BUSINESS LESSONS FROM THE MEN
WHO BUILT AMERICA
Growing up, I had an obsession for learning
about great personalities; living or dead, good or bad. I wanted to understand
what drove their passion or how they overcame challenges. I can roughly say I
have read the biography of over 100 famous personalities, from the world of
sports, music, politics and business.
I was having a chat one sunny afternoon, with Mr.
Asenime Gregory, CEO, Orion Express,
a domestic logistics company that services online stores, corporate
organizations and individuals alike. He told me about an 8-part documentary
that had aired on The History Channel titled "The Men Who Built
America". I was awestruck when he made mention of John D. Rockefeller, the
all-time richest man in the world. I had to see this series.
After watching through each episode, I learnt a
thing or two of -not only about John D. Rockefeller- other great business
personalities. These great titans of industries I understood, shared certain traits
that helped them duck challenges; even the seemingly impasse. Literarily, these men - Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie,
J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford,
didn’t build America from its bedrock. While people argue that these men practiced
monopolistic businesses, they indeed laid the bedrock for industrialization in
America’s history. While watching the series, a series of questions lurked at a
corner of my heart. What qualities did these
men have that made them see opportunities where others didn’t? How did they
turn their companies into super-brands? How did they make money even when the nation
was in economic depression?
I want to share the little business lessons
learnt from this incredible business documentary. Here are ten tips I’m sharing
in this article from The Men Who Built
America documentary;
-
Understand the power of the people (Consumers are a lot powerful
than you think);
In his
bestseller, How I lost my Virginity,
Sir Richard Branson discussed in one of the chapters how his kids helped him
understand the changes in trends. With this knowledge, he understood the shift
from game consoles to music gadgets. The customers can
inspire innovation across multiple industries. The people, knowingly or sometimes unknowingly,
give out signs that shows changes in tastes, fashion sense, cultural trends.
Understanding these signals would help a business person know the right
direction to paddle his business towards. Even top business brands like Louis
Vuitton, Coca-Cola and others understand the strength that the people possess
and style new products in line with trends while still maintaining their
signature and brand identity. In this business market, the people are the
consumers who would come to the market and pay cash for a product that is
trendy and in touch with their styles. Please note also, inasmuch as you want
to be a company that is dynamic and trendy, what stands a business as a brand
is its consistency. Be trendy and dynamic but still stick to your core ideals.
-
Shrewdness and Innovative;
John D.
Rockefeller was a shrewd businessman. I
have no doubt about that. He introduced techniques that totally reshaped
the oil industry. In the mid-19th century, the chief
demand was for kerosene but in the refining process of crude oil to kerosene,
there were many by-products that were been thrown away. Where others saw waste,
he saw wealth. He sold one byproduct paraffin to candle-makers and another
byproduct petroleum jelly to medical supply companies. He was smarter than his
competition. What a chap! Rockefeller
also demanded rebates, or discounted rates from the
railroads that transported his oil. He used all these methods to reduce the
price of oil to his consumers. His profits soared and his competitors were
crushed one by one. Rockefeller also forced smaller companies to surrender
their stock to his control thereby building up a giant trust. Wicked!
-
Be a servant to lead (Mentorship is useful);
Great
business leaders were once good followers. Mentorship is acquiring knowledge at
the feet of a more experienced individual in a field that you choose to follow.
Being someone’s protégé isn’t shameful. Before you can lead, you need to follow
and learn. Get tips on how your mentor started up, challenges he faced, and how
they overcame them. Study their lifestyle, eating habits but still being true
to you. Andrew Carnegie was a student of Thomas Scott, a businessman and
railroad executive, Plato learnt at the feet of Socrates, the great Greek
Philosopher. Great leaders were once attentive students!
-
Resilience;
These men
were resilient in the face of challenges that they faced. Dean .M. Becker,
Managing Director and Principal of Adaptiv
Learning Systems, a company that
develops and delivers programs about resilience training, puts it: “More than
education, more than experience, more than training, a person’s level of
resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails. Cornelius Vanderbilt who
was once in charge of the Harlem
Rail Roads, encountered conflicts with connecting rail road lines. But in each
case, the strife ended in a victory for him.
-
Reinventing the wheel is no crime (There are no rules!);
Do not
limit yourself to creating something new. My mentor, Ofuzim Anderson, CEO, Zimylink Brand Managers, once told me;
“When looking to create something, don’t limit yourself too much to creating
something entirely new and different (though, if you strike gold as a pioneer
of something new, grab it fast!). Look at previous stuffs and try to create
something better from that”. It’s a rarity to see a modern business that is not
comparable to another business, either thriving or obsolete. But when
reinventing the wheel, be creative, smart and innovative. I don’t mean you have
to be ‘Einstein smart’. Tweak the status
quo a little bit.
-
Visionaries;
Foresight
into the future is not a must have to make money but it is a necessity to make wealth.
I don’t know if you get what I’m trying to piece together. You can solve
today’s problem and make money but if you can also solve a problem that is not
known yet, you’ll create wealth. A business driven by its impact on the future
is a step close to wealth. A business that targets future market is headed in
the right direction. I’m not necessarily saying that you must have a business
with its target market for the future but it gives a vantage point for
business. Imagine I studied the market and I realised that in the nearest
future, the demand for palm fruits would be high because of a shift in the
economic policies globally towards agriculture and I invested capital into
raising a plantation of palm fruits. After 15-25 years, there was an agricultural
boom and palm fruit was at the helm of this boom, imagine how much wealth my
plantation would provide. Foresight!
-
Networking;
Cornelius
Vanderbilt was at a crossroad with his business. He had realised that the
future of railroads was not in building more rails but in transportation of
cargoes. He needed a new venture that would not only keep him in business but
also give him an edge over his competition. Likewise, the demand for kerosene
all over the country was high and John D. Rockefeller also needed something –
he needed a means of transportation for his supplies. Both men networked to
help each other. John D. got to transport his kerosene at a cheap rate and
Vanderbilt always had goods on his train. It was a win-win situation. Or so it seemed!
- Want to get rich, solve a need!
To start
a business, research on a need and provide solutions for that need. People
needed cheap but quality cars; Henry Ford provided that for them. Safe source
of light at night, kerosene was provided by John D. Rockefeller. Steel was in
high demand by the Navy for their submarines and also by construction companies,
Andrew Carnegie provided them with just that. Help the people solve what they
need and they would buy from you.
- Respect Competition, not fear it;
Because
you started a business doesn’t necessarily give you full rights to owning that
business. Competition definitely would spring up. Moreso, if you are running a
business that already has big-time
players in that industry; do not fright but respect and learn from them.
When you fear your competition, you give them an edge over you. Respect your
competition, study their strength and weakness and provide a better package
than they are offering to the customers. At this junction, it pays to be an
innovative person or work with a team of innovative mind. John D. Rockefeller
had just devised a means of cutting the railroads out of business by
transporting his oil through pipes and not by rails. Thomas Scott, a business
man who owned the rail road that transported the oil from John D. Rockefeller’s
refinery in Pittsburgh, decided to build his own pipeline to connect Pittsburgh
and New York and provide stiff competition for as well as to remain relevant to
John D. Rockefeller in his oil transport. What did John D. Rockefeller do to
crush his new emerging competition? He simply shut down his refinery in
Pittsburgh. What a blow to the guts of Thomas Scott. And finally
- Hard work and determination;
This
point is self explanatory. Even though it has being over-flogged over time,
enough emphasis cannot be made on the topic. The hardwork of a businessman
helps elevate his business from startup to global brands. Hardwork and
determination are key proponents of a successful business.
***
Thanks
for taking your time to read through this business article and a big thanks to The
History Channel and Stephen David, the director of the documentary, Men Who Built America. It was such an
entertaining and informative show.
Friendly note: These business tips shared
here are not necessarily a prerequisite for a successful business/brand. Other
elements abound that make a business successful. These are tips learnt from
studying these great business personalities and how they operated their
business.
If you have any suggestions
or criticism to this article, kindly comment so we could brainstorm together.
You can also share these articles with business colleagues and also on your
social media platforms. Thanks!
