The richest entrepreneurs in the world include Michael Dell, the founder of a well-known brand in the IT industry. Quotes of this talented businessman have become the favorite theses of many of those who have embarked on the path of free activity. Therefore, it makes sense to study the success story of such an outstanding personality.
A brand that everyone knows
Michael Dell - this name should be known to everyone who at least once set out to buy a good laptop or, in extreme cases, a monitor. Dell Computer Company is one of the leading manufacturers of computer equipment. But she was not always famous. Back in 1984, when everything was just beginning, the company's capital was only $ 1,000. In other words, it all started more than modestly.
For 20 years of persistent and competent development of his brainchild, Michael Dell was able to bring the assets of the enterprise to a level significantly exceeding the mark of several billion. Definitely - this result deserves attention.
How it all started
Michael Dell, whose biography abounds with interesting facts, was born in 1965 in the picturesque city of Houston (Texas). The parents of the future billionaire did not experience financial difficulties, since his father worked as a stockbroker, and his mother had practice in specializing in a dentist. Thanks to this, the boy’s childhood was provided.
Nevertheless, the growing Michael was not spoiled by the toys that he, of course, wanted to have. This fact prompted him to independently raise funds for the organization of entertainment. At the age of 12, the boy opened up to engage in philately and actively trade and exchange stamps at special auctions. At this point, Michael had his first business idea. It is about creating your own auction for the sale of brands. Young Dell was able to convince several philatelist acquaintances to entrust him with his resources and put them up for auction. As a result, with the help of the placed advertising, a novice entrepreneur was able to earn $ 2 thousand.
Later Dell again proved himself, but already fishing. While everyone was fishing with ordinary tackle, Michael decided to join several hooks using special weaving and thereby increase the likelihood of catch. As a result of fishing, his catch was the largest. A similar approach formed in the future owner of a multi-billion-dollar company the following position: if you think that some idea is good, be sure to try it in practice.
Entrepreneur Formation
Michael Dell, sensing the opportunities that open competent sales, while studying in high school decided to continue to earn. In this he was helped by the city newspaper, which allowed him to sell subscriptions. This is what young Dell did.
However, he did not use the classical method of walking door to door. Instead, he decided to take a step towards team play. It looked like this: Michael identified the newlyweds as his target audience and hired acquaintances whose duties included delivering the addresses of representatives of Central Asia. Next, the novice entrepreneur formed a database of contacts and began to send registered letters to the newlyweds with a proposal to receive a two-week subscription to the newspaper as a wedding gift. The result of this direct marketing was earned $ 18,000.
With these funds, Michael Dell, whose success story was close to a rapid jerk, bought a BMW for himself and was able to enjoy driving the legendary car in his 17 years.
But Michael's parents did not appreciate such a bright entrepreneurial gift and continued to hope that their son would go to medical university. The influence of father and mother bore fruit, and Dell graduated from Texas State University after graduation.
Becoming a large-scale business
Studying could not become a worthy alternative to the craving for entrepreneurship, and soon Michael began to modernize computers, increasing their productivity for their own needs. Soon there were customers who also wanted to improve their PCs.
For that time, a fashion for personal computers was characteristic, as a result of which all students wanted to get such a technique. But because of the high cost, they could not afford such a luxury. And here Michael Dell appeared with his ability to see needs and fill them in the most optimal way.
The essence of Della’s idea was to purchase extra components from IBM dealers and subsequently use them to assemble complete computers. What he did in his student dorm room.
As expected, Michael did not limit himself to the student clientele and placed ads in the newspaper. This advertisement offered potential customers to purchase computers optimized for the user, and besides, it was also 15% cheaper in comparison with the prices of official dealers. The result was predictable: doctors, law firms and businessmen began to order computers from Michael Dell. The result of this activity was the founding of PC's Limited. Soon things went so well that Michael left the student path and devoted himself entirely to business. As a result, in 1984 the company was renamed Dell Computer - a brand known throughout the world.
Activity scaling
Michael Dell, whose photos are familiar to everyone who was interested in business giants, developed his company with fairly modest resources. At first, he hired just one employee. His responsibilities included financial control and administration. The founder himself was busy upgrading IBM PCs and preparing them for sale.
Thanks to an individual approach to customer needs and affordable prices for the final product, the company's turnover already in the first month of active activity reached $ 180 thousand, and after two - exceeded this level by more than one and a half times.
Soon, Michael realized that the real financial heights lie behind the creation of production under its own brand. At this time, a new technology was just released, which allowed to significantly simplify the production process. Hiring $ 2,000 from one of IBM's engineers for a week and a half, Michael got the first powerful computer that was released under the Dell brand name. Already in 1992, the company's sales amounted to $ 2 billion.
Personal life
Dell took a step towards the family in 1989, marrying Susan, who helped him get rid of excessive modesty. He received four children as a gift from his wife, Michael Dell.
The wife of the billionaire also participated in the decision on the founding of a charitable organization, which began operations in 1999. This initiative led to the fact that tens of millions of dollars were donated to eliminate the consequences of various disasters.
Conclusion
As a result, it is worth quoting Michael Dell: “The client cannot be simply satisfied. The customer must be satisfied. ”
An example of this outstanding entrepreneur proves: if you guess the needs of the client and competently fill them, then the financial success of the business will not take long.