Phil Knight, founder of what is now NIKE, wrote the story of his journey from starting the company to its present day success in his 2016 book –Shoe Dog. That year, Bill Gates picked it as one of his favorite books. If you are an entrepreneur or CEO of a company there are some great business ideas to take from his book.
Be Knowledgeable
Phil started a running shoe company which is something he knew first hand. He tells the story of being cut from the baseball team. He was heartbroken, but his mother encouraged him to try another sport. He became a runner. He knew running, he knew runners, and he knew running coaches. Likewise, he had a college business degree. And, he had an idea. If the Japanese were able to challenge German’s manufacturing dominance, why couldn’t they challenge German’s Adidas shoe dominance. He went to Japan and found a company from which he could buy and import running shoes.
Lesson: Entrepreneurs who start a business have special knowledge, plus a vision to apply it in a different way.
Builder Confidence Mind Set
In business you have to balance confidence with caution. When starting a business you have to have a lot of confidence and be willing to take a lot of risks. You cannot grow a company cautiously. In the book Phil discusses the many risks he took. These were calculated risks. For the first several years he worked full time as a CPA and later a college business teacher while developing and growing the company. When problems arose, he sought ways to continue to move ahead and continue to grow the business.
Lesson: Starting a business requires confidence and taking many risks as well as trying new and different ways of doing things.
The Team
In the beginning he obtained financing from his father. But, he built the company with the support of Bill Bowerman, his track coach at the University of Oregon. This person was able to test his shoe designs and suggest changes to enhance shoe performance. As he grew the company he relied on friends to help him with different aspects of the firm. Key people he first hired stayed with him as the company grew over the years. He writes about regular retreats taken by the team to address issues and map the future of the company.
Lesson: You can’t do it all yourself. You have to have people you can delegate key functions to and rely on to carry out their responsibilities.
Improve Sales
When starting a company, one of the first big challenges is growing sales. The marketing starts with how to sell. Blue Ribbon, the company’s original name, sold shoes at track meets from their car before opening their first retail store. They put the swoosh on their shoes to make them distinctive from other shoes. They provided shoes to star athletes before later paying them endorsement fees. They didn’t advertise until later in the firm’s growth.
Lesson: You need to find cost effective ways to constantly improve and grow sales.
Facing Challenges
Phil details many of his failings in running the company. He also talks about the many challenges he faced including his competition, legal issues, government import fees, bank funding, etc. For many years, the ongoing central challenge was cash flow. The more the company grew sales, the more shoes they needed to order. He had to change banks and find other ways to address his cash flow problems.
Lesson: Problems that are not solved do not go away and thus must be addressed one way or another.
The Road Ahead
Phil Knight faced many challenges. If you are the manager or CEO of a small business you have faced many challenges, too. What if you could look ahead and know what challenges were coming next so you could be prepared. Well, you actually can.
Based on interviews and working with 650 CEO’s in 35 different industries, James Fischer was able to identify 7 Stages of Growth that firms pass through. In this research, he also found that businesses face 27 Challenges as they grow through these 7 Stages of Growth. For each stage of growth he also determined the appropriate Builder (confidence): Protector (cautious) Ratio. And, for each stage of growth he identified 5 Non-Negotiable Rules.
Getting Started – A Test Drive
Fischer identified the top five challenges at each stage of growth. Do you know your Top 5 Challenges? I challenge you to take the FREE 27 Challenge Assessment. It will not only give you better insight into your Top 5 Challenges, but you will receive a Special Report for your Stage of Growth. The Report will provide you with the following:
- 5 Biggest Challenges for your firm’s stage of growth
- Tools to Build Your Business
- 5 Non-Negotiable Rules for your firm’s stage of growth
- Business Building Blocks
- Getting Ready for the next Stage of Growth
To take the FREE 27 Challenge Assessment go to https://www.trwconsulting16.com/ and click on Take 27 Challenge Assessment.