Five Entrepreneurial Proposals For Female Billionaires

She takes footless pantyhose Such a simple idea has become a billion dollar business. The 41 year old founder of Spanx is currently the youngest self-made female tycoon on the Forbes rich list.

Since the first meeting last summer, I have accumulated many hours of interview for the rich man from Florida. Similar to the reports of other figures, some of her intelligent words were blocked by the editing process and did not appear in magazines. Here are 5 of Blakley's best advice for future entrepreneurs:

1, don't let the first (or the first 5) deny you.

Blakley did a lot of boring work before she founded Spanx, but according to her, all of these contribute to the ultimate success of Spanx.

Twice in the LSAT exam, Blakley gave up the idea of reading law school. After that, she spent 3 nightmare months in a mobile walk on Disney Park: wearing Mickey Mouse Ear headwear, guiding tourists to visit Epcot Center. Unable to endure, she turned to Danka, an office equipment company, and sold a fax machine worth $20000 each month. It was in 1993 that fax machines were not standard for every small business.

"I've worked in the delivery department, and the biggest fax machine is as big as a photocopier, and I was 22 years old and my body was very thin," she said. "It's very stressful, and the boss is always asking you what you want to accomplish every month."

Blakley still remembered that she almost cried out to the owner of a fruit and vegetable shop in Clearwater, Florida (Clearwater, Fla.) to buy her product. "The reason for the refusal is that he has no outlet," she said. "I said," if I can solve the socket problem, will you buy my fax machine? "Do you know how I did it? I went to another shop in the corner and asked if I could pull a wire to the fruit and vegetable shop. That was my first business. I have been doing this job for 7 years.

Blakley thought that Danka taught her how to sell phone calls, how to deal with customers' rejection, and how to get her feet across the threshold of customers. When she decided to start Spanx, these were all crucial skills. "My telemarketing and everyone says I can't do that and the training I continue to carry out is very important for the first two years of Spanx." She said.

2., don't rush to quit your formal job.

　　 Sara Blakely At the age of 27, he decided to create a product that did not exist, a plastic underwear that controls his figure. In her own words, her product can not be a "pure tights" or an old-fashioned waist tights with ugly sutures on her toes. She still does nine to five jobs at Danka, but she carefully studies the design and existing patents of the tights at night and weekends. When the time came to make her own prototype, she drove back and forth between her home in Atlanta and North Carolina, where she once again used to listen to the "no" that others said, and this is what the knitting factory owner said.

Blakley resigned from Danka when he was only 29 years old, and she had two years of thought about creating Spanx. She gradually became accustomed to little sleep and did not let her colleagues know her sideline. While continuing her formal duties, she sent the first batch of tights to her hometown.

"Sometimes I work in Danka all day, and at the same time, the delivery truck is sending the box of Spanx products outside my apartment," she said. She did not submit her resignation letter until she was fully convinced that her start-up was on the right track.

3, do not try to gain recognition from others.

When Blakley was busy with her grand ideas, she decided not to tell her friends and family what she was doing, besides her cohabiting boyfriend. She knew that her closest people would persuade her not to leave her sober hours of work out of a really crazy product out of concern and love.

"My family knows," Sara is busy realizing some idea, but I never tell them what that idea is. " She said, "do not ask for their feedback on your products, ideas or your business just to get approval from others. You can discuss with people who can improve your thinking, but if you look for approval from friends, colleagues, husbands or wives, you have to be careful, because this may kill many millions of dollars of creativity at the beginning.

When Blakley made a clean breast of the situation, Spanx was already in production, and no longer could discourage her.

4, face weaknesses

In 2000, when Spanx was selected as "Oprah Winfrey's favorite object", the floodgates were opened. Neiman Markus (Neiman Marcus) and Blunmin Dyer (Bloomingdale 's) department stores sold out all their stockings without stockings. Blakley is now promoting Spanx in the lobby of various department stores, and has been promoting the QVC TV shopping platform since 2001. Every time for a few hours -- with Google's former CEO Eric (Eric Schmidt), there is no adult supervision.

Laurie Ann Gorman (Laurie Ann Goldman) has been a senior executive of Coca Cola Co for a long time and has participated in the brand promotion and other large-scale projects of the beverage giant at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. She had just had a baby and was going to Saks store in Atlanta to buy Spanx's waist net stockings. Most of the sizes there have been sold out.

"I started thinking about the problems of supply chain management, considering why they were sold out," Goldman said. "I said to the salesperson," you really need to talk about the replenishment plan with the supplier. "

Blakley is a charismatic salesperson, too. Spanx The best spokesperson. But according to Goldman's memory, she has never worked in the fashion industry, nor has she attended any business school courses. After the story of the Saks shop, they met at lunch. Goldman first served as a consultant to the board and became CEO in 2002.

"She brings much more formal sense and more structure than before," Blakley said. "We have had no formal business plan before, and we have 1 and 3 years of goals. Laurie Ann immediately knew that this could be a great opportunity. Our personality is very different, but our thinking is the same. We often share the same view, but there will be healthy debates at different times. In 90% of the time, she will manage the company in the same way as I do, but at a higher level.

5, don't stop progress.

She could stop after her first product without tights. After all, in 2000, she had earned 11000 dollars more than Danka at the age of 22, and the Commission was much improved. "In the first year of business, I made $4 million from every $20 product." She said. In second years, sales revenue reached $10 million. But as competitors and counterfeiters flooded the market, she and her growing team knew that they could not eat their old books.

Spanx's product catalog evolved from the first pantyhose to 200 products in 10 years. Only when it is meaningful to the company or meets the needs of users, will Blakley release a new category (such as bra or men's vest). With the help of Goldman and her 125 person team at Spanx headquarters in Atlanta, Blakley is trying to internationalize the brand. Spanx has been sold in English speaking countries, and Asia is a huge target market after the Middle East.

"In the next 10 years, I think Spanx will go to the world," Blakley said. "No matter where, we will not drop any corner." Our products will be built around the world to create a brand beyond the category. There are so many things waiting for us to improve and improve.