What does it take to set the basis of world famous companies or ideas?

What does it take to set the basis of world famous companies or ideas? Money, great team and ideas are all required to fuel a great brand. However, the most important component is the inner belief. A little faith along with the belief to help move forward and realize the power of human mind is what it takes. A belief that the company is capable of providing the right answers to the queries and everything that is manufactured is the will of the consumer market makes it a success.

It is quite remarkable to know of huge companies with humble beginnings. All of them just need plain narration. No extra credits or flare because they do not need it. They are already filled with inspiration and encouragement for the common man.

Starting with the first short tale of success we have Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express.

Fred Smith was an undergraduate student at Yale University in 1965. As a part of his course, he wrote a term paper regarding transport issues of the large packages. He found out that the shippers adopted the conventional methods in order to get their packages on board. They used the means of trucks or stored large packages in passenger planes. He pitched the idea of utilizing air planes for carrying the packages here and there. This idea did have a few loopholes and was not supported during his time in the university. The paper was given a grade “C”. smith on the other hand saw great potential in the idea and did not lose hope or faith. Right after graduation, in 1971, Fred launched the company. Within three years the company lost all the funds and started to go down the road of bankruptcy. Federal Express lost 1 million dollars due to the rising prices of fuel. It had a mere 5000 dollars and nothing else. There was no hope for the company. Nobody could see its future. Smith decided to make a last pitch for funding to General Dynamites but sadly they turned him down. With a bit of hope and wild imagination, Smith went over to the Vegas and put his money on stake in a game of Black Jack. In the morning, mangers found 32000 dollars in the bank accounts of FedEx. This enabled the company to go on a little while longer.

Today, it is a global giant with operations in more than 220 countries and annual revenue of approximately 45 billion dollars. If only Smith had lost hope in the company, it would have been nothing but a pile of dust today.

Moving on to Ferrucio Lamborghini, he was originally a farmer. He built tractors and was very successful in his business. He owned a Ferrari among many other super cars. He liked to drive fast and rough. But his Ferrari gave him constant trouble. He always had issues with it. He complained that the clutch was never perfect. While driving at regular speed, it worked fine but when driving fast, it would slip under acceleration. He said that it was not up to the mark. He even tried to fix it himself. When he opened the car, he realized that the clutch was the same as he used in one of his tractors. He visited the garage every now and then to get it replaced or fixed. Even after so many visits there, he could not figure out the problem with the clutches. Finally, he decided to meet with Enzo Ferrari. Although he had to wait for a long time but it was worth it. That is what led him to build his own car. He complained that their cars are rubbish. Hearing this II Commendatore got furious and mentioned that Ferrucio was only able to build tractors and he should stick to that. Otherwise he can build his own desirable car. That is what he did. He built his own car, Lamborghini which needs no further explanation.

Colonel Sanders, Kentucky Fried Chicken, received a $99 social security cheque which made him realize that he had gone broke. He had a humble abode and an old car. But despite that, he decided that things had to change. His friends always appreciated his chicken recipe and that was the idea he went out to exploit. He travelled to different states of USA and presented his idea to different restaurants, claiming the success of his chicken recipe. He was even willing to give it up for free for a minute percentage in the sales but in vain.

After exactly 1009 rejections, he got the opportunity to explore this idea further. The rest is history. Who knew that one single recipe of some old man in Kentucky could cause such a stir in the world of food.

Last but not the least, there is Soichiro Honda. He was a mechanic at a garage. His job was to tune the cars and prepare them for races. He founded Tōkai Seiki. This was a piston ring manufacturing company. Honda made a deal with a more popular company named Toyota to sell them piston rings. Unfortunately he was fired be meet Toyota’s requirements. Honda utilized the time to understand the demands of Toyota and exactly 4 years late manufactured the product with the same quality. Bad luck was on his side. The plant got destroyed in the US bomb attacks in 1944. Honda sold the remains of the factory to Toyota and used the proceeds to build Honda Technical research Institute in October 1946. Working with the staff of 12 men and 172 square-foot shack, he built what the world thought he could not. He sold and improvised motorized bicycles by building their own copies of Tohatsu Engines. He supplied them to customers so that they could attach these with their bikes and achieve better results. With this successful idea, the company grew in a very short time and soon became the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964.

These are some examples among many other legendary stories. They set examples for us and beg us to look beyond the wall. They restore our faith and teach us how hard work can really pay off. Trying and failing each time does not mean that you have lost. It just means that you have to look at the things from a new perspective. Take a step back and analyze the bigger picture. Identify the mistake and correct it. These stories inspire us to the very core, shaking our inner confidence to wake up. Do not bury your ideas in your heart. Let them out for the world to see your skills.