Some of today's top global brands had humble beginnings. Today, they are trailblazers and pioneers in their niches.
As a business, it pays to learn from other successful companies. Their growth stories often give us inspiration, motivation, and the drive to succeed.
Here, in this post, we take you into some of the most profitable and fastest-growing companies on the planet. We've picked a list of the world's most successful companies that didn't shy from thinking out of the box.
Take a leaf from their book and uncover their success secrets and see if you can replicate it at your workplace.
No list of successful companies in the world is complete without including Google. It's undoubtedly one of the most popular brands in the world, so much so, that the brand name today is a verb. As one of the super cool places to work in the world, Google has branded itself into business and pop cultures.
The search engine giant is renowned for its working environment – cool slides, power nap cubicles, enormous cafeterias, pet-friendly workplace, and more. The company believes in flexible working hours and creating a working environment that nurtures creativity and responsibility without being rigid.
What to Learn from Google: Having a flexible work environment that recognizes talent makes Google attract the brightest and most creative minds in the world.
What you can do: Instead, of forcing employees to chain themselves at their desks, try to make your working hours flexible. If you are worried that this will make resource allocations a problem, check out the eResource Scheduler that makes resource management efficient and optimized. Using the resource allocation tool , you can quickly see who is working on what, who is available, the progress of a job – irrespective of whether an employee works from the office or works from home.
Even if you are a die-hard Android fan, there's no denying that Apple is one of the most noteworthy companies in the world. Apple often tops the charts as the most innovative company of the year.
Today, the story of how Steve Jobs build the brand is a lesson for all young entrepreneurs. His pursuit for perfection, his ability to predict trends, his out-of-the-box thinking is what sets Apple from all other similar brands. Jobs and his team redefined user experience. Regardless of the product they built, their primary focus was on delivering a seamless user experience.
Though Apple has received a lot of flak for being stuck in a rut for the last few years, there's no denying the fact that Apple makes for a role-model worthy company.
What to Learn from Apple: While there are plenty of things that you can learn from Apple and its founder, here's one lesson that you should always keep in mind – user experience is the core of all your business decisions. Whether you are involved in manufacturing a safety pin or working on the next big gadget, you need to ensure that your product/service exceeds customer expectations.
What you can do: Get your team to think out of the box. Let them know that even if the results aren't always in your favor, innovation and creativity will pay off, ultimately.
Amazon - the biggest company in the world right now and its founder Jeff Bezos is one of the richest men on the planet. Amazon initially started as an online bookseller, and Jeff Bezos founded the company out of the money he borrowed from his parents. Today, Amazon is the world's biggest eRetailer and is the dominant player in several countries across the globe.
What to Learn from Amazon: Amazon is the classic example of dominating and winning a niche before diversifying. Though the company sells everything under the sun today, Amazon initially focused on perfecting online bookselling before diversifying. This helped the company learn the tricks of the trade so that they could replicate it in other niches.
What you can do: Get the basics right. While it may be tempting to expand your line of products or services as early as possible, make sure that you don't grow too soon. Focus on perfecting your core products/services and then look at diversifying.
The idea for Airbnb shaped up when Brian Chesky, the founder, was renting out a couch in his San Francisco apartment, to earn some extra bucks. Chesky has always been vocal about the stupendous growth of his company, and he has stated several times that he couldn't believe the current level of success enjoyed by his brand.
Ever since Airbnb was launched in 2008, the company has grown super-fast. Today, Airbnb is present in over 192 countries with more than 2 million listings and a market value of $25 billion.
What to Learn from Airbnb:Airbnb's eureka moment came when its founder created a previously non-existent niche industry. He untapped the potential of low budget travel and provided travelers with a secure, safe, affordable, and unique travel choice for budget travelers.
What you can do: Learn the art of utilizing opportunities that come your way and always be on the lookout for the next big thing.
Just like Airbnb, Uber revolutionized another aspect of the travel industry – booking cabs. Uber provided users with a much-needed alternative to regular taxis. All users have to do is download the app on their mobile phone, input their current location, and they can start requesting taxis immediately. It's as simple as that.
What to Learn from Uber: One of the main reasons for Uber's success is its – simplicity. Uber uncomplicated the process, making it easy for users of all ages to book taxis. The overall fare displayed before the trip, choice of cabs, and live location tracking of the driver are some of the masterstrokes of Uber.
What you can do:Don't necessarily complicate things for your users. Try to keep it simple, so that it appeals to a large cross-section of users.
Learn from these Giants and Grow Big As Them
You can get plenty of inspiration from these and other successful companies. Take a leaf or two out of their secrets and implement it at your workplace. Remember that today's startups are tomorrow's Fortune 500 companies.
