Kamprad, founder of IKEA Sweden: I am stingy and proud.
I started my business at the age of five.
Ingvar Kamprad, who is 78 years old, was born into a family that runs a farm. He showed his talent in business at an early age.
193 1 year, five-year-old kamprad saw that people around the manor used a lot of matches, and the demand was in short supply, so she had a brainwave and asked her aunt to buy him 100 boxes from the market.
Kamprad jumped in front of his grandmother with a match in his hand and sold her his goods. Grandma praised kamprad for her cleverness and bought several boxes of matches. Kamprad, who tasted the profit from commodities for the first time, confidently sold matches to his neighbors. In less than a day, he sold all the matches and earned 100 euros.
Looking at Ouer at 100, kamprad was very excited. This excitement prompted him to enjoy it. He sold Christmas cards and wall hangings one after another, rode around the town on his bicycle and peddled the fish he had just caught.
Kamprad, who was born in a merchant's family, obviously has the "gene" of doing business in his bones. He said that he had a strong desire to make money since he was a child and made up his mind to be a businessman in the future.
And his wish can be realized because of the way his family treated him.
Grandma has been his loyal customer since that match purchase. Whether she needs it or not, she will buy all kinds of small commodities for her grandson. Although the number is small, it will always give kamprad the courage to continue to distribute.
Being trusted as an adult is also one of the reasons why kamprad can make continuous progress and success.
10 years old, kamprad borrowed 90 kroner from his father. It was a lot of money at that time, but the father calmly handed it to his son, and he believed in kamprad's management ability. As a result, he lived up to his father's high hopes.
1943 In the spring, kamprad decided to start his own company before going to Gothenburg Business School, and since he was only 17 years old, the bidding company had to obtain the permission of his guardian first. So he asked his uncle for help.
Uncle didn't think his behavior was ridiculous, nor did he laugh at his wishful thinking. Instead, I stopped my work, introduced kamprad into the kitchen at home, poured him a cup of coffee first, and then sat at the table and said, "Tell me carefully, son, what kind of company do you want to run?" When kamprad told all the plans in his mind, his uncle pondered for a while and agreed to his request.
This company is the famous IKEA.
In fact, the way of education has a great influence on the growth and development of a person's life. At that time, little Edison learned to hatch chickens from hens. If he is in China, this behavior may be called naughty or disruptive by adults.
It is said that in this huge tsunami in Southeast Asia, a 10-year-old English girl was vacationing with her parents in Phuket, Thailand, and she learned the basic knowledge about the tsunami in geography class. When she suddenly found that the sea water was the same as what the teacher said, she told her mother that there might be a tsunami. Her parents immediately told other tourists and hotel staff. People evacuated immediately, which not only saved a family of four, but also saved the lives of more than 100 tourists and hotel employees.
As soon as the news came out, many people lamented: "If she is China's child, will her parents listen to her carefully and then take action?"
The philosophy of IKEA
Being good at observing and thinking and finding business opportunities at any time can be said to be another reason for kamprad's success.
1948 One day, kamprad saw an advertisement of a man who had been doing a big furniture business, and he couldn't help but move: "There are many small furniture dealers near Mokern where I live now. Why don't I try to do the furniture business? " Before that, kamprad only sold Christmas cards, seeds, fountain pens, photo frames, watches, wallets and nylon stockings.
Like all retailers, kamprad, which started by selling furniture, attaches great importance to cost control.
In order to reduce costs, kamprad never hesitated to spend time on design. So far, IKEA's Bunger coffee cup has been redesigned three times, just to put more things on a tray. After three times of design, the capacity is 864, 1280 and 2024 respectively. Self-organizing furniture has become one of the secrets of IKEA's success.
This model is now more and more imitated by domestic entrepreneurs. Yi Xiaodi, chairman of Sunshine 100 Group, admitted to Time Weekly more than once that kamprad is the most worthy person to learn from. His cost consciousness seems to be more "laborious", but "sharpening the knife does not mistake the woodcutter."
Kamprad believes that the unique success secret of IKEA lies in "raising the price of umbrellas on sunny days and selling them at a discount when it rains".
Today, kamprad handed over his manager. But after retirement, kamprad still adhered to the principle of cost saving, officially settled in Switzerland with lower taxes, and liked to go to the market to buy vegetables and fruits in the afternoon when the price was cheaper.
Kamprad's retirement has not changed the pace of IKEA's expansion. Du, general manager of IKEA China, revealed that the area of the second shopping mall in Wangjing is four times that of Madian. The shopping center will open in 2005, and the annual sales are expected to reach 7-1100 million yuan.
What is certain, however, is that without social progress, urbanization, the development of automobiles and highways, the increase in the number of professional women, social reforms around housing, families and housing conditions, and high-rise buildings, kamprad may not have room to play its role.
Fertile water is specially used to fertilize your own land, not to let it flow to other people's fields-the benefits can only be shared by your family.
Today, IKEA has developed into a huge multinational enterprise, with more than 65,438+080 chain stores, more than 76,000 employees, 42 trade branches in 33 countries, and cooperation with 65,438+0800 suppliers in 55 countries, with an average of 654,380+050 million customers and annual sales of 654.38.
Although these figures representing "white money" do not directly prove that kamprad is the richest man in the world, and after the news that "kamprad replaced Gates as the richest man in the world" came out, Marianne barna, a spokeswoman for IKEA, said, "This is completely wrong. 1982, kamprad donated his enterprise to the Sting Ingka Foundation in the Netherlands ",but what is certain is that kamprad is one of the richest people in the world.
There are many people who make furniture and chain stores all over the world. Why is kamprad the new richest man? Careful analysis shows that this is related to the way IKEA operates.
Unlike other retailers, IKEA is not satisfied with controlling only the largest household product channel in the world, but also hopes that its own brand and patented products will eventually cover the whole world. IKEA pioneered the "integrated brand" model, which achieved the perfect integration of manufacturer brand and retailer brands.
In this respect, it is different from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart itself does not produce products, but can only earn sales profits, while IKEA makes its own products, ensuring that all product profits and sales profits belong to itself, and all fat water does not flow to outsiders.
"In a sense, IKEA is the only organization in the world that can successfully manage both channels and products, and its' integrated brand' strategy is to a great extent the key to the smooth integration of the industrial chain." Deng Linrong, a professor at the Business School of Renmin University of China, agrees. "Being able to independently develop and design products is a symbol of identity. Although it is a last resort for IKEA to develop its own products for various reasons, IKEA has taken a smarter road than other retailers. "