Bud: The starting point of a dream
In today's sporting goods field, Nike is undoubtedly a well-known name. It is one of the world's largest multinational sporting goods manufacturers. Its turnover in 2023 reached US$46.71 billion and its profit was US$6.046 billion. It ranked 308th in the 2023 Fortune "World 500 List". Its main brands include Nike, Converse and Jordan. Its iconic "swoosh" check mark logo and "Just Do It" slogan are almost household names, and its products are sold all over the world. From the streets and alleys of bustling cities to sports stadiums around the world, Nike can be seen everywhere. However, this giant that now calls the shots in the business world was born from a spark of inspiration that flashed in the mind of a young man.
In 1962, Phil Knight graduated from Stanford University. During college, he was not only a long-distance runner, but also had a strong interest in business. In a business class, he wrote a paper and put forward a bold idea: Japanese cameras successfully broke the monopoly of German cameras in the market, so could Japanese running shoes also break the monopoly of German brands such as Adidas and Puma in the American running shoe market at that time? This idea planted a seed of entrepreneurship in his heart, and gradually took root and sprouted after graduation, making him more and more obsessed with introducing Japanese running shoes into the American market.
With this idea in mind, Phil Knight flew to Japan as a tourist with less than $1,500 in savings and began his adventure. In Kobe, a shoe store of Onitsuka Company caught his attention. The shoes made by this company were of high quality, which made Phil Knight see the potential of introducing them into the American market. So he claimed to be a shoe distributor in the United States, and successfully arranged a meeting with the founder of Onitsuka Company, made up a company name on the spot, and proposed to become the distributor of Onitsuka Tiger (a sports shoe brand under Onitsuka Company) in the United States. Surprisingly, the boss of Onitsuka actually accepted the proposal. In this way, Phil Knight became the exclusive distributor of Onitsuka Tiger in the United States with his courage and determination.
After returning to the United States, on January 25, 1964, Phil Knight and his former coach at the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman, each invested $500 to establish Blue Ribbon Sports, officially starting their entrepreneurial journey, mainly engaged in the distribution business of Japanese sports brand Onitsuka Tiger. Bill Bowerman is not only one of the top track and field coaches in the United States, who has trained many Olympic athletes, but he is also keen on innovation and has unique insights into the design of sports shoes. He was dissatisfied with the German sports shoes on the market and always wanted his players to wear more comfortable and lightweight sports shoes, and even designed them himself.
In the early days of the company, problems such as lack of funds and limited sales channels followed one after another. They didn't have enough money to rent a formal office space, so they had to set up the company in the garage of Phil Knight's parents' house; to save costs, they rented a store near a garbage station and used old wrapping paper from the waste collection station to pack shoes. The main sales force in the early days was Phil Knight himself. He drove every week with boxes of shoes to major track and field stadiums to sell directly to athletes. Although this primitive sales method was tiring and had little effect, it accumulated the first batch of loyal customers for the company.
How to purchase high-cost-effective essential fashion clothing, shoes, hats, and accessories directly from the source factory through Mulebuy reverse purchasing platform? Uncover the unique supply chain of the platform and start a super-value shopping journey, click https://mulebuy.news/hot
