Sometimes, all it takes is someone else’s success story to kickstart us into building our own empires. You might be surprised to know that some of the biggest entrepreneurs started out with little more than a penny to their name, and had to work incredibly hard to reach their positions of incredible accomplishment they’re in today.
If you’re after some inspiration, you’ve come to the right place. Here are 15 entrepreneurs who started with nothing:
1. Mark Zuckerberg
Most of us now know Mark Zuckerberg as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of leading social networking site Facebook… but the young entrepreneur was only a college student at Harvard when he “unintentionally” launched his business. According to Forbes, Zuckerberg is now worth more than $70 billion.
2. Bill Gates
Don’t be fooled into thinking you have to go down the traditional path into a successful career – Bill Gates himself dropped out of Harvard University to pursue his own business goals. Bill went on to become the richest man in the world after founding Microsoft Corporation in 1975, which was revolutionary at the time, and has completely changed computer use even to this day.
3. Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos had nothing but vague plans to open a bookstore when he left his job and founded Amazon in his garage in 1994. Bezos is now in the world’s top ten wealthiest list, but he was 30 before he used his savings to start an internet enterprise, moving his new business to Seattle. Amazon is now said to be worth $134.8 billion.
4. J.K. Rowling
Entrepreneurs take all different avenues to success, but one of the most difficult careers by far to really achieve in is in writing. J.K. Rowling has now authored ten critically acclaimed novels, including the bestselling Harry Potter series, but she was a single mother struggling with depression when she first started writing. She is now said to be one of the world’s wealthiest women.
5. Elon Musk
One of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time, Elon Musk, started out as an ordinary man with not a lot of money. South African-born Musk started to dabble in business after studying at Stanford University, founding X.com in 1999, which was later rebranded as PayPal, and Tesla Motors in 2003. He was in his early 20s when he became a multi-millionaire.
6. Richard Branson
Don’t think you need a lot of money to start a successful business – Richard Branson funded his first business, Virgin Records, with less than $2,000. A teenager at the time, Branson, who is dyslexic, dropped out of school to pursue his goals, and went onto expand his business to include airlines, gyms and a music label. The multi-millionaire is now keen to share the word that you don’t need a hefty financial backing to start a business.
7. Kevin Plank
Kevin Plank now has a net worth of an estimated $1.8 billion, but he initially began his business, Under Armour, from his grandmother’s basement in Washington. At age 24, Plank funded Under Armor with his personal savings and credit card debt. He then continued to save money by selling t-shirts in college. He ended up in around $40,000 of debt, until he made his first sale, which eventually saw his product take off big style.
8. Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs’ journey to success is far from a straight line. The founder of Apple dropped out of college, and co-founded his business in 1977 with Steve Wozniak with the Apple 1. Before then, the pair had only built kit computers as a hobby. Apple went onto be a huge success, making history by becoming the world’s first $1 trillion company in 2018.
9. Bob Evans
Bob Evans Restaurants is a hugely popular chain of family style restaurants which wouldn’t have started without years of dedication from founder Bob Evans himself. Evans began processing and packing sausages from his farm for the small diner he owned in Ohio in 1948, and it was only when the reputation of his sausages grew that the company really took off – and it now has a net income of around $72.85 million.
10. Jan Koum
We’re all aware of, if not users of, popular messaging platform WhatsApp, but its founder Jan Koum could once barely afford to call his family when he first set out to start his business. It was only at 31 that Koum left his job at Yahoo! with enough money to launch the service we know today. WhatsApp ultimately hit its peak when it was bought by Facebook for $22 billion in cash and stock in 2014.
11. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most cherished names in the American television industry, but built her empire from the ground up starting from nothing. Winfrey was born into poverty, and fell pregnant at 14 after being sexually assaulted. After moving away from her hometown, Winfry landed a job in radio, before working her way up to eventually create the infamous Oprah Winfrey Show.
12. Ingvar Kamprad
Furniture chain store IKEA was founded by Swedish-born Ingvar Kamprad, who started life on a small farm and set up his first business aged six, selling matches. At 17, Kamprad’s father offered him a small sum of money for good work at school, which Kamprad used to start his business, using milk trucks to deliver his wares. Kamprad is now one of the richest men in the world.
13. Roman Abramovich
Owner of Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich has been a well-known name in football since he bought the club in 2003. What not many people know, though, is that Abramovich was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandparents in Siberia, dropping out of two colleges as a self-proclaimed “average” student. His first successful venture in his early career involved selling rubber ducks from his Moscow apartment.
14. Michelle Mone
Michelle Mone, Ultimo founder, admits to “having nothing” when she started her business back in 1996, after leaving school at 15. Mone eventually sold Ultimo to a major international brand in 2014, but didn’t leave business behind – she has said to have many more projects on the horizon. .
15. Kat Cole
President for North America of Focus Brands Kat Cole started out as a Hooters waitress in high school, before dropping out of college to gain international business experience. After taking on a low-paid corporate job, Cole rose up the ranks incredibly quickly, becoming executive vice president by the time she was 26. She now has a net worth of approximately $100 billion.
