Donna, and Arielle,were brought up in Dobbs Ferry, New York.Zuckerberg was raised Jewish, and had his bar mitzvah when he turned 13, although he has since described himself as an atheist.
At Ardsley High School he had excelled in the classics before in his junior year transferring to Phillips Exeter Academy, where Zuckerberg won prizes in science (math, astronomy and physics) and Classical studies (on his college application, Zuckerberg listed as non-English languages he could read and write: French, Hebrew, Latin, and ancient Greek) and was a fencing star and captain of the fencing team. In college, he was known for reciting lines from epic poems such as The Iliad.
At a party put on by his fraternity during his sophomore year, Zuckerberg met Priscilla Chan, a Chinese-American fellow student originally from the Boston suburbs (Braintree, Massachusetts), and they have dated continuously, except for a brief period, since 2003. In September 2010, Zuckerberg invited Chan, by then a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco, to move into his rented Palo Alto house. Zuckerberg studied Mandarin Chinese every day in preparation for the couple's visit in China in December 2010. As of 2010[update], Facebook is blocked by that country's Internet firewall.
When Mark Zuckerberg showed up in Palo Alto three years ago, he had no car, no house, and no job. Today, he's at the helm of a smokin'-hot social-networking site, Facebook, and turning down billion-dollar offers. Can this kid be for real?
“I'm just lucky to be alive." Mark Zuckerberg, the 22-year-old founder and CEO of social-networking site Facebook, is talking about the time he came face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. It was the spring of 2005, and he was driving from Palo Alto to Berkeley.
Just a few hours earlier, he had signed documents that secured a heady $12.7 million in venture capital to finance his fledgling business. It was a coming-of-age moment, and he was on his way to celebrate with friends in the East Bay. But things turned weird when he pulled off the road for gas. As Zuckerberg got out of the car to fill the tank, a man appeared from the shadows, waving a gun and ranting. "He didn't say what he wanted," Zuckerberg says. "I figured he was on drugs." Keeping his eyes down, Zuckerberg said nothing, got back into his car, and drove off, unscathed.
Today, it is an episode that he talks about only reluctantly. (A former employee spilled the beans.) But it fits the road he has taken--an adventure with unexpected, sometimes harrowing, moments that has turned out better than anyone might have predicted.
Zuckerberg's life so far is like a movie script. A supersmart kid invents a tech phenomenon while attending an Ivy League school--let's say, Harvard--and launches it to rave reviews. Big shots circle his dorm to make his acquaintance; he drops out of college to grow his baby and Change The World As We Know It. Just three years in, what started as a networking site for college students has become a go-to tool for 19 million registered users, including employees of government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. More than half of the users visit every day. When a poorly explained new feature brought howls of protests from users--some 700,000--the media old and new jumped to cover the backlash. But Facebook emerged stronger than ever. According to comScore Media Metrix, which tracks Web activity, it is now the sixth most-trafficked site in the United States--1% of all Internet time is spent on Facebook. ComScore also rates it the number-one photo-sharing site on the Web, with 6 million pictures uploaded daily. And it is starting to compete with Google and other tech titans as a destination for top young engineering talent in Silicon Valley. Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst at eMarketer, says it is on track to bring in $100 million in revenue this year--serious money indeed.
Yet there is an undercurrent of controversy about whether Mark Zuckerberg is making the right decisions about the juggernaut he has created. Late last year, a blog called TechCrunch posted documents said to be a part of an internal valuation of Facebook by Yahoo. The documents projected that Facebook would generate $969 million in revenue, with 48 million users, by 2010. The New York Times and others reported that Yahoo had made a $1 billion offer to buy Facebook--and Zuckerberg and his partners had turned it down. This followed an earlier rumor of a $750 million offer from Viacom. Yahoo, Viacom, and Facebook would not comment on the deal talk (and they still won't). But Silicon Valley has been abuzz ever since.
"It's all been very interesting," deadpans Zuckerberg, sitting in a conference room in Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters. He looks every bit the geek in his zippered brown sweatshirt, baggy khakis, and Adidas sandals. He came into the room eating breakfast cereal from a paper bowl with a plastic spoon. He still lives in a rented apartment, with a mattress on the floor and only two chairs and a table for furniture. ("I cooked dinner for a girlfriend once," he admits at one point. "It didn't work well.") He walks or bikes to the office every day.
Zuckerberg's college-kid style reinforces the doubts of those who see the decision to keep Facebook independent as a lapse in judgment. In less than two years, the two reigning Web 2.0 titans have sold out to major corporations: MySpace accepted $580 million to join News Corp., and YouTube took $1.5 billion from Google. Surely any smart entrepreneur would jump at a chance to piggyback on those deals.
4
Sir
Richard Branson
61 years old
Male
Britain
Famous British entrepreneur and founder of the international brand Virgin.
Known best for his successful companies under the “Virgin” brand name and their products. He is also famous for his extreme world record breaking attempts.
Richard Branson was born on July 18, 1950, while attending school he started a magazine called “Student” at 16 years of age. Branson started a Student Advisory Center at when he was just 17, with the aim of helping young people. At the tender age of 20 he also started a company called “Virgin” which operated as a mail order record store.
Soon after he opened a Virgin record store in Oxford Street, London and then a recording studio in Oxfordshire in 1972. Mike Oldfield was the first artist to sign with Virgin records creating the album "Tubular Bells" which was released in 1973. The album sold more than five million copies.
At 27 Branson signed another known band called “Sex Pistols” to Virgin Records after the band were turned down by every record label in England. During his ownership of Virgin Records Branson turned it into a major success signing big names including Steve Winwood, Paula Abdul, Belinda Carlisle, Genesis, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, The Human League, Bryan Ferry, Culture Club, Janet Jackson, and The Rolling Stones. In 1992 Richard Branson sold the Virgin Music Group record labels, music publishing and recording studios to Thorn EMI in a $1 billion deal.
In 1984 Branson moved into the airline industry starting “Virgin Atlantic Airways” which has become the second largest English long haul international airline and operates a fleet of aircraft to New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, Dallas, and Tokyo.
Since 1985, he has been involved in a number of record-breaking land and air speed and distance attempts In 1986, with his boat, "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II," he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the fastest recorded time ever. One year later, the hot air balloon called the "Virgin Atlantic Flyer" was the first hot air balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and was the largest ever flown at 2.3 million cubic feet capacity, reaching speeds in excess of 130 mph. Again In 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic Canada, breaking all existing records with speeds of up to 245 mph in a balloon measuring 2.6 million cubic feet.
He has guest starred, playing himself, on several TV shows, including “Friends”, “Baywatch” and “Only Fools and Horses”. He is also the star of a show called “The Rebel Billionaire”.
In addition to his business activities Branson is also a trustee of a number of charities, including The Healthcare Foundation. He became Sir Richard Branson after being knighted by the Queen in 1999 for his business ability and enthusiasm for the spirit of Britain. He lives in London and Oxfordshire and is married with two children.
61 years old
Male
Britain
Famous British entrepreneur and founder of the international brand Virgin.
Known best for his successful companies under the “Virgin” brand name and their products. He is also famous for his extreme world record breaking attempts.
Richard Branson was born on July 18, 1950, while attending school he started a magazine called “Student” at 16 years of age. Branson started a Student Advisory Center at when he was just 17, with the aim of helping young people. At the tender age of 20 he also started a company called “Virgin” which operated as a mail order record store.
Soon after he opened a Virgin record store in Oxford Street, London and then a recording studio in Oxfordshire in 1972. Mike Oldfield was the first artist to sign with Virgin records creating the album "Tubular Bells" which was released in 1973. The album sold more than five million copies.
At 27 Branson signed another known band called “Sex Pistols” to Virgin Records after the band were turned down by every record label in England. During his ownership of Virgin Records Branson turned it into a major success signing big names including Steve Winwood, Paula Abdul, Belinda Carlisle, Genesis, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, The Human League, Bryan Ferry, Culture Club, Janet Jackson, and The Rolling Stones. In 1992 Richard Branson sold the Virgin Music Group record labels, music publishing and recording studios to Thorn EMI in a $1 billion deal.
In 1984 Branson moved into the airline industry starting “Virgin Atlantic Airways” which has become the second largest English long haul international airline and operates a fleet of aircraft to New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, Dallas, and Tokyo.
Since 1985, he has been involved in a number of record-breaking land and air speed and distance attempts In 1986, with his boat, "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II," he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the fastest recorded time ever. One year later, the hot air balloon called the "Virgin Atlantic Flyer" was the first hot air balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and was the largest ever flown at 2.3 million cubic feet capacity, reaching speeds in excess of 130 mph. Again In 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic Canada, breaking all existing records with speeds of up to 245 mph in a balloon measuring 2.6 million cubic feet.
He has guest starred, playing himself, on several TV shows, including “Friends”, “Baywatch” and “Only Fools and Horses”. He is also the star of a show called “The Rebel Billionaire”.
In addition to his business activities Branson is also a trustee of a number of charities, including The Healthcare Foundation. He became Sir Richard Branson after being knighted by the Queen in 1999 for his business ability and enthusiasm for the spirit of Britain. He lives in London and Oxfordshire and is married with two children.
5
Karl Hans Albrecht
20 February 1920
Germany
Karl Hans Albrecht is a German entrepreneur who founded the well known supermarket chain Aldi alongside his brother. He has an estimated net worth of $21.5 billion. Albrecht is currently considered the wealthiest man in Germany.
Karl and Theo Albrecht were raised in modest circumstances in Essen, Germany. Their father was employed as a miner and later as a baker’s assistant. Their mother had a small grocery store in the worker’s quarter of Schonnebeck, a suburb of Essen. Theo completed an apprenticeship in his mother’s store, while Karl worked in a delicatessen shop. Karl also served in the German Army during World War II. In 1946, the brothers took over their mother's business. The first Aldi (Albrecht-Discount) was opened in 1961.
Aldi's operations were later divided between the brothers, with Karl taking control of the more profitable Aldi Süd (South), and Theo managing Aldi Nord (North).
Because Karl Albrecht has withdrawn himself from public life, little is known about him. Forbes magazine reports that he has two children, neither of whom are employed by Aldi. He reportedly lives in Essen, as did his brother Theo until his death. He is a fan of golf, and plays at his personal golf course, the Öschberghof, which he built in 1976. He also raises orchids. It is rumored that he collects antique typewriters.
In 1994, Karl Albrecht removed himself from the daily operations of Aldi Süd and took the position of chairman of the board. At the beginning of 2002, he also relinquished this position, thereby completely ceding control of the firm. Today, the business is no longer run by any of Karl Albrecht’s family members
20 February 1920
Germany
Karl Hans Albrecht is a German entrepreneur who founded the well known supermarket chain Aldi alongside his brother. He has an estimated net worth of $21.5 billion. Albrecht is currently considered the wealthiest man in Germany.
Karl and Theo Albrecht were raised in modest circumstances in Essen, Germany. Their father was employed as a miner and later as a baker’s assistant. Their mother had a small grocery store in the worker’s quarter of Schonnebeck, a suburb of Essen. Theo completed an apprenticeship in his mother’s store, while Karl worked in a delicatessen shop. Karl also served in the German Army during World War II. In 1946, the brothers took over their mother's business. The first Aldi (Albrecht-Discount) was opened in 1961.
Aldi's operations were later divided between the brothers, with Karl taking control of the more profitable Aldi Süd (South), and Theo managing Aldi Nord (North).
Because Karl Albrecht has withdrawn himself from public life, little is known about him. Forbes magazine reports that he has two children, neither of whom are employed by Aldi. He reportedly lives in Essen, as did his brother Theo until his death. He is a fan of golf, and plays at his personal golf course, the Öschberghof, which he built in 1976. He also raises orchids. It is rumored that he collects antique typewriters.
In 1994, Karl Albrecht removed himself from the daily operations of Aldi Süd and took the position of chairman of the board. At the beginning of 2002, he also relinquished this position, thereby completely ceding control of the firm. Today, the business is no longer run by any of Karl Albrecht’s family members
Henry SY (the man that never surrenders)
Henry SY
Philippines
Chinese: 施至成; pinyin: Shī Zhì chéng; born December 25, 1924
A Chinese Filipino
is a Chinese Filipino businessman and the founder of SM Super Market (former name is "Shoe Mart") Group and chairman of SM Prime Holdings, the largest retailer and shopping mall operator in the Philippines. He earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950.
Acknowledged as the country’s "Retail King," he set up a modest shoe store in Quiapo in 1946, then expanded his businesss until he became the biggest shopping mall operator with over 41 malls throughout the Philippines.
Story of Success:
This is another inspiring story as we witness his rags to riches story on how he built all SM Malls and became one of the biggest bankers enabling him to become the richest man in our country surpassing both Lucio Tan and the Ayalas.
Let’s learn and be inspired from another successful entrepreneur story as his daughter Teresita Sy-Coson narrates the story of his father’s success:
"
Our company, SM, as many of you may already know, came from the hard work of my dad, Henry Sy, Sr. It is a rags to riches story that even myself did not realize until I went to trace his roots in China.
His journey from the thatched hut I saw there to the shopping centers he has today is something that amazes even myself.
His determination, his discipline and his thriftiness have produced an astute and street smart businessman who has influenced a lot of people. Including us, his children.
My father’s perseverance during the different crises our country has gone through has made our active business pursuits possible for a half century. True, he was disappointed with the economy many times, but he never saw the reason to quit and instead pursued his goals relentlessly.
He had many obstacles – both external and internal – in his business, and there were times he could not understand why things had to be so complicated for him to pursue his business objectives.
It has been written – and I can attest that it is true – that Henry Sy started from the bottom.
He came to the Philippines at the young age of 12, and worked in his father’s small sari-sari store more than 12 hours everyday to help him. It was located on Echague St., which is now Carlos Palanca Sr. St. in Quiapo, Manila. There, he devised ways to increase his income by developing small portions of products – much like the sachets we see today in the supermarkets.
He was able to make multiple sales in order to make extra income, spending so much time in the store that he had no time to go out and play with friends in the neighborhood. It did not take a long time for him to realize, however, that he can only do so much in a sari-sari store environment.
WWII came and the sari-sari store was looted and burned. He did a lot of buying and selling of odd things during the war to enable the family to survive.
This must have provided him the hands-on training for his stamina in business. At one time, he was hit by shrapnel while selling, and quite fortunately was brought to the hospital by his good friend in a kariton.
Without that friend, he could have bled to death. He treasured that friendship and later expressed his gratitude after the war by making that friend his partner in a shoe store. The partnership lasted for more than 40 years until the shoe store had to give away to the building renovations of the lessor.
After the war ended in 1945, he ventured into selling American shoes imported by enterprising Gis.
He later saw the opportunities of opening a shoe store, and not long after he was managing three shoe store in partnership with friends.
With the pleasure of a growing family while at the same time pursuing studies at FEU in the early 50s, he sought more ways to augment his income.
He studied the market and decided to be different. While other young men went to the US to pursue a higher education, he went on a long business trip to the East Coast, and came home with a lot of merchandising ideas.
For a time, he was selling a lot of shoes, accessories, and leather goods, hoping to change the way shoe manufacturers look at the industry.
Sensing a lot of opportunities, he decided to open SHOE MART – “SM” – the first air-conditioned shoe store that merchandised shoes in a very inviting and classy format. With the success of that store, he went on to open more shoe stores, but he could not get enough suppliers.
Many shoe manufacturers at that time could not understand why they had to listen to this shoe retailer who had very definite ideas on what he wanted to sell. They did not cooperate by providing him with the volume he needed, and because of that limitation, he gradually shifted to apparel – and thereafter other merchandise – with the help of my mother.
He was continuously learning from his customers, suppliers, and employees. This on-the-job research gave him enough confidence to expand to a department store chain. Many things in life grow out of needs, and to meet the needs, you become determined. With determination you will take extra challenges and do things differently – which will most likely bring success."
Source: www.millionaireacts.com
Philippines
Chinese: 施至成; pinyin: Shī Zhì chéng; born December 25, 1924
A Chinese Filipino
is a Chinese Filipino businessman and the founder of SM Super Market (former name is "Shoe Mart") Group and chairman of SM Prime Holdings, the largest retailer and shopping mall operator in the Philippines. He earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950.
Acknowledged as the country’s "Retail King," he set up a modest shoe store in Quiapo in 1946, then expanded his businesss until he became the biggest shopping mall operator with over 41 malls throughout the Philippines.
Story of Success:
This is another inspiring story as we witness his rags to riches story on how he built all SM Malls and became one of the biggest bankers enabling him to become the richest man in our country surpassing both Lucio Tan and the Ayalas.
Let’s learn and be inspired from another successful entrepreneur story as his daughter Teresita Sy-Coson narrates the story of his father’s success:
"
Our company, SM, as many of you may already know, came from the hard work of my dad, Henry Sy, Sr. It is a rags to riches story that even myself did not realize until I went to trace his roots in China.
His journey from the thatched hut I saw there to the shopping centers he has today is something that amazes even myself.
His determination, his discipline and his thriftiness have produced an astute and street smart businessman who has influenced a lot of people. Including us, his children.
My father’s perseverance during the different crises our country has gone through has made our active business pursuits possible for a half century. True, he was disappointed with the economy many times, but he never saw the reason to quit and instead pursued his goals relentlessly.
He had many obstacles – both external and internal – in his business, and there were times he could not understand why things had to be so complicated for him to pursue his business objectives.
It has been written – and I can attest that it is true – that Henry Sy started from the bottom.
He came to the Philippines at the young age of 12, and worked in his father’s small sari-sari store more than 12 hours everyday to help him. It was located on Echague St., which is now Carlos Palanca Sr. St. in Quiapo, Manila. There, he devised ways to increase his income by developing small portions of products – much like the sachets we see today in the supermarkets.
He was able to make multiple sales in order to make extra income, spending so much time in the store that he had no time to go out and play with friends in the neighborhood. It did not take a long time for him to realize, however, that he can only do so much in a sari-sari store environment.
WWII came and the sari-sari store was looted and burned. He did a lot of buying and selling of odd things during the war to enable the family to survive.
This must have provided him the hands-on training for his stamina in business. At one time, he was hit by shrapnel while selling, and quite fortunately was brought to the hospital by his good friend in a kariton.
Without that friend, he could have bled to death. He treasured that friendship and later expressed his gratitude after the war by making that friend his partner in a shoe store. The partnership lasted for more than 40 years until the shoe store had to give away to the building renovations of the lessor.
After the war ended in 1945, he ventured into selling American shoes imported by enterprising Gis.
He later saw the opportunities of opening a shoe store, and not long after he was managing three shoe store in partnership with friends.
With the pleasure of a growing family while at the same time pursuing studies at FEU in the early 50s, he sought more ways to augment his income.
He studied the market and decided to be different. While other young men went to the US to pursue a higher education, he went on a long business trip to the East Coast, and came home with a lot of merchandising ideas.
For a time, he was selling a lot of shoes, accessories, and leather goods, hoping to change the way shoe manufacturers look at the industry.
Sensing a lot of opportunities, he decided to open SHOE MART – “SM” – the first air-conditioned shoe store that merchandised shoes in a very inviting and classy format. With the success of that store, he went on to open more shoe stores, but he could not get enough suppliers.
Many shoe manufacturers at that time could not understand why they had to listen to this shoe retailer who had very definite ideas on what he wanted to sell. They did not cooperate by providing him with the volume he needed, and because of that limitation, he gradually shifted to apparel – and thereafter other merchandise – with the help of my mother.
He was continuously learning from his customers, suppliers, and employees. This on-the-job research gave him enough confidence to expand to a department store chain. Many things in life grow out of needs, and to meet the needs, you become determined. With determination you will take extra challenges and do things differently – which will most likely bring success."
Source: www.millionaireacts.com
What's important to the success of small-business owners and entrepreneurs?
ANSWER?
=Knowledge, skill and talent.
Attitudes
These are some attitude attributes can put you in the right mindset for achieving entrepreneurial success.
Source: www.entrepreneur.com,
www.ladieswhodolunchinkuwait.com
www.atlisgeo.com
www.millionaireacts.com
- Have passion for your business.
Work should be fun. Your passion will help you overcome difficult moments and persuade people to work for you and want to do business with you. Passion can't be taught. When it wanes, as it surely will in difficult times, take some quiet time. Whether it be an hour or a week, take inventory of all the reasons you started the business and why you like being your own boss. That should renew your passion. - Set an example of trustworthiness.
People have confidence in trustworthy individuals and want to work for them in a culture of integrity. The same is true for customers. - Be flexible, except with core values.
It's a given that your plans and strategies will change as time goes on. This flexibility for rapid change is an inherent advantage of small over large business. However, no matter the pressure for immediate profits, do not compromise on core values. - Don't let fear of failure hold you back.
Failure is an opportunity to learn. All things being equal, venture capitalists would rather invest money in an individual who tried and failed founding a company than in someone who never tried. - Make timely decisions.
It's okay to use your intuition. Planning and thought are good. But procrastination leads to missed opportunity. - The major company asset is you.
Take care of yourself. Your health is more valuable than the most expensive machinery or computer software for the company. You don't have to choose between your family or your company, play or work. Maintain your health for balance and energy, which will, in turn, enhance your mental outlook. - Keep your ego under control.
Don't take profits and spend them on expensive toys to impress others. Build a war chest for unexpected needs or opportunities. This also means hearing out new ideas and suggestions no matter how crazy they sound. - Believe.
You need to believe in yourself, in your company, and that you will be successful. This confidence is contagious with your employees, customers, stakeholders, suppliers and everyone you deal with. - Encourage and accept criticism graciously. Admit your mistakes.
You need to constantly work on convincing your employees that it's okay--even necessary--to state their honest opinions even it if conflicts with the boss's opinion. Just stating it once or putting it in a mission statement won't cut it for most people. - Maintain a strong work ethic.
Your employees will follow your lead. It will also help you beat your competition by outworking them, particularly when your product or service is very similar. - Rebound quickly from setbacks.
There surely will be plenty of ups and downs as you build the business. Learn from the setbacks and move on. You can't change the past. - Periodically get out of your comfort zone to pursue something important.
Many times you will feel uncomfortable in implementing a needed change in technology, people, mission, competing, etc. For the company and you to grow personally, you sometimes have to step out of your comfort zone.
Source: www.entrepreneur.com,
www.ladieswhodolunchinkuwait.com
www.atlisgeo.com
www.millionaireacts.com