Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' net worth has fluctuated widely, going from $200 billion in August 2020 to $156.6 billion today. In billions of dollars, what's nearly $50 billion less? He remains the third richest person on the planet, behind Elon Musk and French businessman Bernard Arnault. Bezos owns about 10% of Amazon, holding about 990 million shares. Although he stepped down as CEO in 2021 to become chairman, he has publicly said he is still thinking about how to make Amazon the best company it can be.
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And the company's presence in the market remains strong. Even before the 2020 pandemic, Amazon was eating up 45% of total U.S. e-commerce, and that number was growing. By 2021, 60% of all online purchases will be made on Amazon alone, accounting for a staggering portion of the market. The company's market capitalization, which is the total value of its stock, is an astronomical $1.37 trillion as of early August this year.
Amazon currently has about 168 million Prime members in the U.S., but Amazon wasn't always a tech and retail behemoth. Mr. Bezos left a high-powered job at a hedge fund in 1994 to seize the big opportunity to start an e-commerce giant. Originally just an online bookstore, Amazon became the fastest company in history to reach $100 billion in annual sales in 2015. By the late 2010s, it had grown to define global retail in the new economy and served as a gold mine for investors.
Such incredible success requires keen business acumen. Here are some valuable business insights from Amazon's impressive founder.
The secret is to work hard with passion
People are always looking for shortcuts and secrets to wealth that will ultimately be the answer without expending effort, time, or discipline. Mr. Bezos is no exception. He told CNBC, “When you have talent and you work hard, you really tap into that talent.” He also said: [your work] Well, that will lead to your success. ”
But he also emphasizes, especially with children, that pursuing something you feel passionate about is more likely to make that long time and dedication feel worthwhile. “You'll get to work with like-minded people and it'll liven up the room,” he says, adding, “If you're doing what you love, your day will be a lot of fun.”
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Align your skills to market needs, not the other way around.
In 2009, Bezos explained the company philosophy that led to the creation of the hugely successful Kindle. It was the company's best-selling product at the time.
he explained it Strategies for entrepreneurs to succeed It's about determining what they're good at and looking for segments of the market that need those skills. Another option, Bezos said, is to find out what customers need and hone your skills accordingly.
Amazon, which had never entered the tech business before, chose the second path with the Kindle. E-books needed an e-reader, so Amazon created an e-reader that customers loved. Almost 15 years after its debut in 2007, the Kindle remains the biggest disruptor in the centuries-long history of the publishing industry.
Of course, filling an existing need is a much more realistic way to make a profit than throwing something out there and hoping it becomes a hit.
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Accept failure and learn from it
Failure may seem like something companies want to avoid at all costs, but Bezos has conflicting opinions on the subject. In a 2018 letter to shareholders, he wrote, “As companies grow, everything needs to scale, including the scale of failed experiments…The scale of failure. If it doesn't grow, we won't be able to invent something like this.'' It's a size that actually moves the needle. ”
An example of a “failure” at his own company was the Fire phone, which tried to compete with a clear competitor, Apple, but failed miserably. He said they were able to take what they learned and adapt and build Amazon's Echo and Alexa products.
The reason why failure is a success strategy is that, in essence, failure isn't actually a bad thing, it's just part of a necessary step for a company to learn, grow, and ultimately arrive at the right product or service for its customers. It means that it is only .
Adapt and persevere or perish
In 2013, Bezos, who had no experience as a newspaper reporter, bought the Washington Post for $250 million. The purchase raised eyebrows.After all, Bezos legendary innovatorand print journalism was a bygone industry that was in rapid decline since the advent of digital media.
But Bezos didn't think so. Mr. Bezos chose to acquire the Post despite the current state of the newspaper industry because he believes it is a strong brand that employs many talented workers. The way he sees it, the paper has two options. Either accept the new reality, rely on your strengths and find a new path forward in the face of a changing world, or follow the path of the dodo bird.
“What we have to do is always look to the future,” Bezos said in an interview with ABC. “When the world changes around you and against you, what was once a tailwind is now a headwind. You have to surrender to it and find out what to do. Because complaining is not a strategy.”
By focusing on the needs of readers rather than advertisers, Bezos transformed the Washington Post into a modern, profitable company that attracts paying subscribers. Within three years, the paper's online traffic doubled.
Forget about work-life balance
Like many successful entrepreneurs, work-life balance as the general public understands it isn't necessarily a concept they embrace.
Bezos expressed his views on this at an awards ceremony hosted by Axel Springer in April 2018, saying, “I get asked all the time about work-life balance, and my view is that there are tough trade-offs.'' “It's a depressing word because it suggests something like that.”
Instead, Bezos said he believes in a more integrated approach: “It's really a circle. It's not a balance.”
This advice may sound alarming to those who value and enjoy their downtime, but when you're doing what you love, work becomes fun.
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Take big risks to innovate
If Mr. Bezos had played it safe, he probably would still be an unknown businessman selling books on the Internet. Instead, he took a big risk…which led to great success, as the company's values speak for themselves.
Every Fire Phone or Destinations has Amazon Prime, Marketplace, or Web Services. In case you haven't noticed, Amazon has become her third largest digital advertising platform after Google and Facebook. AWS is the biggest source of revenue.
“If you have a 10% chance of making a 100x return, you should make that bet every time,” Bezos said.
Without risk, companies will remain in a static zone of no growth.
keep tinkering
In his final shareholder letter of 2021, Bezos made it clear that everything his company has done comes from a process of constant innovation and ingenuity. “People admire an innovative invention that suddenly pops out of someone's head, a light bulb goes off, a team implements the idea, and soon they have a new invention that has been a breakthrough success for a long time. I believe I put it in. That rarely, if ever, happens,” he wrote. Instead, he said, “One of the little-known facts about innovative companies like Amazon is that they take the seed of a big idea and turn it into something that resonates with people. It's about constant debate, redefining, tinkering, and experimenting.” Support your customers and make meaningful changes to their experiences over time. ”
He cited this process as some of their biggest successes, including:
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Amazon Kindle — From a device that lets you download over 90,000 books to millions of books and their various versions
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Amazon Echo and Alexa products are now popular
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Prime Video went from offering just 5,000 streaming movies to now partnering with some of the biggest networks like Starz and Paramount+
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Continue to fulfill the high volume of customer orders during the pandemic
Bezos understands that the kind of growth that sets a company apart comes only through trial and error, testing, and innovation.
Remaining a “Day One” company forever
Bezos called startups “Day One” companies, noting that these companies are constantly experimenting and looking for growth opportunities. However, as your business develops, you end up missing out on many opportunities and becoming a “Day Two” company. Bezos said that companies that stop innovating and striving are doomed to fail.
“The second day is a plateau,” he said. “Then comes irrelevance. The excruciatingly painful decline follows. The death follows. And that's why it's always day one[for Amazon].”
To maintain Amazon's presence, Bezos even named the building where he worked on his first day.
In his final letter to shareholders, he set perhaps his most lofty goal yet. Our mission is to “strive to be the best employer on earth.” The company may have a long way to go, but Bezos knows that setting goals is the first step to achieving them.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Jeff Bezos Used These Strategies for Business Success: Here's Why They Work