In the topic of successful entrepreneurship, L.L. Bean would definitely be one of the top examples that it was one of the largest mail-order companies in the area of outdoor equipment in history. From the start in 1912 with a borrowed $400 and only one product offered in the United States, the business had grown to sell more than…
1. How successful has L.L. Bean been?
It sold more than 1000 outdoor equipment, such as hunter boots and camping tools, targeted to both men and women. The company had a growth rate of over 25% between in 1967 and 1975 and its return on equity was over 30% between 1975 and 1980.
In 1980, sales increased to $120 million and the number of buyers increased to 2.1 million. More than 26 million catalogs were mailed and 2.2 million of customers ordered its products after receiving the catalogs. Out of all the products, Main Hunting Shoes was the Company’s most popular one that 175,000 pair was sold in that year.
2. What are the reasons for L.L. Bean’s success?
There are three main reasons for L.L. Bean’s success, which include:
1. High quality
According to Leon Leonwood Bean, the late founder of L.L. Bean, the reasons for L.L. Bean’s success is that it “provides quality apparel, footwear, and equipment to outdoorspeople at the fairest possible prices and with the most efficient and accommodating service”.
2. Good customer service
Leon Leonwood Bean believed that the customers would also like anything he liked and used himself. He made sure he was manufacturing and selling what he was interested in so that he would put 100% passion and effort into his business. Bean believed that word-of-mouth advertising and customer satisfaction were critical to the company’s success that he treated his customers wi...
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... its business worldwide. On the good side, L.L. Bean would be able to generate an enormous amount of sales and profit if the expansion is successful. This option would generate the best result of company’s growth opportunities.
As seen, each option has both pros and cons attached to it. It is best for L.L. Bean to take all approaches in order to expand its business. It is better for the company to focus on the manufacturing expansion and international sales first since they have had some experience in both field already. Once they are settled and sales started to grow, L.L. Bean can move on to the retail expansion. This is the safest way to expand its business while maintaining the company’s brand image. L.L. Bean has a lot of potential to grow, remaining in the presence of Maine and mail order within the U.S. would only waste the talent and limit its growth.
In 1958, Alex Grass incorporated Rack Rite Distributors, Inc. Grass opened Rite Aid’s first store, through Rack Rite, in 1962, as a Thrift D Discount Center, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 1963, Thrift D Discount Center became a drugstore chain when they opened five more stores. In 1965, the Thrift D Discount Center expanded to five northeastern states by quickly acquiring and opening new stores. In 1966, the first Rite Aid store opened in New Rochelle, New York. 1976, they introduced seventy Rite Aid private label products. The next year, 1968, they changed their name, officially, to Rite Aid Corporation and started trading on the American Stock Exchange. Then, two years later, in the beginning of the 1970’s, they moved to the New York Stock Exchange. Again, two years later, 1972, they had been operating 267 stores in 10 states. 1981, nine years later, they became the third-largest retail drugstore chain in the country. In 1983, they made over $1 billion in sales. In 1987, their twenty-fifth anniversary was celebrated and they, by then, had 420 stores in 9 states and Washington D.C., as well as Pennsylvania, where they started their business as a Thrift D Discount Center, in Scranton. Their market had greatly expanded and they had passed the 2,000-store mark to become the nation’s largest drug store chain in terms of store count. Eight years later, in 1995, they acquired Perry Drug Stores, the biggest chain of drugstores in Michigan. It was their largest acquisition to date. By then they had operated nearly 3,000 stores. That same year, Martin Grass succeeded his father Alex Grass, as Chairman and CEO of Rite Aid. The year after that, they had grown out to the West Coast and the Gulf Coast, adding more than ...
By building international reach; Wal-Mart would gain economies of scale, which increase the ability to reduce prices to its customers. Furthermore, global suppliers would help the company facilitate the entry process into new markets by having the “wisdom and support” of an established presence in the market who know customer trends and market needs and specifications. Not to forget the advantage of e-commerce in breaking the international barriers and increasing sales, which is already happening in Mexico through kiosks, where consumers order online and pay/pick at the
...choices for executives, and gaining rapport with local suppliers, the corporation stands a good chance of achieving success in their foreign expansion.
Columbia’s corporate culture and business personality reflects a great deal of the ideals which Gert Boyle’s leadership had imbued into the company. ...
L.A. Gear is an athletic shoe manufacturer that is struggling in the athletic footwear industry. The company is ranked number three following Nike and Reebok. L.A. Gear is well known to its female customers due to their fashionable shoe line. To be able to gain some ground on the other shoe manufacturers L.A. Gear is going to have to develop a men's shoe line and capture some of the male buyers. This is not going to be an easy task since Nike and Reebok spend an extensive amount of money on their advertising campaigns including celebrity spokesmen. L.A. gear not only needs to capture the male buyers but they also need to maintain their female customers so a delicate balance is needed. An extensive research and marketing campaign will be necessary to penetrate this market and still maintain its loyal customers and brand recognition. Once the research is gathered a full scale marketing campaign will follow once the new direction of the company is determined.
Just for Feet Inc. was a renowned sportswear and athletic shoes company that was based in Birmingham, Alabama. From a simple start in the year 1977, the firm grew to be one of the largest retail companies in athletic shoes and sportswear for the better part of its existence. The firm grew due to its attractive strategies that it applied. In an attempt to identify with its primary market, the firm had a basketball court located in each of its stores or in a fenced courtyard nearby. To compliment on the basketball effectiveness, the firm occasionally invited professional athletes to appear in these courts and the stores. As a result, the presence of these athletes attracted a large volume of shoppers. Furthermore, the firm played loud rock music in stores and also had a large bank of video monitors that enabled its customers to watch live sporting events which kept the customers entertained. As a result, the entertainment created the necessary link with its customers (Reynolds, 2011: White, 2013). To further enhance its customer experience, the firm had created a
The strategy of WFM, co founder Mackey, is to continue offering healthier options for its customers. The movement into Canada and the UK in the last few years, lays the footprint for additional global expansion. Mackey intends to increase WFM to 1000 stores. The question is whether it will happen through acquisitions or new store locations. The answer based on their history is a combination of both. The store in Canada opened in 2002. Since brand recognition is not as strong, the store struggled somewhat in the beginning; however, the expectation is that it will grow to one billion in the next ten years (Patton, 2013). The stores in UK, which are in the greater London area, have received mixed receptions, and some stores are selling well while other locations are not. However, Mackey is not deterred and believes that longevity will produce the desired results.
This in turn generated more volume in sales. The other innovative thing that was implemented, was creating more than one stream of income for the company. Dick’s sporting Goods created their own private labels of sporting gear, apparel and equipment, and this was offered in the store as well as name brands like Nike and Under Armour. The store setup consisted of mini stores under one umbrella. The hunting section was its own entity, with individual specialist for that genre, as well as golfing specialist in its own mini store. Another plus in the cap of Dick’s Sporting Goods was the ability to test equipment before you purchased it, and having professionals to assist you and adjust your tailor your equipment to fit the individual customer (i.e The Golf Pro Shop, and Archery
It is a little known fact that small businesses make up a major factor of the American workforce. Since the word small is in the title most people think nothing of them, but when one takes the time to think that there are millions of small businesses, most with at least two to ten workers, the amount of people begins to add up. There are many factors that could contribute to a business failing, and it happens all the time in America. Small businesses must have solid business plans, a good use of technology, appealing merchandise, and appropriate financing to survive and prosper in the economy.
When selecting our case, we wanted to choose a company that a majority of our class wouldn’t have heard of before. We were researching possible topics and companies and came across Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation. The company sold a wide variety of products ranging from vacuum-sealed jars of bacon to chewing gum from its inception in 1890. However, Beech-Nut’s most lucrative product was its baby food, which began around the 1930s. At this time, the company was the second largest producer of baby food products in the U.S. The company differentiated itself from competitors by packaging its product in glass jars rather than cans, which were used by most manufacturers. Their baby food line did well, but sales took off with the arrival of the postwar baby boom, where sales nearly doubled between 1948 and 1950. By 1950, Beech-Nut had 48 different types of jarred baby foods that provided more than a quarter of the company’s $70 million of revenue.
The Shoe Industry consists of a multitude of footwear categories, varying in utility, style and occasion. When overseeing the market for the shoe industry, we must look at the influence of all shoe trades universally to comprehensively understand how the disparities in sales relate to the needs of specific regions. The global retail market within the shoe industry currently represents $185 billion, driven primarily by Asian and Latin American economies and is expected to reach $211.5 billion by 2018. The growth rate globally was 6% between 2004 and 2008, contrasting to the 2% compound annual growth from 2008 to 2012. The United States holds over 24% of the overall industry size it projected over $48 billion in annual revenue in 2012. Domestically, the growth rate has been flat at 0.3%. On a unit volume basis, global footwear consumption for 2012 is approximately 11,421.3 million (in pairs), where the United States makes up roughly 2,741.1 million (in pairs). By 2018 the U.S. Census Bureau has forecasted a steady decline within demand domestically of 3% and an increase of 1% globally.
In the United States, approximately one in eight adults are self-employed. In their minds exists a one common dream. This is the entrepreneurial dream of self-employment. It is the freedom to start, grow, and cash in a new business. Most of the extravagant millionaires of today build up their wealth in this way. An entrepreneur is someone who has the ability to build and develop his own business. In today's fast paced world of business, many people chose to work for themselves. A career as an entrepreneur is a risky, yet personally rewarding endeavor.
Many people dream of becoming entrepreneurs someday. But it made me realize that there other factors that needs to be taken into consideration. We need to ask ourselves are we ready to take the challenge to the outside world. Not everyone have the vision, innovation and creativity to become an entrepreneur. The individual must have a positive attitude and accept the responsibility, have discipline to meet their goals, and take action when the opportunity presents itself. Many prefer a job security and rely on a weekly paycheck, while entrepreneurs will take risks and doesn 't have that luxury to know the amount of their income.
An entrepreneur is someone with the capacity to lead a business to success and is willing to take the risks in order to accomplish their goals. (Dollonger, 2002). Starting a new business is an example of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are very important in order for any business to succeed, however, only some entrepreneurs will succeed in life. Here are some of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.