This Startup 101 Made Jeff Bezos The Richest Person In The World
As online entrepreneur, aim for the clouds but deliver in small steps — it’s the small things that matter most.
The crazy thing is that Jeff Bezos had a vision for Amazon from day one.
This way he had built his company into what it is today — the leading retailer in the world.
He didn’t sit in his garage waiting for his website to sell.
He wanted to make sales quickly.
So what did Bezos do?
His strategy was smart.
Towards the very beginning of the 1990s, he found a report about the future annual growth of web commerce.
He learned that it would be upwards of 2,300 percent.
Once read, he started his entrepreneurial endeavor and …
- created a list of 20 products that he could start selling and effectively market on the internet right away.
- From that list, he further narrowed it down to five products, which included videos, computer software, computer hardware, compact discs and books.
- Eventually, he chose the latter, books, as the most marketable product online.
- In his opinion, they were the easiest to sell on the internet.
A minimal viable product made all the difference
This is how he launched his minimal viable product, his MVP, for Amazon — an online bookstore.
- the leanest
- and fastest high-quality content you can create
… so you can start making sales as soon as possible.
Once you start selling your MVP, you have
- revenue
- the customers
- and the feedback
… which you can use to make your product even better and make more sales.
The MVP of an online bookstore
The decision to focus on books was made from several different factors, for instance:
- the high demand for books all over the world.
- the lower price of books.
- the vast amount of titles that could be sold.
Once the MVP was online, Bezos ran Amazon directly from his garage.
Whenever an order was made, Bezos purchased the book from the (local) distributor.
Then he sent it to the customer.
Based on customer feedback he received, he continuously made innovations:
- he added new products and categories to the list
- he added all important features to the website
Creating an MVP worked pretty well for Amazon
Although it’s actually a very standard business strategy and like a startup 101, Bezos quickly grew Amazon into what it is today — the largest retailer in the world.
Although Jeff Bezos isn’t the richest person in the world anymore (it’s Elon Musk), Amazon is currently the most successful minimum viable product out there.
Final Takeaway for online entrepreneurs
Jeff Bezos didn’t sit in his garage waiting for his website to sell and then started selling products.
He wanted to make sales quickly, so he focused on his minimal viable product (MVP) for Amazon.
If the term MVP is confusing for you change it to earliest testable/usable/lovable product.
Create a vision for your online business, stay focused, and ask yourself:
What is the leanest and fastest high-quality content I can create right now?
Get the smallest thing you can into the hands of your audience/customers to start learning from real feedback.
Aim for the clouds but deliver in small steps.
I’m curious. Have you already heard about MVP’s or is this concept news to you?
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