Every big brand has a success story that people should know. Even the most prominent technology companies like Apple Inc., YouTube, and Google all came from humble beginnings.
These stories are a source of inspiration for other entrepreneurs to take the first step into making their dream business ventures come true. For the brands, it can work as their marketing tool to attract more people into finding out that they are more than just the products and services—that there are three-dimensional people behind these businesses who worked hard to achieve their level of success.
Success Brand Stories Worth Knowing
It’s sometimes difficult to imagine how huge companies started from small business ventures that they probably conceptualized in their parents’ garage where a makeshift room is made with the help of a metal stud and track system, primarily if you’ve always known them as the big brands that they are today. But knowing that their success didn’t happen overnight gives some insight into their business even more. Thus, here are some of the biggest brands and their inspiring success stories:
1. Samsung
As one of the leading electronic brands globally, no one would guess that the South Korean company Samsung started as a grocery producer and delivery services in 1938 by Lee Byung-Chull. Initially, the company was only trading noodles and other products produced in Taegu and exporting them to nearby cities and some provinces in China.
In the 1970s, the company expanded to become an electronics business when the company had a tremendous amount of capital to start a new business venture. With the proper research, management, and leadership, Samsung has become one of the biggest global brands.
2. TOMS Shoes
In 2006, TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie witnessed the plight of children who were too poor to afford hoes while traveling in Argentina. These hardships that he saw fueled his desire to start TOMS Shoes to donate to every child who needs a pair of shoes every time he sells a pair.
Because of how the company incorporated humanitarian causes into the business, the company grew quickly. To date, they have given more than 50 million pairs of shoes to people who need them. Even though the creditors took over the business from Blake Mycoskie in 2019, there is no doubt that they were able to help many less fortunate people while inspiring others to join their charitable acts.
3. Facebook
Of course, almost everyone with a social media account knows how Facebook started. The household name of a founder, Mark Zuckerberg, may have evolved into a controversial figure during recent years. Still, there is no denying that how he started one of the biggest social media sites on the planet in his Harvard dorm room in 2004 is inspiring.
Mark Zuckerberg originally conceived the idea of Facebook to try his hands on hacking and for college students to have a platform to share their thoughts and some vital information. Look at Facebook now; it is a $350 billion company that helps people connect to their friends and family while being a website for small businesses to begin their ventures. It has also created an Oscar-winning film called The Social Network.
4. Google
Speaking of starting a business in a garage, that is precisely how Google started. By Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996. Today, the company’s estimated value is $605 billion with a massive network of other affiliated businesses, making it the most used search engine app globally. When your company’s name became an expression like “Google it,” which means to search for something, that’s how you know you’ve made it.
5. YouTube
Chad Hurley and Steven Chen were the brains behind one of the most popular videos streaming social media on the planet, YouTube. And they started this app in their cubicle to address people’s desire to look up controversial videos like Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, which is the exact reason why they decided to start YouTube. Today, the company is estimated to be worth $40 billion, with more than one billion video uploads per day.
Start Small, Go Big
The takeaway lesson from these companies and their success stories is that everything comes from humble beginnings, but, of course, it doesn’t stop there. You need to have ideas, skills, talents, drive, passion, and the right people to work with. Having some money to invest in a startup business wouldn’t hurt as well, but it’s not a necessary part of the equation. But if you have the entrepreneur drive in you, you should let it push you until you reach your goals.
