How These 6 Business Giants Got Their Start

Successful businesses don’t always start out as such. Hard work, dedication, perseverance, creativity, and a strong will to succeed are all components required in order to reach the top. Starbucks wasn’t born overnight, my friends. The ability to change and grow also isn’t a stranger to the business world, as companies may be evolving every single day. What one company started out to be may morph into a variation of the initial idea in 50 years’ time. Keep in mind that not all company beginnings are glamorous- in fact, they couldn’t be farther from it. So, if you’re dying to know how your favorite gaming system, retail store, or sports car got its start, read on.

Whole Foods Market

This all-natural grocery store got its start in 1978 by two twenty-somethings named John Mackey and Rene Lawson Hardy. Their first store, “Saferway,” was based in Austin, Texas and had opened thanks to donations from the couple’s family and friends. Within a year of opening, the couple got evicted from their home for using the space as storage for the store, forcing them to live at their store full-time. They used the Hobart dishwasher as a shower, as the space was zoned for commercial purposes only. Eventually the pair moved out of the store and into their own place and began working on setting up another store with a natural foods merger. Fast forward to 2008 where Whole Foods posted $6.5 billion in revenues and ranked 369 on the Fortune 500. Talk about rags to riches.

Ferrari

At the mere age of 10, Enzo Ferrari had the sport of racing coursing through his veins; he almost immediately knew that he wanted to make a living out of it. He acquired a job as a test-driver for a minor vehicle manufacturer at the age of 20 and soon after started racing professionally. He founded the racing team Scuderia Ferarri in 1929, which was an organization that did not build cars, but promoted owner-drivers in their races. Late 1945 marked the time when Enzo began working on designing and building his first-ever Ferrari sports car. He was reluctant to sell his creations at first, declaring that the only reason he had started to was to fund his beloved Scuderia Ferrari team.

Apple

Although Steve Jobs is no longer with us, his Apple legacy will forever live on (seriously, no one in their right mind buys a Microsoft Zune and actually likes it). The company started in a garage, where friends Steve Wozniack and Steve Jobs came up with the brilliant idea to create a personal computer. Wozniack, a computer hacker, built the computer which he and Jobs took to an electronics store in 1976. The owner of the store was obviously a smart cookie; he told the pair that he’d take 50 units. The Steves, beyond broke at the time, fled to the nearest parts’ supplier, got what they needed on credit, and began building. Ta-da! Apple was born. Throughout the years, the brand has not only persevered through various ups and downs, it’s become a household name.

Starbucks

Ever wonder how your Caramel Macchiato came to be? Three academics each invested $1,350 of their own money in order to create the first Starbucks, which is located in downtown Seattle. History teacher Zev Siegel, English teacher Jerry Baldwin, and writer Gordon Bowker dubbed their new store ‘Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice.’ In order to further their operations the trio borrowed $5,000 from their local bank, aiming to model their store after ‘Peet’s Coffee and Tea’ in Berkley, CA, which specialized in selling dark roast coffee beans and teaching customers how to grind their own beans and make their own coffee at home. In the early 1980’s, Howard Shultz came into the picture and brought with him the idea to make coffee, espresso, and tea creations for customers inside the store, rather than have the customers make them at home. In 1992, Starbucks went public. Since then the company has been expanding- and keeping the world pleasantly buzzed on coffee.

Nintendo

Long before Wii and Super Mario Bros, Nintendo embraced humble beginnings. Founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, Nintendo Koppai produced decks of playing cards that were made from mulberry tree bark, which were called hanafunda cards. Before the international success of its gaming systems during the 1980’s, Nintendo struggled with a long line of failed ventures such as food, hotels, and taxi-service. Can you imagine ordering a ‘Nintendo burger’ at a restaurant? Nintendo decided to venture into the gaming business in 1975, selling popular arcade games we know today like Donkey Kong and Radar Scope. After that, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was born, producing systems like Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii.

Abercrombie & Fitch

The retail store didn’t always feature racy t-shirt sayings and sultry half-naked models throughout its stores. It actually had somewhat, err, mountain man beginnings. The first store was founded in 1892 by David Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch and was an upscale sporting goods store. Think of Dick’s sporting goods on steroids. Its target audience was big game hunters, fishermen, and other outdoor adventurers. Rather than $50 cotton t-shirts and barely-there shorts, Abercrombie’s shelves were filled with hunting gear, fishing poles, tents, and anything else necessary for a weekend in the woods. After its financial fall in 1977, Limited Brands purchased the brand in 1988 and brought in Mike Jeffries, who nursed A&F to what we know it to be today.

About:
Julie Lee is a college freelance writer and blogger who has written extensively about obtaining a business degree online. Julie has also written about business networking hubs and career advancement tips.