Michael’s childhood and adolescence were marked for him by the opposition to learning and increasing. Their parents insisted that he receive a prestigious education, and Dell himself dreamed only of computers. On his first PC, he began to collect immediately after his first acquaintance with the most ordinary calculator. The guy’s craving for technology and technology was noticeable to the naked eye from an early age.
Childhood and youth
Michael Dell’s success story begins in Houston, Texas. He came from a financially secure Jewish family. His father worked as a dentist and his mother as a broker. Alexander and Lorraine were never interested in technology and computers, unlike their son. However, they both earned good money, so they never seriously thought about the need to open their own business or master a new profession.
Alexander Dell dreamed that his son would devote his life to medicine. Lorraine also shared her husband’s plans for their son’s future. Michael first attended Herod School in Texas. From a young age, the boy showed outstanding thinking and differed from his peers in perseverance and perseverance. He had the grip of a businessman.
When it came time to choose a college, Michael began sending out applications to universities. It would seem that this could be unusual. At the time of sending the application, Dell was only 8 years old. Naturally, all university “recruiters” felt a slight shock after reading Michael’s statement, and the guy himself learned one extremely important lesson:
You don’t have to know the customer by sight to get them to buy your product.
In his statement, the boy tried to explain as reasonably as possible why he does not want to go to high school and high school but wants to immediately go to college. At the age of 8, he believed that he had too many important things to do, so he did not have time for school.
First part-time jobs
At the age of 12, the guy noticed that the prices for brands are growing very actively. They are in great demand among philatelists. Therefore, Michael began to participate in auctions and buy stamps. He soon realized that it was necessary to organize an auction on his own to save on paying commissions.
Dell approached the implementation of his business project extremely thoroughly. He received stamps from friends of philatelists, spent his pocket money to create a 12-page catalog, and then placed an advertisement in a local newspaper for the sale of stamps. As a result, he not only earned $ 2,000 but was also able to gain invaluable experience.
However, the implementation of entrepreneurial ideas began even earlier. At the age of 8, Michael was selling candy on his street.
Dell’s lesson: “Avoid middlemen whenever possible.”
As a high school student, Dell sold subscriptions to the city newspaper. He very thoroughly approached the study of the market and chose the most suitable target audience for himself – newlyweds. He offered spouses a free two-week subscription.
It is not so important what you sell, but how you do it.
He made $ 18,000 from the sale of newspaper subscriptions. With this money, he bought his first car – a BMW. Then he was only 17 years old.
Own business
Michael Dell’s biography clearly shows that he always loved technology and computers, but still could not go against the will of his parents. Therefore, in 1983 he entered the Department of Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Then almost all students dreamed of getting an IBM PC. Of course, he was worth fabulous, by the standards of that time, money. Dealers sold the cheapest computer models for $ 4,000. Of this amount, the manufacturer received only $ 2,500.
During his student years, Dell was especially clear about the role of intermediaries in business, so he never wanted to work with dealers. He understood that the future was in direct sales from the manufacturer to the hands of the end consumer. The market was in demand and at hand, the idea for starting a business was literally on the surface.
During this time, he founded his first company, PC’s Limited. Michael sourced surplus computer parts from retailers and assembled his computers in his student dorm room. He also did the hardware upgrade of the PC, connected more functional parts, and removed the weak modules.
At the start, its key customers were the dormitory neighbors. Dell decided to grow, so he posted an ad in a local newspaper. Businessmen, doctors, and lawyers began to order computers from him. Michael sold excellent computers for about 15% less than their retail price.
The young businessman used the trunk of his car as a warehouse. Gradually, the dorm room finally turned into a workshop, losing its residential appearance. It is from this small business that the real success story of Michael Dell begins. Parents worried that their son was not spending enough time studying, but his business grew at a tremendous pace. Gradually, the volume of sales of computers exceeded the $ 50,000 mark per month.
Around this time, Michael finally realized that he wanted to develop his own business and compete with IBM, and studying at the university was just a distraction. The parents tried to object, but in the end, they had to accept the point of view of their son. They made a compromise: Dell makes a full-fledged launch of the company during the summer holidays and, if not successful, return to school.
Michael Dell’s successful business
Michael Dell created one of the largest computer businesses with his own hands
Michael Dell’s success story developed so brightly that sales reached $ 70 million a year, and the founder of the business still did not have a college degree. Dell no longer sold IBM components and began to promote its brand.
It was very clear to me that we needed to change … learn a ton of other things. I knew that it was necessary to change equipment, expand the staff, and hire cool, highly-paid managers. It was obvious to me.
Time has shown that the young businessman has once again hit the top ten. However, despite his innate entrepreneurial talent, Dell admitted that he lacked a quality education. The lack of professional top managers led to the fact that the company’s shares fell seriously.
Another unsuccessful experiment in the biography of Michael Dell and his company was the production of laptops. The market did not accept laptops with very outdated processors. The company’s CFO also crashed. He unsuccessfully invested the company’s money, which ended in a loss of $ 38 million.
However, gradually the former rates of development were returned. Dell remains one of the main players in the computer hardware market to this day.
