Entrepreneur Inspiration - Top 4 Company Comebacks

Proof that entrepreneurship doesn’t depend on your company size, but on your mindset: Here are the top four company comebacks - each from the jaws of billion dollar failures.

STARBUCKS
In 2008, Starbucks' over expansion into music, movies and too many loss making stores led to an exodus of customers as quality fell. 977 stores closed and its stock price plummeted 80% from $40 to $7.83. In the midst of the crisis, founder, Howard Schultz returned as the CEO, saying Starbucks had
“forgotten what we stand for.” He refocused 100% on the coffee, closed all stores for a day to retrain the baristas, brought all 10,000 store managers to New Orleans to rediscover their sense of mission and purpose. As he says, “If we hadn’t had New Orleans, we wouldn’t have turned things around.” Since then, Starbucks has doubled in size and profitability, growing to over 23,000 stores, $16 billion in revenue and $3 billion in profit. Howard remains as both Chairman and CEO today.

NETFLIX
In 2011, Netflix announced: "We will no longer offer a plan that includes both unlimited streaming and DVDs by mail." forcing subscribers to join two separate services and pay $16 a month instead of $10. The massive backlash led to more than 800,000 customers quitting Netflix in a single quarter.
Netflix’s stock plunging fell 77% in 4 months from $300 a share to around $65. Founder, Reed Hastings, took personal responsibility for the miss-step and apologized, saying “I messed up. I slid into arrogance based upon past success. Inside Netflix I say ‘Actions speak louder than words,’ and we should just keep improving our service.” He reversed the changes, refocused the company on
quality and the customer, launching original content like “House of Cards”, and over the next few years the company has recovered to be the fastest growing video streaming company with over $6 billion in revenue.

LEGO
In the late 1990’s, Lego lost money for the first time in its history, with its traditional blocks struggling against the rise of video games and other toy makers. Jørgen Vig Knudstorp stepped in as CEO in 2004, and says “When I became CEO, things had gone awfully wrong at Lego.” He began by refocusing the entire staff of 14,000: “We had to ask, ‘Why does Lego Group exist?’ Ultimately, we determined the answer: to offer our core products, whose unique design lets children learn systematic, creative problem solving - a crucial twentyfirst- century skill. We also decided we want to compete not by being the biggest but by being the best.”
He began involving Lego fans in product development and rewarding ‘Super users’. The Lego brand was reignited, and Lego has now become the most profitable toy company in the world. As Jørgen says, “We used to be seen as a bit of a basket case. Our competitors were ten years ahead of us. Now we’ve passed them.”

APPLE
In 1997 Apple had lost its way, was in disarray and just a few months away from bankruptcy when Steve Jobs returned as Interim CEO. His first step shocked the Apple faithful: A $150 million deal with arch-rival Bill Gates to put Microsoft products on all Apple computers. The move sent a message to the market that Apple had to be a serious business that made smart commercial
decisions, and rebranded Steve from being a dreamer and visionary to also a serious business leader.
He refocused the team, brought on Tim Cook from Compaq (who now leads Apple), and then began the chain of innovative product launches from the iMac, to iPod, to iPhone. Apple’s market cap grew from $3 billion when Steve Jobs returned to the company, to more than $740 billion today. It’s cash went from deficit to over $200 billion today: The biggest corporate turnaround in history.


Each of these  comeback stories show that any company of any size can be turned around when approached with an entrepreneurial mindset. What would Steve Jobs do if he were in your shoes? 

Shift your mindset, and set your mind free.
You’re never too small to start, never too big to fail, and it’s never too late to start again.

“I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs, but how he he bounces when he hits bottom.” ~ George S Patton Jr.
Source: Entrepreneur Inspiration by Roger James Hamilton. 

Please follow us for more interesting tips. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building on Imperfection - "The Leaning Tower of Pisa"

Image
I know a former boss, who preached the concept of perfection and how the little things we do right could make us perfect. This concept is true in its own essence but what happens to people or business who are not getting it right. I came across the history of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and this changed my perception - so instead of striving for perfection, I can build on my imperfections to become monumental. Read the story of the tower below and the learning points you can take from this story as an entrepreneur:  The Leaning Tower of  Pisa is the 3rd oldest structure in Italy and it is over 1000 years old. The Tower of Pisa was designed as a bell tower but its main purpose was to visually attract people to the cathedral in the town of Pisa. In the second year of its construction, the tower began to tilt - this was because the ground was too soft on one side to support the structure's weight. The construction of the tower was halted for almost a century because of war
Read more

6 Effective Strategies for Setting Goals as an Entrepreneur

Image
A goal describes a final destination point that you desire to achieve. The practice of setting goals is an on-going process.Goal setting provides you the opportunity to measure your success. Goal setting helps you measure the criteria for how you spend your time and energy or certain activities. As an entrepreneur, if you want to have a purposeful business, it is important that you clarify what you desire to achieve, know why it is important for the business and define an appropriate action plan. To ensure that you set the right goals for yourself and the growth of your business,  here are six strategies you can use to motivate you and your team to achieve set objectives: 1.  Make it Personal: When setting goal make it personal. The chances are that you will be more motivated to achieve goals that you have set for yourself. Your goals should be yours and something you desire to achieve and are willing to commit time and energy. Your goals should be a direct result of your b
Read more

The Importance of Increasing Your Self-Awareness as an Entrepreneur

Image
Self-awareness means that you understand what inspires you, your emotions and your personality. As entrepreneurs, it is important you understand yourself, As Socrates said: “Know thyself.” What do you enjoy doing? What do you dislike doing?  What poses a challenge to you?. To be a successful entrepreneur, you must be a good leader, and you cannot effectively lead other unless you can lead yourself. Self-awareness is the foundation for developing effective leadership skills. We all are not perfect. When you understand your strengths and weakness as an individual, you gain insight into areas of your life that may need change or improvement. As entrepreneurs, it is important to build your self-awareness because you have a business that depends on you. If you are self-aware, you have the capacity to observe your team members and you can help them align their strengths to the benefit of the business. Here are four ways to increase your self-awareness as an entrepreneur:
Read more