Business startup
Discover the 5 secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success
Since the launch of Amazon, Jeff Bezos has come a long way and has diversified in many areas. His ambitions seem to have no limits.
The story of Jeff Bezos is that of one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. Of course, it is far from new, but its success with Amazon is still topical.
Thus, the immense success of Amazon is based on a set of principles that were written in 1997 when the company went public.
Since then, Jeff Bezos has always held to his ideals, which has allowed him to become the richest man in the world directly.
In this article, I, therefore, invite you to discover the 5 secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success.
Jeff Bezos puts the customer at the center of his concerns
Since the launch of Amazon, Jeff Bezos has come a long way and has diversified in many areas. His ambitions seem to have no limits.
However, in the book “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” that journalist Brad Stone devoted to him, Jeff Bezos said:
Beyond that, here are the 5 other big secrets behind Jeff Bezos’ success.
1. Surrounding yourself with the best team possible is one of the 5 secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success
Amazon has a hiring process known to be particularly long.
Thus, potential employees can expect to have to answer questions such as, “How many gas stations are there in the United States?”
“The answer is not supposed to be correct, but instead aims to promote critical thinking among candidates.
In this regard, Jeff Bezos says the following:
“Whenever we hire someone, he or she should raise the bar for the next hire, so the overall talent pool always improves.” – Jeff Bezos
Employee evaluations are done in real-time, rather than quarterly or annually.
Amazon’s rating software allows peers to rate themselves, congratulate themselves, and even criticize themselves publicly.
If you are an entrepreneur at the head of a startup, you should, therefore, consider implementing a more human and real-time evaluation process in your workflow.
If you are more salaried within a company, you should consider asking for more feedback from your peers to seek to become better continuously.
Adopting this type of mentality is one of the secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success in everything he does.
2. Learn from mistakes
Amazon has failed more than once in its history. To compete with eBay, Jeff Bezos had tried to launch his version of the auctions on the market.
It was a failure, but Jeff Bezos was not discouraged because, like all great successful entrepreneurs, he knows that failures are a springboard to future successes.
And this is precisely what happened since this failure paved the way for the affiliate program on Amazon.
It allowed private sellers to use the site, shipping and even storage facilities to sell their products.
More recently, Amazon has experienced a severe failure with its Fire Phone, which is frequently considered a publicity stunt now.
Without failure, innovation would never be possible. But with innovation comes misunderstanding, as Jeff Bezos used to point out.
Thus, he considers that it is sufficiently important to include in the 14 principles of leadership listed on Amazon.com the following principle:
“[The leaders] are looking for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by the fact that they were not invented here. By doing new things, we accept being misunderstood for long periods. “ Jeff Bezos
Learning from failure is easy to preach and more challenging to practice. When faced with setbacks, keep the story of Amazon in mind and don’t give up.
3. Staying frugal is also one of the secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success
Frugality is almost direct opposition to modern corporate practices. Jeff Bezos, who has always been used to sailing against the tide, put it into practice from the start.
A famous painting today represents Jeff Bezos seated behind a desk made of a door supported by two by four.
Amazon was already a publicly-traded company at the time.
The doors were simply cheaper than traditional offices, and Jeff Bezos has always had a weakness for symbolism.
Staying frugal is also one of the secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success.
An improved office version is still in use today at Amazon headquarters in Seattle, and miniature versions are being distributed as prizes for cost-cutting innovations.
“Doing more with less” is often repeated by Jeff Bezos. “Constraints generate ingenuity, self-sufficiency and invention.
There are no additional points for staffing increases, budget size or fixed expenses. ”
No, you don’t necessarily have to go out and buy door desks, but consider where you can cut down on unnecessary spending.
Short-term benefit or comfort could hurt you in the long run.
4. Hold on in bad weather
It is only in recent years that Jeff Bezos has begun to honour the media with social appearances.
For many years, he was content to work behind the scenes, applying the following mentality:
“Lower your head and work hard.” Its recent social emergence testifies to evolution in a way.
Jeff Bezos understands that to stay relevant and grow; you have to be ready to adapt. But you also need to know when to hold on in bad weather.
For him, that means sticking to the big vision he has while allowing small moving parts to fluctuate.
For Jeff Bezos, compromising on the customer experience has never been an option.
Once, he nearly shut down an entire email marketing division after an embarrassing email from a client was sent directly to him.
This email triggered a marketing overhaul.
In the principles of leadership at Amazon, Jeff Bezos writes:
“The leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise in the name of social cohesion. Once a decision is made, they are fully committed. ” – Jeff Bezos
Among his 5 great secrets to success, Jeff Bezos, therefore, advises making a list of your useful items in the long term.
Frame this list and keep it there. These are the items that you should never compromise on. However, everything else is negotiable!
5. Thinking big is the last of the 5 secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success
Amazon was never designed to be just a simple online bookstore or even just an online retailer.
Indeed, books simply proved to be the most accessible entry point on the market at the time.
In Jeff Bezos’ mind, Amazon has always been just the beginning of what it wanted to achieve.
So, in 2000, he founded Blue Origin, a space exploration company, to realize his ultimate dream of not only exploring deep space but also of colonizing other planets as a rescue option for Earth.
The last of the 5 secrets of Jeff Bezos’ success is, therefore, to think about your dreams concerning the tools you use to get there.
Don’t confuse the two, and never settle for the more comfortable option!
Conclusion
Jeff Bezos’ phenomenal success owes nothing to chance. Like all the great successful entrepreneurs of our time, he has set the bar higher and higher to achieve ever more ambitious goals.
At the heart of its success, we, therefore, find the five secrets of success that Jeff Bezos agreed to share in the book
“The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon.”
It’s up to you to follow them and never let go of your wildest goals. Thus, you will undoubtedly succeed in accomplishing great things in life!
