8 Small Business That Made It Big: The Journey of Entrepreneurship

8. SMALL BUSINESSES THAT MADE IT BIG FROM LITTLE ACORNS, GREAT OAKS GROW In political economics, entrepreneurship is the process of identifying and initiating a business venture, sourcing and organizing the required resources and taking both the risks and rewards associated with the venture. C.J. WALKER WALKER'S HAIRCARE Born in the late 1800's to former slaves, C.J "The value of an idea lies in the using of it." - Thomas Edison Walker was a single parent during a time when women in general were not seen as 1900 'business minded'. She introduced a hair care line aimed at African-American women and General Electric Co-founder became the first female self-made millionaire in America. Her net worth was over $1 million in 1919 when she died which, accounting for inflation, EDWIN H. LAND would be worth around $13 million today. INSTANT PHOTOGRAPHY Edwin Land was born in 1909. His parents Entrepreneur is a loanword from the French language first used in 1723. were of eastern European Jewish decent and his father owned a scrap metal yard. He 1940 studied chemistry at Harvard and went on to invent polarising film and the first instant Polaroid camera. His skills were later put to military use developing vectographs and satellite surveillance. ANITA RODDICK THE BODY SHOP Anita Roddick, born to Italian immigrants during the second world war, went onto "It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen."/ found The Body Shop which promoted 1960 environmental awareness and social responsibility. Scott Belsky Behance co-founder Originally aiming to take £300 per week, the company was bought by L'Oreal in 2006 for £652 million. BEN & JERRY BEN & JERRY'S ICE CREAM Today the term entrepreneur implies qualities of leadership. initiative and innovation Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends. Jerry couldn't get into medical school and Ben dropped out of college. They took a correspondence course 1970 on ice cream making in 1977. A year later they in manufacturing. delivery, or services. received a $12,000 investment to start their own ice cream parlor. They sold the company in 2000 to Unilever for $326 ELON MUSK million. ZIP2, PAYPAL & TESLA MOTORS Elon Musk was born in South Africa in 1971. After relocating to America, he co-founded Zip2, PayPal and Tesla Motors. He became a "It's not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas." millionaire at 28 when he (2000 sold his share of Zip 2 for $22 million. PayPal was acquired by eBay for - Edwin Land, $1.5 billion in 2002 and Polaroid co-founder today, his net worth is over $8.8 billion. CATHERINE COOK MY YEAR BOOK/MEETME Average number of hours worked in a week Catherine Cook founded MyYearBook when she was just 15. Launched in 2005, in just one 2005) year the website's worth grew to $4 million. EMPLOYEΕ. ENTREPRENEUR The site was renamed in 2012 to MeetMe to draw in a broader audience and was ranked in 39 44 the top 25 most trafficked sites in the U.S. The site receives an annual revenue of $20 million and now has a net BLAKE MYCOSKIE worth of $30 million. ONE FOR ONE/TOMS SHOES Blake Mycoskie: Recognized as the man who started the One for One shoe faction. At the tender age of 33, Blake has created a successful business. TOMS shoes is a "Fail often so you can succeed sooner. for-profit company that donates one pair of (2006 shoes to a child in a poverty-stricken country for every pair sold. TOMS is a - Tom Kelley perfect example of a Ideo partner business that is profitable, but manages to give LEVI ROOTS back at the same time. REGGAE REGGAE SAUCE In the UK, only After a successful music career as a reggae musician, Levi Roots started over as a small 30% trader at Notting Hill Carnival selling his now famous sauce. After appearing on the TV of entrepreneurs are better off in comparison to when they were employed. [But 81% are a lot happier!)] program Dragon's Den, we was offered 2007 £50,000 investment capital. The brand itself has grown to include other products and is now worth around £40 million. SOURCES http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeetMe http://www.investopedia.com/slide-show/young-entrepreneurs/ http://juniorbiz.com/top-25-young-entrepreneurs http://entreprenomics.com/the-7-most-inspirational-entrepreneurs/ http://onboardly.com/content-marketing/101-kickass-startup-quotes/#.UitGbrx56yU#ixzz2lq9osxi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_and_Jerry%27s http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventions/p/Elon-Musk.htm http://www.thebodyshop.com/services/aboutus_anita-roddick.aspx http://www.leviroots.com/about-levi-roots/ http://www.anitaroddick.com/aboutanita.php http://www.barclays.co.uk/BusinessBankAccounts/Entrepreneursinnumbers/P1242621930322 MERCHANT MONEY MM FUNDING YOUR BUSINESS SUGGESS