Barbie’s Entrepreneurship Story

Rose... Miss Luo is the youngest of the 10 children in the Jacob family. She is naturally beautiful, small and exquisite. Miss Luo's parents were Polish immigrants who came to central America before World War I. Her father was a gambler, and his frequent losses at the poker table often left the family of twelve in a dilemma. It is a coincidence that Miss Luo was born on the day her eldest sister got married, and her mother became seriously ill after giving birth to her. In order to share the burden for her mother, the eldest sister took the little sister to her new home to raise her. This hug turned out to last a lifetime. In other words, Miss Luo was raised by her eldest sister.

Children of poor people have long been in charge. The eldest sister opened a small fast food shop in the corner of the town’s hypermarket, earning a little money to support the family’s livelihood. In Miss Luo's eyes, the eldest sister is like a great hero and a living role model. She must imitate her look and appearance in everything. Miss Luo started working as a helper in her eldest sister's fast food shop when she was 8 years old. By the age of fourteen or fifteen, she was able to take charge of her own business. If her eldest sister was unwell and could not come to the store to work, she would still take care of the fast food shop in a decent way. Look at Miss Luo, she has been so capable and strong since she was a child.

When Miss Luo was 17 years old, she fell in love at first sight with Xiao Ai, a shy boy in school who studied art. When the eldest sister found out about this, she firmly disagreed: We girls from poor families have to find ways to marry into a good family with some prospects and hang out with a poor artist for the rest of our lives. This is such an unimaginable thing!

< p> For Miss Luo, she had to listen to her eldest sister's words. At the same time, she also knew that children from poor families must rely on themselves to change their destiny. Many times they cannot follow their own temper, so she gritted her teeth and decided to end her relationship with Xiao Ai and go alone. I went to Los Angeles to relax, and planned to find a job to settle down. Los Angeles is a big world. It would be great to have the opportunity to make a living in Hollywood and see the big stars on the screen every day! But everyone said that Miss Luo has no education and no connections. The possibility of entering the Star Factory is very slim, but Miss Luo is a strong person, and no one can stop her from doing what she wants to do. Finally, one day I got an opportunity to visit a Hollywood studio. When I came out, Miss Luo had already found a secretarial job there, which shocked the little sisters who were looking for her at the door!

< p> Before Ms. Luo had time to establish herself in Hollywood, Xiao Ai also moved to Los Angeles. The more adults tried to stop the intertwined love affairs between boys and girls, the more they couldn't stop them. Miss Luo used her earned wages to buy a beautiful watch for Xiao Ai. Along with the gift box was a note: "I really hope you can marry me!" Xiao Ai could not withstand Miss Luo's active attack, so The two borrowed wedding clothes from their friends and just arranged the important event of their lives. The eldest sister was so angry that she stared in tears and thought that the younger sister's life was over...

Wedding Later, Miss Luo continued to work in Hollywood to support Xiao Ai's career, while Xiao Ai studied art while working odd jobs. Although the life was ordinary and hard, at least the lover eventually got married. One day, Xiao Ai excitedly told Ms. Luo about a new idea he had: using plexiglass, a new material that had just been invented at the time (in 1936), to make handicrafts, such as brooches, pendants, earrings, ashtrays, etc. This must be very creative, but at that time, the school's firing equipment was used by students for classes and internships, and it was not Xiao Ai's turn to occupy it.

In order for her loved one to realize her wish, Miss Luo spent all her savings without saying a word to buy a firing kiln for Xiao Ai, and transformed the living room of the apartment into a workshop. The landlord issued an ultimatum, ordering them to move out immediately. There was no other way, so Miss Luo had to borrow money and rent a small shabby room in the laundry next door as Xiao Ai's studio. A few months later, the ingenious Xiao Ai produced a batch of samples. Ms. Luo put them in a suitcase and went to the gift shops knocking on doors, hoping that someone would recognize the goods and place an order.

But how can it be so easy to start a business? Days passed as Miss Luo kept getting rejected... Fortunately, she has a natural entrepreneurial temperament, the courage to take risks and never give up. Finally one day, she walked into an expensive jewelry store. When the shop owner saw the sample in Miss Luo's hand, his eyes sparkled and he insisted on asking Miss Luo to take him to meet this master craftsman. Miss Luo felt guilty: What if? When the owner of the jewelry store saw the poor appearance of Xiao Ai's workshop, the business would probably be ruined, but at least he couldn't defeat the store owner, so Miss Luo had to take him to see Xiao Ai. It can be said that Bole fell in love with Qianli Ma. Not only did the boss not dislike the humbleness of Xiao Ai's workshop, he also placed a large order on the spot. The young couple's workshop finally got its first customer and order. That's it. , the young entrepreneur is on his way!

But the good times did not last long. Miss Luo suddenly became pregnant, and it was found that she was born prone to miscarriage. She needed to stop working immediately and stay in bed at home... Xiao Ai is certainly an artist. A genius, but not one who is good at management, the small workshop went from bad to worse after leaving Miss Luo, who was busy with everything.

Desperate, Xiao Ai had no choice but to bring in several new partners. He continued to work on his own design, while the others took care of production, channels, and sales. The small workshop's business was booming. After a year or two, the small workshop's annual sales reached Several million, but Xiao Ai has been unhappy since then, because the new partners only want to mass produce and increase sales, and have no intention of caring about product design innovation and quality assurance.

At this time, Miss Luo was already the mother of two children. When she heard about Xiao Ai's dissatisfaction, she suggested that Xiao Ai transfer his shares to the new partners, and they would look for opportunities to make a comeback. After listening to Miss Luo's suggestion, Xiao Ai went to negotiate with the partners. Unexpectedly, the other partners had no intention of retaining him. Instead, they offered Xiao Ai 10,000 yuan to let Xiao Ai leave immediately. With only ten thousand yuan, you can buy almost 1/4 of the shares of a company with annual sales of several million?! After Xiao Ai was convinced that he heard correctly, he came back and told Luo everything. Miss. Miss Luo was calm and said word by word: "Sell it, let's use these 10,000 yuan and start over!"

The partners thought they were right after all the agencies calculated and ended up costing Qingqing's life. I picked up the biggest bargain in the world, but let go of a start-up company's core talented designer. The next year, the company announced that it was closing down.

As for the young couple, Miss Luo and Xiao Ai, they started working hard day and night again. In order for Xiao Ai to focus on designing good products, Ms. Luo wears many hats. She is a wife, a mother, a salesperson, a supervisor, a buyer, and a truck driver for the company. What a harmonious pair of entrepreneurial partners! < /p>

It is not easy to start a business. Although sales are increasing and there are many more employees, the company still cannot make ends meet and often runs into deficits. There is no way. Without finding a VC or meeting an angel, Ms. Luo I had to go to my brothers and sisters to beg for help and borrow money. Miss Luo patted her chest and promised: After making money, the first thing to do is to repay the loan. If the money is not paid, she and Xiao Ai will take turns working as handymen in the brothers and sisters' homes for the rest of their lives. Finally, a The older sister, who came from a relatively well-off family, lent Miss Luo 100,000 yuan, and the young couple poured all the money into the start-up company.

After almost 10 years of hard work, Miss Luo and Xiao Ai have designed, produced and sold numerous products, including art frames, small furniture for children to play with, music boxes, and tripods. Small pianos, toy guns... Although there are no earth-shattering killer products, this startup company has developed into a small and profitable professional toy manufacturer. When Ms. Luo went to see her brothers and sisters with the money she had earned, she gave them two options: one was to repay the loan in full with interest, and the other was to convert the loan into company shares through a debt-for-equity swap. The brothers and sisters wanted to hear Miss Luo's suggestion. Miss Luo said, of course it is a debt-for-equity swap. If you agree, I can now let you use the money to buy half of the shares of this company. The brothers and sisters actually agreed. A few years later, the 100,000 yuan they lent to Miss Luo turned into 50% of the shares of Mattel, the world's largest toy company!

< p>　……

Ms. Luo had a premonition. Her intuition told her that every little girl in the world has a "big girl" hidden in her heart, an idol, the type of person she hopes to grow up to be in the future, right? Just like the big sister in Miss Luo's mind when she was a child, if she were At that time, there was a doll that looked like a big sister, and Miss Luo would definitely love it. So, why can’t dolls be made to look like adult girls? Why can’t they have graceful figures? Why can’t they be made into beautiful women with all kinds of charm and fashionable clothes?

Look again Look at the dolls on the market for girls to play with at that time. They were all stuffed with velvet, with big stupid heads, round and fat bellies, and arms and legs that were all the same thickness up and down...so stupid. Ugly, regardless of its proportions, fashion, taste, production technology, etc., it is just a rag doll thrown to girls to play with... Of course, the more subtle and deeper meaning is that girls will grow up in the future. They just give birth to children, take care of children, and take care of the daily chores at home. Who bothers to talk about beauty, fashion, personality, and their idols?

Girls and boys play games. They are doing "role play" to preview their future adult experience. Which girl doesn't want to be beautiful in the future, know how to match clothes, know how to dress fashionably, and be able to show her own personality and style?! Miss Luo is more and more popular. She gets more and more excited when she thinks about it. She wants to send a doll with a "big girl" appearance to little girls all over the world. Haha, this is an amazing big market, and there has never been such a product on the market. It has never been No one has thought of producing such a product, or is Ms. Luo's idea just a bit too unpopular?

Indeed, this simple idea was not so simple in the 1950s. Convincing. Everyone is old-fashioned. Before an idea becomes a reality, and before they see thousands of little girls eagerly reaching out to hug their "big girl" dolls, no one believes in Miss Luo's strangeness. Weird, even a bit of a whimsical idea.

Innovation is really an extremely difficult thing! People can only look at the past and think they are smart. Who can really see the future?

There is a "big girl" hidden in every little girl's heart. For sure! Miss Luo firmly believed in her intuition, and she wanted to create a colorful "big girl" world in the world of little girls! So she excitedly told this idea to Xiao Ai. Unexpectedly, Xiao Ai had always been obedient to her. Xiao Ai, who was obedient, poured cold water on Miss Luo when she heard this idea: "Don't be too whimsical. Not to mention whether little girls like 'big girls', those dolls are bought from adults' pockets. Old Who among the parents would buy these women’s gadgets with perky breasts and perky butts for their children?!” These words almost made Miss Luo so angry that she almost fainted.

The next day, in order to prove that he was right, Xiao Ai dragged Miss Luo to the design department of the company and explained Miss Luo’s idea in front of everyone. As a result, everyone objected. No one thought Ms. Luo’s idea was worth a try. Then Xiao Ai dragged Miss Luo to the company's assembly line. Most of the workers here were mothers with children. Xiao Ai explained Miss Luo's idea to everyone, and then asked if anyone would be willing to help. Did your daughter buy such a toy? As a result, everyone in the audience said "No!"

Ms. Luo is usually resolute and approachable in the company and is very authoritative. What happened today? Her idea was actually blocked. 100% objection, not even a word of flattery was heard. Is it because everyone is drunk and I am sober, or is Miss Luo’s idea an idea that has never been proven, or it may be an idea that is not established at all. ?

"There is a big girl hidden in every little girl's heart", for sure, for sure, for sure!!! Miss Luo firmly believes in her intuition, no matter what others say, I will try Try, I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Miss Luo’s strong nature broke out again, and she had a stubborn temper like a little girl. Haha, isn’t this the nature of us entrepreneurs who insist on going our own way and are stubborn? No more of this How can innovation come from such a heroic character? What kind of business should I start?

So, amidst the uproar in the company, Miss Luo forcibly launched her crazy adventure plan. She ordered the designers to follow the instructions completely Design an image of a "big girl" in your mind: an oval-shaped face, big eyes, curved eyebrows, a raised nose, high chest, slender waist, slender limbs... The body shape design was changed again and again, and finally it was finalized into a "mini version" of an absolutely beautiful woman with measurements of 39-21-33. She was also equipped with a colorful wardrobe and 20 sets of gorgeous clothes; Miss Luo ordered the production department Using the best materials and the latest technology, each piece of clothing is made to be lifelike in detail, and even the eyeliner on the face must be painted meticulously; she also ordered the marketing department to produce a large-scale TV commercial... Inadvertently, Miss Luo discovered Her eldest daughter Barbie usually likes to draw and draw, and the pictures are filled with various images of "big girls". Ms. Luo has collected a thick stack of Barbie's paintings. They will be evidence to confirm Ms. Luo's The idea is right, it proves that "every little girl hides a big girl in her heart"!

Ms. Luo was excited again, and finally decided to name the brand of these dolls after her daughter: "Barbie" .

Although Ms. Luo spent a lot of effort and spent every spare money in the company, no one around her still believed in this item called "Barbie" Toys will become a hot commodity, so in the end, the market will have to decide. For Miss Luo, everything is ready at this time and all she needs is the east wind.

In the early spring of 1959, the annual International Toy Trade Show opened at the Toy Center in midtown Manhattan. Thousands of toy orderers from all over the world braved the cold wind to gather here..." "Barbie" also made a beautiful appearance. Ms. Luo specially rented the most conspicuous booth and arranged it carefully. She also rented a hotel suite across the road, removed the bed and furniture in the room, and set up a private exhibition. room, dedicated to hosting important toy distributors. Miss Luo personally took action and waited here.

At that time, the United States was promoting the "Moon Landing Plan" everywhere, so the most popular and sought-after models in the exhibition hall were those models of spaceships, rockets, and astronauts. In sharp contrast are the "Barbie dolls" standing alone under the spotlight. There are only a few customers who come to inquire. Even if someone occasionally asks, their faces all have doubts, confusion, and even disdain. From the look on his face, it was clear that things weren't going well.

Ms. Luo obviously could no longer hide her anxiety. Time passed day by day, and there were only a few orders. Even the old customers with whom she had always had a good relationship, few people were willing to try to order some small batches. "Barbie" sample, it seems the defeat is certain. However, Ms. Luo is still waiting for the last glimmer of hope. On the last day of the exhibition, one of her most important customers will come to this private exhibition room to meet her. That person is the purchasing director of Sears, the largest department store chain in the United States. With thousands of Sears stores, he can turn clouds and rain with his hands, and control the life and death of any toy.

This person has arrived.

Miss Luo greeted the guests with a smile on her face, a cordial handshake and a warm hug. She tried her best to explain the positioning, design and details of "Barbie Doll" to the guests one by one. Finally, the dark blue curtain inside gradually opened. A limited edition Barbie wedding dress was placed in the middle. Under the spotlight, Barbie looked like a proud princess, with a snow-white floor-length skirt spread on the arc-shaped staircase. The gems sparkled on Barbie's crown and wedding dress. ...

Miss Luo's heart jumped to her throat, and she was praying urgently: yes, yes, yes... However, things went against her expectations, and she only heard a heavy reply in a dazzling moment: "NO! "

After a crushing defeat, Miss Luo's adventure finally ended with a complete defeat at the New York International Toy Trade Show. Dragging her exhausted body, Ms. Luo returned to her office in Los Angeles amidst everyone's sneers.

She was also convinced that Barbie was a doll that no one wanted. "Every little girl hides a big girl in her heart" was a foolish dream. No one would want that doll. The reality was before her eyes. Everyone Wake up and I’m drunk alone, stop daydreaming, live in the moment! Hurry up and disband the “Barbie” design team, let them go back to their original posts, do what they have to do, call the production line to stop, and cancel the scheduled production. Plan to prevent the company from suffering greater losses...

Just when Miss Luo returned to reality from the diffuse dream, Xiao Ai knocked on the door out of breath: "Mr. Luo, Mr. Luo , we were all wrong... Orders for Barbie dolls came in like snowflakes...!"

"Ah?" Miss Luo was overjoyed...

It turns out that Barbie dolls The media advertising was delayed after the International Toy Trade Show. Although most distributors did not reserve Barbie dolls at the show, little girls and young mothers from all over the world saw Barbie’s advertisements on TV newspapers and immediately flocked to them. They went to toy stores to rush to buy. This lively situation made the merchants dumbfounded... Haha, everyone, including the savvy distributors, were not only dumbfounded, but blind. Facts have proved that only the market She has sharp eyes!

Miss Luo stood up, picked up an "unwanted" Barbie doll from the table, opened the window and looked towards the horizon. The windows of tall buildings in the distance were also full of Opened, little girls stretched out their hands to Miss Luo from the window and screamed: There is a big girl hidden in every little girl's heart! ;