Everyone has to start somewhere, and many of the most successful entrepreneurs came from very humble beginnings. These entrepreneurs started small but grew their companies to national brands.
- Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren was working as a sales assistant at Brooks Brothers when he got the idea for his clothing company. He started to wonder if men were interested in branching out into more colorful, bolder ties.
In 1967, Lauren launched his business selling ties and grossed $500,000 in sales in the first year. The next year, he launched Polo and built his company into a successful global empire.
- Sophia Amoruso
Sophia Amoruso got her start by rummaging through the racks at second-hand stores. She then began selling her vintage clothing finds on eBay. She utilized her network on the social media site MySpace to promote her online store.
Although Amoruso admits she had no real strategy, she was willing to take a chance and pursue something she was passionate about. This led to her becoming the founder of fashion companies, Nasty Gal and Girlboss Media.
- Daymond John
You’d probably recognize Daymond John as one of the investors on Shark Tank, but he’s also the founder of the brand FUBU. He started his clothing line using sewing machines at his mother’s house in Queens, New York.
FUBU grew into a global brand, and John went on to invest in dozens of other companies. He’s also the author of four books and owns a coworking space in Manhattan.
- Sam Walton
Sam Walton opened his first store with almost nothing to his name. He purchased a Ben Franklin franchise in Newport, Arkansas, using a $25,000 loan from his father-in-law.
Walton ran the business with his younger brother and successfully grew the franchise to own 15 different stores. But the company that managed the franchise chain was unwilling to expand into rural areas, which prompted Walton to start his own business
Walton opened his first Walmart store, and it quickly became a success. Today, Walmart is the largest retailer in the country.
- Kevin Plank
Kevin Plank started the company Under Armour with his personal savings and five different credit cards. Within a year of starting the company, he was broke and in tons of credit card debt.
His big break came when he sold his clothing to Georgia Tech for $17,000. His product began to take off and was used by NFL teams and picked up by major retailers. Today, Under Armour is a billion-dollar brand.
- Sara Blakely
When Sara Blakely founded Spanx, she was selling fax machines door-to-door. She used $5,000 of her savings to start the company and bootstrapped her way to success. To this day, she’s never taken on any funding and owns 100% of the company.
She cautions new entrepreneurs not to look to friends and family to validate their business idea, saying this “can stop a lot of multi-million dollar ideas in their tracks in the beginning.”