Daymond John's Life - Role of Family and Socio-Cultural Background, Type of Business and Competitive Advantage - Essay Example

Analysis of Daymond John Introduction Daymond Garfield John is an American entrepreneur and TV personality who is famous for founding a clothing line referred to as FUBU. In addition to founding it, he serves as the president and CEO of the company. He has been described as one of the modern-day entrepreneurs who live the precepts of the American Dream by rising from poverty to great wealth. Before the success of his company, John had tried other business ventures that did not do well. Today, he is famous for his role in the TV program Shark Tank in which serial entrepreneurs listen to business pitches from entrepreneurs who are seeking funding. He is also a motivational speaker, investor, and author. History, development, and growth John was born in the Queens neighbourhood of Hollis, New York in 1969 (John 12). Like many other African American entrepreneurs, he was raised by a single parent (mother) and his grandfather. His first business was created at the age of 6. He sold painted pencils to boys so that they would give them to their girlfriends. He attended Bayside High School where he acquired his entrepreneurial spirit by enrolling in a programme that gave him the freedom to attend school and study simultaneously (John 15). John credits this programme for setting the stage for his introduction to entrepreneurship. After graduating, he founded a commuter van service that did not satisfy his drive to create a great business. He ferried passengers around his neighbourhood and was able to make the business profitable by lowering bus fares and carried passengers to destination points of their choice. It is this same van that John used to start his business that put him on the global business scene as a serial entrepreneur (John 16). Driven by the urge to venture into entrepreneurship, John decided to forego college and pursue his passion. As a result, he worked several odd jobs to make ends meet. He worked as a waiter and a messenger. In 1989, he created a line of handmade hats and named the company For Us By Us (FUBU) (John 25). He was motivated by the fact that many companies during that era, refrained from making clothes for African-Americans. His objective was to make clothes that would be identified with Africa-Americans. John also realised that the wool hats and tops available in markets were highly priced and many people could not afford them (Romero 115). Following that discovery, he made 90 hats that they sold for $10 each. In the first day of doing business, John made $800 (John 26). The first day sales gave John more drive as he saw potential in the hats. In order to expand and increase production, he convinced his mum to mortgage their house in order to generate capital for his new business (Romero 115). He recruited his friends and incorporated them into the company. John did not have enough money. Therefore, he worked a full-time job to earn money to pay his bills. He used the breaks between shifts to work on his business. His big break came when he convinced a hip artist and friend LL Cool J to wear one of his hats in a commercial and his music videos (John 29). The popularity of hip-hop music in the 1990s played a key role in promoting the growth of FUBU. The growing popularity of FUBU hats prompted John to expand his business to include shirts and other apparel. After expanding, he became more famous and received more orders that he could not deliver. Therefore, he entered into a distribution deal with Samsung (John 38). He opened an office in the Empire State Building in 1997 in order to cater for the increasing needs of companies and individuals that needed his products. John together with his friends (Keith Pernin, J. Alexander Martin, and Brown) started with a small vision and plan that involved creating clothes for the inner city market that they believed had been neglected by famous clothing brands. However, they had relentless drive and ambition, passion, persistence to grow the business despite lacking adequate capital. His strong work ethic and passion led him to creating a multi-million dollar business empire from humble beginnings. Role of family and socio-cultural background John’s parents split up when he was 12 years of age, and at a time when drugs had become rampant in African-American communities (John 14). Many of his friends went into crime and drugs. However, he was saved from the cocaine cocaine and crime epidemic because he had a strong relationship with his mother. He did not want to let her down by engaging in drug use and crime. His father’s departure meant that John had to become the man of the house and fend for his family. As a result, he was always working to make money and pay his family’s bills. He gained his hat sewing sills from his mum who sold handmade goods at a local flea market. His first hats were made in collaboration with his mum. His mum played two key important roles in growing his passion. First, she taught how to make handmade hats. Secondly, she mortgaged their house in order to raise capital for John’s business and allowed him to use is a factory (Romero 117). His socio-cultural background also played a key role because it motivated him to make clothes for his inner city neighbourhoods that had been neglected by famous clothing brands. His culture’s sidelining by large clothing companies was the foundation of the FUBU idea. On the other hand, the proliferation of hip-hop music in the cultural and social lives of his community helped in the growth and development of his company (Romero 118). His passion grew significantly from the need to create clothes that were affordable and targeted at people from his cultural background. He wanted to create something for his community. Type of business and competitive advantage John developed a clothing business that began with hats and later expanded to shirts, jeans, and other apparel such as belts, jackets, t-shirts, and sweaters (John 56). The company’s competitive advantage involved its alliance with the hip-hop industry. Unlike many other clothing companies at the time, John took advantage of the rapidly growing hip-hop music industry to popularise his business (Romero 118). In addition, the maxim of the company, “For Us By Us’ insinuated that John was making clothes for young African Americans. Therefore, he found a niche in the clothes market and dominated it. John benefited from using hip hop musicians o promote his clothes because he did not have enough money to pay for mainstream advertising and marketing. His alliance with LL Cool J gave FUBU an endearing image that few other clothing companies had (John 57). FUBU was founded at a time when there was convergence between hip-hop music and urban wear clothing (Romero 120). This convergence afforded John a competitive advantage because he was able to identify a niche market and took advantage of the rapidly growing popularity of hip-hop music to grow the company. Future suggestions or the entrepreneur Daymond John funded and grew FUBU from nothing to a company that is worth approximately $6 billion. He gained great expertise from his business with regard to branding. Today, he is among the most sought after entrepreneurs owing to his branding expertise. The rising demand for his services led him to found a marketing firm that is known as Shark Branding. His contribution to entrepreneurship led to his appointment by President Obama as a Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship. In future, John could buy smaller businesses that operate in the clothing industry and incorporate them under his FUBU brand. This is a viable concept because as one of the entrepreneurs in the ABC TV show Shark Tank, John meets and interacts with many budding entrepreneurs. He can invest in their businesses either by buying them or providing capital for a certain percentage of the businesses. He has invested in several companies that he thought had bright futures. On the other hand, he has great expertise in branding from the many years he has served as the president and CEO of FUBU. Therefore, he can use his expertise to grow small companies into global brands. As mentioned earlier, he founded a company called Shark Branding to cater to the needs of multinational corporations that needed his expertise in branding. Branding is one of his strongest areas and he should concentrate more on growing his new business. Conclusion Daymond John is an American entrepreneur who is famous for being the founder, CEO, and President of the clothing company FUBU. His success is attributed to his passion, focus, and a strong work ethic. These values were instilled on him by his mother who raised him as a single parent and his father left them. The company began by selling handmade hats that were popularised by hip-hop musician LL Cool J. As the brand gained recognition, John expanded the businesses to jeans, jackets, shirts, t-shits, and other types of clothes and accessories. His family and socio-cultural background played an important role in the growth of his passion. His expertise in branding is an opportunity for him to build another global company in future. Works Cited John, Daymond. Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding and Lifestyle. New York: Thomas Nelson Inc, 2007. Print. Romero, Elena. Free Stylin’: How Hip Hop Changed the Fashion Industry. New York, ABC- CLIO, 2012. Print. Read More