From scratch to the market value of 100 billion, how Nike counterattacks.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Deep Ring” (ID: deep-echo), author Zhao Zikai.
2019 gradually entered the early autumn, but this year’s hot sneaker market is far from the meaning of stalling: the sale of new sneakers can still attract many people to queue long. In 2019, when the vents were scarce, the sneaker culture derived from American basketball culture is becoming an increasingly large market in China.
In the past few weeks, “Deep Ring” has released an “24 hours of a “shoe dog” , It also caused a lot of resonance among the readers – this “shoe dog” title full of self-deprecating humor, is also the autobiographical title of Nike founder Phil Knight.
The book “Shoes and Dogs” is not only a history of Nike’s self-made business, but also a history of innovation in modern sports shoes. It is also a magnificent poem of a real grassroots entrepreneur.
As Professor Yang Bin, Vice President of Tsinghua University said in the recommendation:
“This is a book for everyone.
Not for entrepreneurs, managers, business operators, sports enthusiasts, gossip readers, but for everyone who wants to live a real person, who has a sense of hope, or is busy or boring. A book of people’s ‘good reading’.
“Shoe Dog”
In this book, Nike founder Phil Knight described the process of Nike “from 0 to 1”:
As an ordinary person in Oregon, an amateur long-distance runner, he decided to enter the field of running shoes sales because of his passion for running, leading a strange personality, but also has unlimited love for running. The “Miscellaneous Army” once swam on the edge of bankruptcy at any time, but finally achieved a market value of 100 billion from the beginning of 50 dollars. From the agent of Ghost Tiger, it made an indelible mark on American sports culture and created a mark.A powerful sports business empire that also makes Nike the iconic “swoosh”
(hook)
Became one of the few trademarks that can be recognized by people around the world without any difficulty.
Here, in addition to feelings, we can also read the core methodology behind the success of this business empire.
“IF YOU REALLY WANT IT”
As mentioned above, Knight’s initial focus on the sneaker business is his madness about running.
Unlike today, in the 1960s, running was not a widely recognized physical exercise program. People would cast a strange and even contemptuous look on people who were running on the road. The runners are called aliens.
Mr. Phil Knight
But driven by a bloody blood, the purest love prompted Knight to embark on this path.
From the very beginning, he wanted to turn his favorite things into his lifelong career, and he was committed to let everyone wear running shoes that suit him. I hope that everyone can experience the joy of running.
In the context of the lack of running culture, Knight naturally suffered setbacks in the process of starting a business.
In addition to choosing an extremely early market, Knight, who chose to embark on this path, knew nothing about how to do business:
After he decided to act as a sales agent for running shoes, Knight contacted Ghost Tiger to negotiate, but until the other party’s receptionist asked him where he was working, he was forced to find that he did not have a company.
Ghost Tiger Running Shoes
In an emergency, he thought of the blue ribbons he had obtained on the track and field, so Nike’s predecessor- “Blue Ribbon Sports Company
(Blue Ribbon Sports)
“Born.
Nate, as a newcomer, has encountered various new problems. Throughout the entrepreneurial process, Knight first faced the problem of cash flow.
At first, the business process of Le Cordon Bleu was like this:
Collecting orders – borrowing from the bank – paying for the ghosts to ship the goods – selling the money back – paying the bank back.
Under such circumstances, as the business has almost doubled year by year, the company’s cash flow has been very tight, almost zero. Knight even after interviewing new employees, there is no way to pay for the burger for everyone. .
Nike Poster
Moreover, bankers have been paying attention to this number.
At a time when venture capital was not as popular as it is today, Knight only looked at the face of bankers. Banks did not expand their credit lines and the business could not continue to expand.
The Blue Ribbon campaign has been barely supporting because the bank credit issue is almost bankrupt.
In addition to the financing problem, Le Cordon Bleu has also experienced the betrayal of business partners – the return of the ghosts and tigers.
In 1969, Ghost Tiger sent a representative to acquire 51% of the shares of Blue Ribbon, and two of the five directors. Knight and partner Bowerman naturally chose to reject this strong demand.
At the time, Knight was also brought to court because of whether the Blue Ribbon created the Nike controversy while acting as a ghost.
Fortunately, Knight’s lawyers regained a city at a critical moment and won the lawsuit.
After the end of the lawsuit with Ghost Tiger, Knight finally got rid of the shadow of the ghost, and officially founded Nike.
But the reality is still cruel.
In the 1970s, bank expansion in the United States was the direction of the government’s key supervision, which led bankers to be cautious about controlling credit lines.
It seems that the business is getting bigger and bigger. Actually, Nike, who is streaking, is not a toon for the Bank of California, but a hot potato.
Nike’s iconic orange shoe box
Finally, after Nike tried again to overdraw the credit line, the bankers lost their patience.
The Bank of California announced that it had terminated its cooperation with Nike, freezing the company’s funds on the grounds that Knight was suspected of fraud and notified the FBI.
Nike went from a star of tomorrow to the brink of bankruptcy overnight.
The company’s employees and suppliers found that their checks could not be cashed and they came to the door.
The loss of liquidity in a fast-moving, highly indebted company is undoubtedly a devastating blow.
Although as long as a few more days, Nike can breathe a sigh of relief, but people in the panic, just want to get their money immediately.
At the crucial moment, Nikkei Iwai pulled Nike back from the death line and became the white knight of Nike.
Nissho Iwai is one of the six major trading companies in Japan and has maintained a loan relationship with Knight.
At that time, the person in charge, Ito, led the staff to conduct a detailed audit of Nike’s finances, and finally decided to pay the bills in full, and in addition to the original $1 million credit line, an additional loan of $1 million was spent. .
When you Reading the entire book may feel that as an entrepreneur, Knight has always been in a state of ruin, even in the last record of this autobiography in 1980, Nike relied on a successful listing to get rid of the debt problems that have been plaguing them. .
It can be said that Knight’s entrepreneurial journey has always been a “dance on the edge of the knife” on the edge of bankruptcy. If there is a slight problem, the sales will be closed immediately.
All things can be solved satisfactorily in the end, and I have to admit that there is indeed a component of luck.
But luck alone is not enough to support Nike’s growth into today’s 100 billion business empire. The founders of Knight and Nike do have their own uniqueness.
“JUST DO IT”
Speaking of “JUST DO IT”, many people are familiar with this – this is Nike’s most famous slogan.
Looking at the book, Knight is the one who left the biggest feeling.
Knight is a person who “decides to do it”:
After graduating from school, I decided to embark on a trip to the world. I want to sell sneakers and go to Japan to find the source of ghosts and tigers…
The experience of these seemingly “impulsive” decisions has since become an important experience in Knight’s entrepreneurship. For example, Knight learned from the Japanese business how to do business in a cooperative way, how to make the boss and employees work for the same goal.
Based on what he saw on the trip to the world, Knight built a family culture for employees, so that each member can express his or her own opinions and have the right to make decisions. He will also be serious. Listening to the idea of every “family” is also a reflection of creative optimism.
Now think about it, is this different from the “flat management” advocated by our major companies?
Blue Ribbon Sports Retail Store
At the same time, Knight also used his own personal charm and unique vision to select a “miscellaneous army” with different characteristics:
Sales are runners, accountants are their own girlfriends, partners are their former running instructors… Although the background is different, everyone has spared no effort to follow Knight, for this is still awkward The company among them is pouring their own efforts.
Every family member at the beginning of Nike was not a professional “businessman”, but they played an indispensable role in the history of Nike. The early Nike gathered the omnipotent partner Bowerman, the Nike in the crisis, the sales genius Johnson who used running as a religion, and the Wooder who was half-length but superhuman, and designed excellent financials for the company. And the financial elite of the foreign exchange hedging system Hayes
(It was the boss of Knight at PricewaterhouseCoopers)
After joining the defense lawyer, he joined Ni.