Work from Home to Riches: 10 Mega-Rich Business Owners Who Did It
Start a business from home
When people think about starting a business from home, they often think about small scale businesses that won’t ever earn a lot of money. But the truth is, done right, a home-based business can grow into a mammoth company.
Don’t believe me? Here are 10 wildly successful businesses—earning in the billions—that started in someone’s home.
Amazon
In 1994, Jeff Bezos quit his Wall Street job and started an online bookstore from his parent’s garage. The internet was new and he had learned that businesses who sold things online wouldn’t have to collect sales tax in other states.
Then, in 1997 the company went public. Today, Amazon is the largest retailer in the world, earning billions in profits every year.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page were in college getting their PhDs at Standard University when they hit on the idea that they wanted to create something that could find anything. They began to develop what would ultimately become Google in a friend’s garage. Ironically, the two were hesitate to pursue the business because they didn’t want to dump their PhDs to chase after just another dot come dream.
Spanx
Sarah Blakey was watching Oprah when she heard her talking about cutting off the feet of her pantyhose so she could wear them with sandals. An idea bloomed and she use her savings--$5,000—to start Spanx. While living in an apartment and working as a fax machine salesperson, she built prototypes and tested the product on friends and family.
Apple
Steve Jobs originally operated Apple, one of the world’s largest companies, out of his parent’s garage. And in addition to growing a home-based business into a billion dollar company, he started the business with a loan from his parents.
Hewlett Packard
This unstoppable duo originally rented a one car garage for $538 and used it to build their multi-billion dollar company. In fact, they were so frugal that they used a family oven to test products in the beginning stages of their business.
The company today is worth billions.
Microsoft
In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen dropped out of college and begin working on programming language software. They worked in a garage that was only large enough for the two to barely fit in.
Today the company’s operating system runs about 80 percent of the entire world’s computers.
Disney
Walt Disney didn’t have a great start in life. He dropped out of school when he was only 16 to join the Army, but he was rejected because he wasn’t old enough to sign on. So he and Roy O. Disney used his uncle’s garage to build the first cartoon stand. They used cardboard boxes and lumber that was lying around. Today, of course, the company is worth billions.
In my newest book, The 30-Day Work from Home Challenge: Do You Have What it Takes to Be Your Own Boss? I talk about the important of tenacity in the life of entrepreneurs. These stories show that yes, you have to first believe in the product or service you intend to sell, and then you have to use what you have to get there.
And if that’s only a garage or some cardboard boxes, so be it.
Entrepreneurs rarely take no for an answer when it comes to pursuing their dreams!