Analysis Of The Memoir Shoe Dog, Nike's History Of Entrepreneurship

'Shoe Dog' is not only Knight's autobiography, but also Nike's epic of entrepreneurship. In the process of starting a business from zero to zero, with the help of wisdom, talent, belief and luck, Nike can overcome every danger. This shows the spirit of entrepreneurship and philosophical thinking, which is thought-provoking. A quote often mentioned in the book is what Phil Knight's coach, Ballman, said: 'Cowards never leave, the weak die in the road, leaving us to move on, one step cannot stop.' As an ordinary person in Oregon, he decided to enter the field of running shoes sales out of his love for running. Starting at $50, he led an odd 'miscellaneous army' to the brink of bankruptcy at any time, but eventually created a strong sports business empire, making the Nike logo a few that could be used.

One of the trademarks that people all over the world have no trouble recognizing. In the process of entrepreneurship, the betrayal of partners, the reversal of bank accounts, the collapse of competitors, the pressing of state power, the cunning financing skills, the rugged and indulgent corporate culture, the almost fatal expansion strategy... In plain and humorous language, Phil Knight describes how Nike, as a rising star in the world today, gained the first bucket of gold by acting as a ghost-burrowing tiger, created its own brand and products, surpassed famous brands such as Adidas and Puma, and how it has come to this day... Truth reveals the love, persistence and madness of a group of obsessed entrepreneurs. It seems that all the beginnings were due to blood and many seemingly accidental factors, and so did the story of Fernett: after graduation from college, young Knight embarked on a journey around the world with an inner impulse in an airplane that was not so safe at that time.

It was this trip that laid the foundation of Knight's career. He signed an agency contract with the local sports shoe brand Tiger in Kobe, Japan; he met the Athena Victory Temple in Greece, which is also the source of the NIKE brand. After that, Kobe and Tiger became one of Nike's most influential spokespersons, with their own will in the dark. It was because of his persistent running that his family and friends recognized his running shoes business and got the initial Angel funds and support; it was because the coaches of running training were keen on improving running shoes that they had the co-founder of excellent product capabilities on the basis of running shoes business, so it was no longer just a business, there were. The possibility of innovation has laid the foundation for self-created brand in the future.

Everything happens, and runners have a close relationship with this identity, so these incidents gradually contributed to inevitability - Nike was created by runners'enthusiasm, which is not only a company, a brand, it is soul and life. As Fernett said, in selling encyclopedias, although he had learned a lot of skills, he could never sell them; but he could sell shoes with his face down, but he could do it very well. There is a fundamental difference between selling encyclopedias in order to exchange some resources for survival, and selling encyclopedias in order to really inject love into them. I've got a career. Because it's a runner, a typical user, and also an opinion leader with a user relationship group, everything came to fruition later.

What do you think the entrepreneur did wrong

After 200 pages of this book, Phil knight’s company has increased its inventory of fixed assets and shoes dramatically, resulting in cash and inadequate coping with any crisis. In spite of this situation, Phil Knight refused to reduce the stock of shoes. He believed that the company would either grow or close down. Phil has the idea that his stocks can be digested by others in the current market. This also led them to pay off just before the final bank repayment date. This situation also led to the fact that the bank did not intend to continue to cooperate with Phil knight, and that the bank froze the funds of Phil knight, which resulted in the failure to cash the cheques issued to the workers. Blind expansion may lead to a shortage of the company's capital supply chain.

What do you think the entrepreneur did right

Economy is a profit-driven marketing strategy that ignores labor costs to produce more economic satisfaction.

In 1977, the federal government issued Nike a $25 million tax bill that would bankrupt the company. According to the US Market Price Law, the import tariff of nylon shoes is 20% of the cost of making the shoes. However, if domestic competitors produce similar shoes, the tariff rate becomes 20% of the market value of competitors ‘products. Competitors can snipe Nike by setting up a small factory in the United States, producing a small amount of shoes and setting prices very high. So, Phil Knight suspects competitors are doing it. In February 1980, Nike filed a $25 million anti-trust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Southern New York against Nike's rival, United Rubber, for using some insidious business practices in an attempt to crush Nike. 'Our competitors and their accomplices in government recognize that they underestimate our will,' recalls Phil Knight. Eventually, a settlement of $9 million was reached.

How would you have done things if you were in their position

With the growth of Nike Company, visitors to the company continue to flock. But Nike executives are still wearing sloppy and weird clothes, some wearing Hawaiian shirts and some wearing excavator driver's clothes. 'We treat you like gods until we see your cars,' said an executive at Frock. So, around Thanksgiving in 1978, Phil Knight laid down a strict corporate dress code: wearing a suit and tie. This requirement is considered a jerk by many people, 'We're not going to work in a suit and tie company!' Phil Knight said, 'We are now.'

If I were the boss, I would not let employees wear suits and ties. Because I think more attention should be paid to how to improve work efficiency than to make employees look more professional by dressing up. I think comfortable clothes can improve the efficiency of employees more than formal clothes.

What economic principles were used in this business

In 1962, Knight decided to put his theory into practice. He didn't want his business ideas to disappear into the halls of Stanford. At a shoe trade fair, Knight saw the Japanese shoemaker Ghost Tomb Tiger. Knight was impressed by the high quality and low cost of Ghost Tomb Tiger Shoes. He believed that the Japanese running shoe program with good quality and low price would be a great success. For a long time afterwards, Knight soled shoes with the idea that high-quality and low-cost shoes would surely gain market access. Because it's cheap and of good quality. This breaks the traditional business model of selling high-quality goods at high prices and no good goods at low prices. Knight used economies of scale to maintain income growth in terms of price decline and demand elasticity. He lowered the price to raise his total income.

What did you get out of this book

The halo of Phil's success was followed by a journey of entrepreneurship full of thorns. As he said, he spent a long time in debt. Every day he dreamed that he would owe more money tomorrow. However, eventually the company went public to solve the problem. The process was so difficult! The author calls himself a shoe dog. The interesting name also reflects that it is because of the love for shoes and the desire for success that he has persevered for decades and eventually dominated the industry.