From 65438 to 0936, Sam entered the University of Missouri to study for a bachelor's degree in economics and served as the president of the student union.
1940, graduated from Sam university. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Sam signed up for the army and served in the intelligence department of the United States Army.
After the war, he returned to his hometown and borrowed $20,000 from his father-in-law, plus $5,000 accumulated as a soldier. 195 1 in July, he and his wife Helen opened a company called "5&; & amp 10/0 "store.
1960, Walton had 15 stores around Bentonville, with an annual turnover of140,000 USD.
1962, Walton founded the first Wal-Mart discount department store in Rogers City, with a business area of 1500 square meters and a turnover of $700,000 in the first year. Finally, Wal-Mart Stores Limited was established on June 365438+1October 365438+1October 65438.
1992, Walton won the American Medal of Freedom and died on April 5 of the same year.
"pants theory" for making money
American writer Fridzen pointed out in How to Become a Billionaire that one of the secrets of becoming a billionaire is to be thick-skinned. In explaining this secret, Folson takes sam walton as an example: he often disturbs the market price. Once he seized the opportunity, he waited for an opportunity to bargain with the supplier. So suppliers all know that it is not easy to do business with Wal-Mart. Therefore, if you want to be a good gentleman, you'd better give up the dream of getting rich.
Don't think this is belittling sam walton. In fact, when you know that this rich "cheapskate" has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to five American universities and set up many scholarships all over the country, your view of Sam will definitely take a 180 turn.
Sam's "Pants Theory" is the best explanation for Wal-Mart's marketing strategy: the purchase price of pants is $0.9, and the price is $65,438+$0.2. If the price is reduced to $ 1, I will make half less money, but I can sell three times the goods. At that time, the young Waltons were sitting outside in the parking lot with their father, counting the cars parked there. All the figures were later recorded in Walton's notebook. This is a market survey 40 years ago, and the unique data of today's "Wal-Mart" computer system is based on this.
In 1970s, Wal-Mart's sales revenue and net income increased at an annual rate of 40%. The operating income and net income of 10 increased by 40 times and 35 times respectively. This makes Wal-Mart the youngest regional retail company and the fastest-growing and leading regional discount department store in the United States with an annual sales income of more than $6,543.8+$0 billion. In the 1980s, Wal-Mart became a giant in 10. In this decade, it has maintained an annual growth rate of more than 35%, and its operating costs have been declining, making it a national retail giant.
Americans' "American Dream"
Sam walton was first listed as the richest man in the United States by Forbes magazine in 1985 and 10. Sam and Wal-Mart stores became the focus of American public attention overnight, and a large number of journalists flocked to Sam's residence. However, when they saw that the richest man in the United States lived the simplest life, they couldn't help but be disappointed: Sam wore a cheap suit sold in his shop and a discounted baseball cap, and drove an old pickup truck to work with a kennel for hounds in the back.
It is no exaggeration to say that sam walton is the soul of Wal-Mart. Sam not only personally created Wal-Mart, but also personally led its daily business for nearly 30 years, determined its development direction, and profoundly influenced it with his own style, personality and concept, making Wal-Mart not only create the greatest miracle of American retail industry after World War II, but also become the most individual company among American retail giants.
Sam worked hard all his life. In his 60s, he still works from 4: 30am until late at night, and occasionally goes to a distribution center at 4am to have breakfast and coffee with employees. He often flies his own plane from one branch to another, and spends at least four days a week on such visits, sometimes even six days. Before the manager has a meeting on weekend morning, he usually goes to the office at three o'clock to prepare relevant documents. In the 1970s, Sam went to every branch at least twice a year. He is familiar with the managers and many employees of these branches. Later, the company was too big to go to every branch, but he still ran as much as possible.
As a child of an ordinary peasant family, Sam's achievements are indeed worthy of pride. In a country that advocates personal struggle and entrepreneurship, his life is wonderful, and it can be said that he has realized the "American Dream" of thousands of ordinary Americans in Qian Qian. As President Bush wrote in his letter of commendation when he presented the award to Sam, "Sam Wharton, an authentic American, concretely demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit and epitomized the American dream ..."
1992, Sam died in seclusion. According to the will, his shares were distributed to his wife, three sons and a daughter. In 200 1 year, the Walton Five swept the seventh place in Forbes' list of the world's richest people to 1 1, with total assets reaching $93 1 billion, which was $34.4 billion higher than that of Bill Gates, the richest man in the world.
"Crazy" Corporate Culture
Sam walton's son Robertson Walton is the current chairman of Wal-Mart. He believes that the success of Wal-Mart is inseparable from its unique corporate culture. Whenever you walk into any Wal-Mart chain store, you will definitely find the lowest price goods and real services you want. You will feel at home in every sales room of every chain store. This is the corporate culture of Wal-Mart.
"Satisfying customers" is the primary goal of Wal-Mart. Sam has a famous saying: "Please show your eight teeth to customers." In Sam's view, only smiling to the point of showing eight teeth can be regarded as a qualified "smile service". Sam also taught employees: "When a customer comes within 65,438+00 feet of you, you should look the customer in the eye gently and encourage him to ask for advice and help." This article is summed up as "ten-foot attitude" and has become the employee principle of Wal-Mart. There are also rules in Wal-Mart's corporate culture, such as "Don't put off today's work until tomorrow" and "Always provide services beyond customers' expectations", which are written into American marketing textbooks.
Wal-Mart employees always strive to make life interesting and full of surprises. They often make crazy moves to attract people's attention and make customers feel interesting. Sam himself is a typical example. Once, he promised that if the company's performance leapt, he would wear a grass skirt and Hawaiian shirt and dance hula on Wall Street. At that time, the turnover of the company really exceeded his expectations, so he really danced a cheerful hula dance on Wall Street, the financial capital of the United States, which was exposed by the press at that time.
Although some people think that Wal-Mart has a group of crazy people, people who know Wal-Mart culture understand its intention to encourage people to break the rigid and monotonous life and strive for innovation. "Make work more interesting." This is Sam's whistling philosophy.
Wal-Mart's innovative spirit also made it enter the online sales industry as early as four years ago. With its consistent advantages in service and price, it has made great achievements in the highly competitive online retail industry.
Sunset and Ten-Foot Attitude
Sam insists on this belief: "As long as the store can provide the most complete goods and the best service, customers will flock to it." He put forward two requirements for employees: "the sun goes down" and "ten-foot attitude".
"Sunset" means that every employee must complete the task of the day before sunset, and if the customer has requirements, he must also satisfy the customer before sunset; "Ten-foot attitude" means that when the customer comes within 10 feet of the employee, the employee must take the initiative to ask what the customer wants, and must look the customer in the eye when speaking.
He also formulated three mottos for the company: "Customer is God", "Respect for every employee" and "Pursuing Excellence every day". Following Sam Walton's belief, Wal-Mart has opened more and more chain stores, including discount stores, shopping centers, Sam member stores and home stores, all of which are controlled by the company and implemented direct chain stores.
The whole family is "stingy"
Although Sam has become a billionaire, his frugal habits have not changed at all. He has never bought a mansion. He has always lived in Bentonville and often drives his old van in and out of town. Everyone in the town knows that Sam is a "stingy" old man, who spends only $5 for a haircut-the lowest price in the local area. However, this "cheapskate" has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to five American universities and set up many scholarships nationwide.
Old Walton's sons also inherited his father's frugal character. Large companies in the United States generally have luxurious offices, but the office of jim walton, the current president of the company, is only 20 square meters, and the office of Robinson Walton, the chairman of the board of directors of the company, is only 12 square meters, and the furnishings of their offices are so simple that many people describe Wal-Mart as "poor people open stores and poor people buy them".
The thrifty Wal-Mart has expanded rapidly in just a few decades. At present, Wal-Mart has 1702 chain stores, 952 supermarkets and 479 "Sam Club" storage supermarkets in the United States. There are also 1088 chain stores overseas. In 2000, Wal-Mart's global sales reached US$ 65,438+US$ 0,965,438+US$ 300 million, even surpassing General Motors of the United States, ranking second in the world, second only to ExxonMobil.
On the Forbes 400 Rich List published in September 2003, Wal-Mart's five Waltons tied for fourth place with a net worth of $20.5 billion, and tied for third place with paul allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, with a net worth of $22 billion. At the same time, with the total assets of $654.38+$002.5 billion, it far exceeds the sum of the wealth of the first-ranked Bill Gates, reaching $46 billion, which is truly the richest family in the world. For several years, the Walton family has held half of the top 10 Forbes rich list in this way. In 2003, Wal-Mart ranked first among the top ten most respected companies in Fortune magazine.