Success Lessons From The Past

In the immortal words of Madam C.J. Walker, who wrote "I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them." These words are guide signs that any entrepreneur wishing to follow in her footsteps to realize their own dreams can make a huge difference in the outcome of their own lives with the right MO or mode of operation to realize the same driving force and principles that propelled Madam Walker to the honors of being the first known African American woman to become a self made millionaire.

Walker simply filled a need, which to start with was a personal need. She took it upon herself to find the solution to her own needs where one did not exist. With many hours of research behind her, she found the answers she had searched for and came to a profound conclusion; there must be others like her that had problems with no solutions. She used this idea as the platform to promote her new products to others. The first rule of entrepreneurship she learned was to meet a need, offer a solution or product and people will always buy from you.

She Was Passionate. Because this was a product that had actually solved a problem for her, Walker was passionate about promoting it. Without passion it is impossible to be an entrepreneur. Although it is possible to be passionate about a product that one has not had any personal encounter with, it is advised that you should be able to stand 100 percent behind whatever you sell.

She took existing product information that solved her problems and began to develop her own product line with her own ideas. She learned that you will not become the kind of rich a entrepreneur dreams of, if you are promoting and selling someone else's hair care products, so she developed her own line and brand. She learned a very important rule that ever aspiring entrepreneur must understand; you need to work for yourself, first and foremost.

She Was Aggressive with Sales. She traveled throughout the Southern states of the U.S, aggressively promoting and selling her products as a door to door saleswoman. She did whatever she had to do to get her products to those who needed them most. True entrepreneurs do not get tired of selling and would aggressively and sometimes, shamelessly promote their products.

She learned early that the entrepreneurial spirit means passion and being relentless about it. She learned to think smart and always think ahead. She created multiple streams of income. She believed in using her present success as a stepping stone to greater success using multiple uses of her products in many ways. She saw the potential of schools that teach others how to use her products and licensed numerous agents to do just that. Taking the best of what you have and making it better and letting as many people or potential customers know about it has built many great entrepreneurial empires. Madam C.J Walker embodied all these traits and many more and is an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere to learn from her successes and failures.