Do you know about the beginnings of many of our favorite famous businesses? They may have started with some exciting backstories that may surprise you.
Lamborghini Made Tractors
In the 1940s, Ferruccio Lamborghini created a business that sold tractors and other farm vehicles. Those tractors were great because their success allowed Lamborghini to experiment with different interests, such as building a luxury sports car to beat the Ferrari.
LEGOS Made Wooden Toys
The founder of LEGOs, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, started by making wooden toys out of scraps during Denmark’s economic recession in the 1930s. Some of his favorite designs were cars, trains, other vehicles, and a wood duck that quacked.
By the 1940s, Kristiansen became interested in plastic toys. At first, these toys weren’t trendy. Eventually, he developed the unique plastic interlocking building bricks that became so popular around the world.
Sony’s Rice Cookers
Before Sony developed the Walkman and other types of technology, Masuru Ibuka created cooking supplies such as its rice cooker. After World War II, Sony’s founder Ibuka began creating wooden rice cookers for people with no appliances in their homes. But the rice cooker wasn’t a good product, so the Japanese producer decided to go in another direction. Now Sony is one of the biggest producers of electronics in the world.
IKEA and its Watches
Ingvar Kamprad began his life as an entrepreneur. He started by buying a lot of watches in Stockholm and reselling them for financial profit at the age of five. By the time he was 17, Kamprad had sold jewelry, pens, watches, and other items by mail order in 1943. By 1951, he used the first IKEA catalog to expand his business. Eventually, Kamprad and IKEA became one of the most significant furniture sellers in the world.
Samsung Trading Company
Before Samsung specialized in phones and related items, the company exported noodles from Daegu, South Korea. The originator of the company, Lee Byung-Chul, started a trucking company that exported products like noodles to China.
After the Korean War, the company began to make textiles. The company became so successful that it created subsidiaries in heavy industries, shipbuilding, and the Samsung Precision Company. By 1969, Samsung began to produce TVs, then segued into making home electronics.
Nestle’s was a Pharmacist
Henri Nestle created the Nestle’s company in 1876. The company initially produces baby food formulas, starting with flour with milk. The recipe was popular amongst mothers because it remained easy for babies to digest. It was especially useful for sick or premature babies.
Some of the additional products that Nestle’s eventually developed and marketed include:
· Kit Kats.
· Breakfast Cereal.
· Coffee.
· Ice Cream.
· Smarties candy
· As well as other snack products.
Dupont Made Gun Powder
During the American Civil War, the Dupont company originally made gun powder. The company began in 1802 and made a variety of explosives. Almost half vo the gun powder that the Union Army used during the Civil War came from DuPont. In modern times, Dupont has merged with Dow Chemicals to provide its customers with pharmaceuticals and other chemicals.
