The world consists of many money printing institutions such as companies, businesses, sometimes even banks and educational institutions *shushhh*. Hearing about rich Multi-Billion and Trillion dollar companies everyday has become a norm for us. Companies like Apple, SpaceX, Microsoft, Google make loads of money everyday. Something the common crowd is jealous of, considering how the commons could've been at the same place in their lives. Some companies bloom, some doom and some stay in a not so rich but livable sort of way.
There are things that rarely sprout but they do in such a way that they give out something insane. Man-made companies can be like that. Apple and Microsoft were built in a house garage. Facebook was made as a replica of Harvard's social network. SpaceX was a gamble by Elon Musk. All of these mentioned companies are basically money printing, their owners make a ton of money everyday although the management can be just as difficult.
Here are a few top brands that started from nothing:
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
“One has to remember that every failure can be a stepping-stone to something better “
World’s largest fast food restaurant KFC, was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders.
Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 in Henryville , Indiana. He lost his father when he was six , and took the responsibility of his siblings. He dropped out his school at seventh grade. At the age of 13, after leaving the family he pursued many professions including United States army with scant success.
At the age of 40 , in 1934, Sanders took over the lease of oil filling station and began to sell fried chicken , the recipe was taught by his mother when he was 7. In order to gather more knowledge he took up the restaurant management course at Cornell university school of hotel administration.

His fried chicken become so popular that the Kentucky governor named him Kentucky Colonel. Sanders franchised KFC when he was 60 . KFC popularized chicken in fast food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of hamburger. In 1960 he franchised 200 restaurants and by 1963 there were 600 franchised restaurants in US which is a very rapid growth.

At the age of 90, Sanders passed away from pneumonia.
Sanders’s KFC success story is so inspiring that his KFC recipe was rejected 1009 times , but he never gave up . At the retirement age he started his own small restaurant and ended up with world’s second largest restaurant chain.
Apple :

“ My favourite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
Apple is an American multinational technology company which designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software and online services. Apple is considered one of the Big five technology companies. Tim Cook is the present CEO of the company.

Apple computer company was founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne as a business partnership. Company’s first product was Apple 1 which was sold as a motherboard. The company’s hardware product include the iPhone smartphone, the iPod tablet computer, the Mac personal computer, the iPod portable media player, the Apple watch, the Apple TV digital media player and Home pod smart speaker.
Apple went public in 1980 to instant financial success. In January 2007, Jobs renamed the company Apple Inc. Reflecting its shifted focus toward consumer electronics and launched the iPhone to great critical acclaim and financial success. Apple is well known for its size and revenues. It’s worldwide annual revenue totalled 265 billion dollars for 2018 fiscal year. Now Apple is the world’s largest technology company by revenue and one of the world’s most valuable companies.
Starbucks :
“ The most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. “
Starbucks corporation, largest coffee house in the world, is an American multinational chain of coffee house and roastery reserves. Starbucks sell high quality coffee beans, variety of coffee drinks, tea, hot chocolates with free WiFi to the customers. Kevin Johnson is the present CEO of Starbucks.
Starbucks was started by Zev Siegel, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. Starbucks was started in 1971 in Seattle, Washington . They sold high quality whole coffee beans, dark-roasted in small batches. By 1994, there were 425 stores in North America.
Original Starbucks store
The company opened its branches in Japan and Singapore in 1996. They expanded their company and by 2000, they had 3501 stores located around the world.
In 2006, they became the world’s largest buyer of fair trade certified coffee. Currently there are nearly 1800 coffee houses in 62 counties. In 2019 , the net revenue of Starbucks worldwide was 26.51 billion US dollars.
Ralph Lauren corporation :

“ Fashion is not necessarily about labels . It’s not about brands. It’s about something else that comes from within.”
- Ralph Lauren.
RalphLauren corporation, a global multibillion dollar enterprise, is an American fashion company , founded by Ralph Lauren . The present CEO of the company is Patrice Louvet.
Ralph was born in The Bronx , New York city. He served in United States army for two years and later became a salesman in a tie company. In 1967 Ralph launches a neckwear line with the name 'polo'. Ralph having passion towards fashion designing , debuts his first full men's collection in 1968. In 1970, he was awarded the Coty award for his men’s design.

Ralph Lauren corporation produces a wide range of products including clothing, accessories, footwear , fragrances and furniture. In 2019 , the company's revenue was 6.31 billion US dollars.
Lauren’s success is a story of perseverance. Earlier he was criticized for his fashion ideas and later was embraced by his consumers for his work.
“ If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love want you’re doing , success will be yours.”
- Ray Kroc
McDonald’s is an American fast food company founded by Richard and Maurice MacDonald in 1940. Mac Donald’s predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken sandwich, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast item, desserts, salads, vegetarian items and wraps. Chris Kempezinski is the present CEO of the Mac Donald’s.
They started their business as a hamburger stand and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953. On may 4, 1961 Mac Donald’s first filed for a US trademark on the name “ Mac Donald’s” with the description ' drive in restaurant services'.
Their first drive in
Mac Donald’s restaurants are found in 120 countries and territories around the world and serve 68 million consumers each day. According to fast food nation by Eric Schlosser 2001, nearly one in eight workers in United States have at some time been employed by Mac Donald’s. According to two reports published in 2018, Mac Donald’s is the world’s second largest private employer with 1.7 million employees.
Microsoft :
“ Each failure contains the seeds of your next success – if you are willing to learn from it.”
Microsoft , a multinational computer technology corporation, is a company that makes computer software, was founded by Bill gates and Paul Allen on April 4 1975. Satya Nadella is the present CEO of the Microsoft company.
Gates discontinued his studies from Harvard university and decided to start a company with his childhood friend Paul Allen.
Gates called Altair manufacturer Micro instrumentation and Telemetry systems (MITS), offering to demonstrate the implementation of BASIC for the system. In 1980, Microsoft formed a partnership with IBM to bundle Microsoft's operating system with IBM computers.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates
The first hardware product was Z-80 softcard which enabled the Apple ll to run the CP/M operating system. On August 25, 1980 company announced the release of first operating system was a variant of Unix. Microsoft office was released in 1989, which is a package of software. The company released windows 95 on August 1995. The first gaming unit, the Xbox system was released by the company in 2001.
Harley Davidson :
“ Life offers few guarantees, but generally the harder and longer you work, the more likely you will succeed.”
Harley Davidson is an American motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1901, William S Harley completes a blueprint drawing of an engine designed to fit into a bicycle. William S Harley and Arthur Davidson made available to public the first product Harley Davidson motorcycle. The bike was built to be a racer, with a 3-1/8 inch bore and 3-1/2 inch stroke in 1903.
In 1906, Harley and the Davidson brothers built their first factory on Chestnut. During world war 1 , the US military purchased over 20000 motorcycle from Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson launched a line of bicycles in 1917 . Harley Davidson hired Elton John to headline their 100th anniversary event on September 1, 2003. Introduced in 2001 and produced until 2017, the VRSC muscle bike family bears little resemblance to Harley’s more traditional line up. Matthew Levatich is the present CEO of the company.
The company has survived numerous ownership arrangement, subsidiary arrangements, periods of poor economic health and product quality and intense global competition to become one of the world’s largest motorcycle manufactures.
SONY :
“ Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure that you don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Sony corporation, world’s most popularly known electronic companies, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Konan, Minato, Tokyo. Sony was founded by Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K . Kenichiro Yoshida is the present CEO of Sony corporation
In 1946, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo started a small company Tokyo telecommunications engineering corporation ( the predecessor of Sony) with a capital of just 190000 yen and 20 employees. The first Sony branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955. Sony co-founder Akio Morita founded Sony corporation of America in 1960.
SONY TR-55
In 1979, the Walkman brand was introduced in the form of world’s first portable music player. In December 2016, it is reported by multiple news outlets that Sony was considering restructuring it’s US operations by merging it’s TV and film business, Sony pictures entertainment, with its gaming business, Sony interactive entertainment. On April 1 2020, Sony electronics corporation was established as an intermediate holding company to own and oversee it’s electronics and IT solutions.
Mattel :
“ I grew up with the idea that a woman, a mother, with a job was neither strange nor unnatural .”
Mattel creations, an American multinational toy manufacturing company was founded by Harold Matt Matson and Elliot Handler in the year 1945. Ynon Kreize
Original founders
An American-Israeli businessman is the present CEO of the Mattel.
The company earlier sold the picture frames then dollhouse furniture.
Mattel became first year round sponsor of the Mickey mouse club TV series in 1955. The most famous Barbie doll was first released in 1959, which then became company’s best-selling toy.The company went public in 1960, and the New York stock exchange listed them in 1963. The Hot wheels was released to market on may 18, 1968.
 Mattel earned the first grant for Disney Princess doll licenses in 2000. Fortune magazine named Mattel one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013. Mattel launched a film division, Mattel films that will make movies based on company’s toy brands.
Nike :
“ Dream audaciously. Have the courage to fail forward. Act with urgency.”
Nike, is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in design, development, manufacturing and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparels, equipment, accessories and services. John Donahoe and Mark Parker are the present CEO of the Nike corporation.
Nike original known as Blue Ribbon sports (BRS) was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman on January 25, 1964. Throughout 1980s, Nike expanded its products line to encompass many sports and regions along the length and breadth of the world.
Nike produces wide range of sports equipment. There first product were track running shoes. They currently also make shoes, jersey, shorts, cleats, base layers etc. for a wide range of sports, including track and field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, association football, basketball and cricket.
In 2004, Nike launched the SPARQ ranging program/division. The Nike vapor fly was first released in 2017 and their popularity, along with its performance, promoted a new series of running shoes. Their collabration with Michael Jordan and creating new series called Nike Air Jordan was a revolutionary series in sneaker busniness.
To know more on Air Jordan click on the image below
Credits: Google
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