Sam Walton : Made in America My Story

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Today, if you’re an aspiring startup founder, then the book you’ll see recommended most often is The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. That book says the biggest mistake new entrepreneurs make is waiting too long to launch a product. Many people spend years talking about their idea… only to later find out nobody wants it! In the initial phase of Walmart, the company was ignored by distributors and wholesalers due to the remote location of its stores. Therefore, it had to organize its own distribution system, which ended up being a competitive advantage, due to the consequent flexibility, agility, and economy. His remains are interred at the Bentonville Cemetery. He left his ownership in Walmart to his wife and their children: Rob Walton succeeded his father as the Chairman of Walmart, and John Walton was a director until his death in a 2005 plane crash. The others are not directly involved in the company (except through their voting power as shareholders), however his son Jim Walton is chairman of Arvest Bank. The Walton family held five spots in the top ten richest people in the United States until 2005. Two daughters of Sam's brother Bud Walton— Ann Kroenke and Nancy Laurie—hold smaller shares in the company. [34] Legacy [ edit ] Walton and President George H. W. Bush in March 1992; Sam Walton died 18 days after this photo was taken.

The small stores were just destined to disappear, at least in the numbers they once existed, because the whole thing is driven by the customers, who are free to choose where to shop.”

Learn the story of the man who revolutionized American retail trade!

Walton was then able to begin his strategy of expansion into small cities in the United States, which did not attract the interest of large gift shops. Reading about Sam’s life makes you really like him as a character as he lives such an authentic life without pretending to be anyone else. Some of my favourite parts were all the different experiments he kept on trying, buying an airplane to get around the US and scouting shops and his Saturday meetings. As an old-time small-town merchant, I can tell you that nobody has more love for the heyday of the smalltown retailing era than I do. That’s one of the reasons we chose to put our little Wal-Mart museum on the square in Bentonville. It’s in the old Walton’s Five and Dime building, and it tries to capture a little bit of the old dime store feel. But I can also tell you this: if we had gotten smug about our early success, and said, “Well, we’re the best merchant in town,” and just kept doing everything exactly the way we were doing it, somebody else would have come along and given our customers what they wanted, and we would be out of business today.” What we guard against around here is people saying, ‘Let’s think about it.’ We make a decision. Then we act on it.” Learn from your competitors: Sam Walton believed in studying his competitors and learning from their successes and failures. He was always looking for ways to improve his business and to stay ahead of the competition.

Motivate your partners — money is not enough → high goals, encourage competition, keep score, make bets, switch jobs, don’t become predictable Contrary to the prevailing practice of American discount store chains, Walton located stores in smaller towns, not larger cities. To be near consumers, the only option at the time was to open outlets in small towns. Walton's model offered two advantages. First, existing competition was limited and secondly, if a store was large enough to control business in a town and its surrounding areas, other merchants would be discouraged from entering the market. [14] I learned from a very early age that it was important for us kids to help provide for the home, to be contributors rather than just takers. In the process, of course, we learned how much hard work ti took to get your hands on a dollar, and that when you did it was worth something. One thing my mother and dad shared completely was their approach to money: they just didn’t spend it. Obsession to Win But he soon realized that the company split in two: one favoring Mayer and the other side favoring the other VP. I did something I would do for the rest of my run in the retail business without any shame or embarrassment whatsoever: nose around other people’s stores searching for good talent. Care about People / CustomersHe proved that people can be motivated. The mountain is there, but somebody else has already climbed it.”