Amway

Introduction

Amway is direct selling company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos. Based in Ada, Michigan the company and family of companies under Alticor reported sales growth of 9.5%, reaching US$9.2 billion for the year ending December 31, 2010.Its product lines include home care products, personal care products, jewelry, electronics, Nutrilite dietary supplements, water purifiers, air purifiers, insurance and cosmetics. In 2004, Health & Beauty products accounted for nearly 60% of worldwide sales. Amway conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories around the world. Amway was ranked No.114 among the largest global retailers by Deloitte in 2006, and No.32 among the largest private companies in the U.S. by Forbes in 2010. Amway's business practices have been the subject of controversy and the company has been involved in several court cases in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere. 

 

 

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Tiffany

Charles Lewis Tiffany

Tiffany & Co. History

The 1830s in New York City were a time of dynamic growth, extravagant tastes and golden opportunity for anyone with a little capital and an abundance of imagination. In 1837, New York became the proving ground for twenty-five-year-old Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young, who opened a “stationery and fancy goods” store with a $1,000 advance from Tiffany's father.

On their way to the new emporium at 259 Broadway, fashionable ladies in silks, satins, and beribboned bonnets faced a gauntlet of narrow streets teeming with horses and carriages and the hurly-burly of city life. At Tiffany & Co. they discovered a newly emerging “American style” that departed from the European design aesthetic, which was rooted in religious and ceremonial patterns and the Victorian era’s mannered opulence. The young entrepreneurs were inspired by the natural world, which they interpreted in exquisite patterns of simplicity, harmony and clarity. These became the hallmarks of Tiffany design, first in silver hollowware and flatware, and later in jewelry. 

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The FaceShop

The FaceShop

A brand that shares the benefits of nature.

Nature untouched and unexploited is so beautiful, yet so far away.

• THEFACESHOP bring together science and the perfection of nature to deliver the best product for your skin.
• THEFACESHOP will become second nature to you, giving the best to you who resemble nature.
• THEFACESHOP helping you rediscover nature and protecting your health and beauty. 

The promise of THEFACESHOP.

•  Trust the wisdom of nature

There is balance in nature. A skin imbalance means that your are too distant from nature. THRFACESHOP will become second nature just for you who resemble the nature.

• Deliver the true story of nature.

Nature has its own precious secret that it doesn't share with us. Open your ears to the story of nature, told by THEFACESHOP. The true story of  nature becomes complete in the skin.

• Act for your skin

THEFACESHOP's natural energy harmlessly permeates deeply into your skin by respecting the rule of nature. We make sure that the essence of nature goes into your skin.

About The Entrepreneur

  Jung Woon Ho will never forget his 1999 trip 

to New York,when his eye was caught by a 

poster of supermodel Naomi Campbell promoting 

The Gap. Why, he thought, could he not build a 

brand as strong as Gap Inc (GPS ).'s,marrying a 

cool, even classy, image with relatively low prices 

in makeup in Korea? "The cosmetics business is all 

about images," says Jung. Back at home, 

he worked up a business plan, and in 2003 

he launched TheFaceShop. 

   

  Korea was ripe for the idea. The first FaceShop store, 
in Seoul's bustling Myongdong district, opened in 
December, 2003. The company now has 360 stores in Korea and 61 overseas. 
This year, TheFaceShop expects profits to jump 219%, to $28.6 million,as sales climb 176%, 
to $162 million.   
 
  To give the brand an aura of cool, Jung insisted that all his products be made from 
botanical extracts. Then he slashed costs and offered lotions, creams, and lipstick at less 
than half the price of local suppliers. "TheFaceShop brought about a revolution in 
Korea's cosmetics industry," says Cho Yoon Jung, an analyst at Hyundai Securities in Seoul.

  Jung also hit his competitors where they were vulnerable. Korean cosmetics had 
previously been dominated by large retailers supplied by wholesalers. Jung cut out the
middlemen, directly supplying franchised FaceShop stores selling only his brand. He 
outsourced production to a pair of Korean manufacturers that work for international brands
such as L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ ), and Boots. And to owners of existing cosmetics
shops willing to retool their stores and join his FaceShop chain, he offered higher 
margins than established manufacturers did. 

  Jung didn't forget the power of that Naomi Campbell poster, either. But instead 
of finding a supermodel to stump for TheFaceShop, he hired Kwon Sang Woo, a top 
actor popular with young women. Jung blanketed the airwaves with ads featuring Kwon 
admiring a young woman with beautiful skin as she plays the violin in a leafy garden, 
followed by the tag line "Natural story. TheFaceShop." To hammer home the 
company's green image, Jung also insists that each store have a live zelkova tree inside.  

History

Granted a certificate to manufacture cosmetic.                      1962   

Granted ISO9001 approval.                                                 2002             

Launch of THEFACESHOP Korea and franchise business.       DEC 2003

Opened 1st THEFACESHOP store at Myeongdong.

Myeongdong 1st shop

Opened 100th local THEFACESHOP store.                          JUN 2004

Entered oversea market (Taiwan,Singapore,Indonesia)         NOV 2004 

Launched online shopping mall "thefaceshop.com"                DEC 2004      

Became the first cosmetic brand to enter the DFS market     MAY 2005      

Generated largest sales in brand shop market and 3rd          DEC 2005

in the entire cosmetic industry        

Opened 100th store oversea                                           APR 2006     

Launched THEFACESHOP in USA                                      MAY 2006

Launched THEFACESHOP in China                                   AUG 2006

Recorder more than 200 billion won in sale                        DEC 2007

in just 4 years since launch(209.7 billion won)

Opened flagship store in Beijing,China                              MAR 2008

Opened 200th store oversea                                          NOV 2008

"More than 40% growth"                                                   2009

Became subsidiary of LG Household & Health Care               JAN 2009

Started the industry's fist ever cosmetic vending                JUN 2010

machine business

"Neo Classis Homme" Good Design Award. 

CEO Cha Suk Yong selected by Asia Money as                    DEC 2010

"Korea's best CEO" in 2009 and 2010

Launched "Smim", the first naturally ripened cosmetic           FEB 2011

Launched "The Skin R.E.W" on the home shopping channel     MAR 2011

Launched THEFACESHOP in Japan                                     APR 2011

Run more than 900 store and has business presence             MAY 2011

in 22 countries around the world

 

L'ORÉAL

Brief Description 

“L'ORÉAL has been built around fundamental values which have guided us throughout the life of our company, and continue to do so today. Our values have shaped our culture, and they underpin our reputation.”
Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

L’Oréal has always endeavoured to be an exemplary company, not only in economic but also in ethical terms. We aim to make L’Oréal a great place in which to work, and we know that our employees are our greatest assets. They are entitled to a safe and healthy working environment: one in which personal talent and merit are recognised, diversity is valued, privacy is respected, and the balance between professional and personal life is taken into account. We believe in offering our employees a stimulating environment, exciting personal opportunities and a chance to make a difference. We encourage an atmosphere of openness, courage, generosity and respect, so that all our employees feel free to come forward with their questions, ideas and concerns.

How The Products Got It Name

In 1909, young chemist and natural entrepreneur Eugène Schueller sets up the company that will later become L’Oréal. 


Everything begins with one of the first hair dyes, which he designs, produces and sells to hairdressers in Paris. 


The move forges the first link in the chain that is to become L’Oréal “DNA”: using research and innovation to enhance beauty.

Key Factors Contributing to The Success of The Business

The L'Oréal Group's main facts and figures for 2010:

• Over 100 years of expertise in cosmetics
• 5 key areas of expertise: haircare, hair colour, skincare, make-up & fragrances
• 23 global brands*
• Products distributed in 130 countries
• €19.5 billion consolidated sales in 2010
• €665 million in R&I investments in 2010
• 612 patents filed in 2010
• 66,600 employees worldwide

* These brands'annual sales are superior to 50 million euros.

Unique Features About The Product That Makes It an Outstanding Products

Dream, Excel and Succeed together

Creativity, innovation and partnership – three reasons that prompt leading hair stylists to choose L’Oréal Professionnel and its products.

L’Oréal Professionnel products, developed in close collaboration with leading hairdressers, are the fruit of their technical expertise and the technological breakthroughs achieved by L’Oréal Research.
The brand’s hair colour products are cutting edge. In 2009, L’Oréal Professionnel launched INOA, a revolutionary odourless, ammonia-free hair colour for optimised respect of the hair and scalp.
The Série Expert, Série Nature and L’Oréal Professionnel Homme lines offer quality professional haircare products suitable for all stylists and consumers.
The Tecni.art, Play ball and Texture Expert styling ranges are hugely popular with hair designers and the Série Expert line offers precision professional haircare products. X-Tenso, a long-lasting hair straightener, is also one of L’Oréal Professionnel’s most successful innovations.

With its finger on the pulse of fashion, L’Oréal Professionnel provides hair designers and colourists with the tools they need to fully unleash their creativity. Twice a year, L’Oréal Professionnel creates the “Colour Collections”, major events that put hair design at the centre of fashion and where technical expertise and innovation meet the latest catwalk trends. Working with leading international stylists, the brand transposes these looks to the hairdressing industry, so that every customer can emerge from the salon with a style reflecting the latest trends.

Achievements Attained in Terms of Market Share, Sales Turnover, Number of Outlets, Recognition, Adoption & Acceptance of Product

Sales, profits
  

In 2003, L’Oréal announced its 19th consecutive year of double-digit growth. Its consolidated sales was €14.029 bn and net profit was €1.653 bn. 96.7% of sales derived from cosmetic activities and 2.5% from dermatological activities. L’Oréal has operations in over 130 countries, employing 50,500 people, 24% of which work in France. 3.3% of consolidated sales is invested in research and development, which accounts for 2,900 of its employees. In 2003, it applied for 515 patents. It operates 42 manufacturing plants throughout the world, which employ 14,000 people.
Cosmetics sales by division breakdown: 54.8% from consumer products at €7.506 bn, 25.1% from luxury products at €3.441 bn, 13.9% from professional products at €1.9 bn, and 5.5% from active cosmetics at €0.749 bn.
Cosmetic sales by geographic zone breakdown: 52.7% from Western Europe at €7.221 bn, 27.6% from North America at €3.784 bn, 19.7% from rest of the world at €2.699 bn.

In 2007, L’Oréal was ranked 353 in the Fortune Global 500. The company had earned $2,585 million on sales of $19,811 million. There were 60,850 employees.



Community involvement and awards

In 2008, L'Oréal was named Europe's top business employer by The European Student Barometer, a survey conducted by Trendence that covers 20 European countries and incorporates the responses of over 91,000 students.

The L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science was established to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress.

The awards are a result of a partnership between the French cosmetics company L'Oréal and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and carry a grant of $100,000 USD for each laureate.

The same partnership awards the UNESCO-L'Oréal International Fellowships, providing up to $40,000 USD in funding over two years to fifteen young women scientists engaged in exemplary and promising research projects.

L'Oréal organizes every year the L'Oréal Brandstorm, an acknowledged business game for students in 43 countries. The game is related to marketing and has a first prize of $10,000, a second prize of $5,000 and a third prize of $2500.

 

Business Philosophy & Business Strategies Used

For more than a century L’Oréal has been pushing back the boundaries of science to invent beauty and meet the aspirations of millions of women and men. Its vocation is universal: to offer everyone, all over the world, the best of cosmetics in terms of quality, efficacy and safety, to give everyone access to beauty by offering products in harmony with their needs, culture and expectations.

With the opening up of the emerging markets, L’Oréal’s mission is broadening in response to the vast diversity of populations. The whole company is focused on this new horizon: teams enriched by their cultural diversity, a portfolio of international brands present in the different distribution channels, and research that is capable of grasping the world’s complexity. The exploration of new scientific and technological territories is being enriched by this global dimension. Knowledge of different cultures and rituals worldwide enables the laboratories to anticipate and invent the products of the future.

L’Oréal is committed to carrying out its mission to make beauty universal in a sustainable and responsible way. A highly exacting challenge, which the group is taking up step by step, in a long-term perspective, with the active involvement of all its employees. Ranked amongst the 100 most sustainable and ethical companies in the world, L’Oréal’s ambition is to be an exemplary corporate citizen. To help make the world a more beautiful place.

The Ups & Downs of The Entrepreneur & His Business

L’Oréal has five worldwide research and development centers: two in France: Aulnay and Chevilly; one in the U.S.: Clark, New Jersey; one in Japan: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture; and in 2005, one was established in Shanghai, China. A future facility in the US will be in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.

From 1988 to 1989, L'Oréal controlled the film company Paravision, whose properties included the Filmation and De Laurentiis libraries. StudioCanal acquired the Paravision properties in 1994.

L’Oréal purchased Synthélabo in 1973 to pursue its ambitions in the pharmaceutical field. Synthélabo merged with Sanofi in 1999 to become Sanofi-Synthélabo. Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis in 2004 to become Sanofi-Aventis.


On 17 March 2006, L'Oréal purchased cosmetics company The Body Shop for £652 million.

The company has recently faced discrimination lawsuits in France related to the hiring of spokesmodels and Institutional racism. In the UK, L'Oréal has faced widespread condemnation from OFCOM regarding truth in their advertising and marketing campaigns concerning the product performance of one of their mascara brands.

A book by Monica Waitzfelder, published in French as L'Oréal a pris ma maison and in English as L'Oréal stole my house!, details how L'Oréal, a company claimed to be anti-Semitic by the author, took over the Waitzfelder home in the German city of Karlsruhe (after the Nazis had engineered the removal of the family) to make it its German headquarters.

L'Oréal's famous advertising slogan is "Because I'm worth it". In the mid 2000s, this was replaced by "Because you're worth it". In late 2009, the slogan was changed again to "Because we're worth it" following motivation analysis and work into consumer psychology of Dr. Maxim Titorenko. The shift to "we" was made to create stronger consumer involvement in L'Oréal philosophy and lifestyle and provide more consumer satisfaction with L'Oréal products. L'Oréal also owns a Hair and Body products line for kids called L'Oréal Kids, the slogan for which is "Because we're worth it too".

Protest group Naturewatch states that L'Oréal continues to test new ingredients on animals.The company states that no animal testing for finished products has taken place since 1989 and that L'Oreal has invested significantly in alternative methods for chemical safety testing, though they implicitly acknowledge that they continue to perform animal testing of ingredients.

Following L'Oréal's purchase of The Body Shop, who continue to be against animal testing, The Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick was forced to defend herself against allegations of abandoning her principles over L'Oréal's track record on animal testing. Calls were made for shoppers to boycott The Body Shop.

In 1987, L'Oréal and 3 Suisses founded Le Club des Créateurs de Beauté specializing in mail order sales of cosmetic products.

February 2011: L'Oreal will have the largest factory in the Jababeka Industrial Park, Cikarang, Indonesia with total investment of US$50 million and it will be ready in October 2011. The production will be absorbed 25 percent by domestic market and the rest will be exported. In 2010 significant growth occurred at Indonesia with 61 percent increase of unit sales or 28 percent of net sales.

How The Business Gained Success

Joint ventures and minority interests

L’Oréal holds 10.41% of the shares of Sanofi-Aventis, the world's number 3 and Europe's number 1 pharmaceutical company. The Laboratoires Innéov is a joint venture in nutritional cosmetics between L’Oréal and Nestlé; they draw on L’Oréal's knowledge in the fields of nutrition and food safety. Galderma is another joint venture in dermatology between L'Oréal and Nestlé.

A Brief Introduction of How The Business Started

In 1907, Eugène Schueller, a young French chemist, developed a hair dye formula called Auréale. Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products, which he then sold to Parisian hairdressers.

On July 30th 1909, Schueller registered his company, the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux ("Safe Hair Dye Company of France" literally "French Society of Inoffensive Tinctures for Hair"), the original L’Oréal. The guiding principles of the company, which eventually became L’Oréal, were research and innovation in the field of beauty.

In 1920, the small company employed three chemists. By 1950, the research teams were 100 strong; that number reached 1,000 by 1984 and is nearly 2,000 today.

L’Oréal got its start in the hair-color business, but the company soon branched out into other cleansing and beauty products. L’Oréal currently markets over 500 brands and many thousands of individual products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair color, permanents, hair styling, body and skin care, cleansers, makeup and fragrances. The company's products are found in a wide variety of distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper - and supermarkets, health/beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail. 

A Profile of The Entrepreneur and The Business

Eugene Schuller

Eugène Schueller (20 March 1881 Paris – 23 August 1957) was the founder of L'Oréal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty.


Career With Loreal

As a young French chemist and 1904 graduate of the Institut de Chimie Appliquée de Paris (now Chimie ParisTech), Eugene Schueller developed in 1907 an innovative hair-color formula. He called his dye Auréale. With that, the history of L'Oréal began. He formulated and manufactured his own products, and sold them to Parisian hairdressers.

In 1909, he registered his company, the "Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux", the future L'Oréal. The guiding principles of the company that would become L'Oréal were put into place from the start: research and innovation in the interest of beauty.

 

Photo of Entrepreneur

Eugene Schueller

Picture of Products

 

Chanel

 

Profile of the Entrepreneur

Chanel was born in Saumur, France. She was the second daughter of Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle, a market stallholder and laundrywoman. Her birth was declared by employees of the hospital in which she was born. They, being illiterate, could not provide or confirm the correct spelling of the surname and it was recorded by the mayor François Poitou as "Chasnel".[3] This misspelling made the tracing of her roots almost impossible for biographers when Chanel later rose to prominence.

Her parents married in 1883. She had five siblings: two sisters, Julie (1882–1913) and Antoinette (born 1887) and three brothers, Alphonse (born 1885), Lucien (born 1889) and Augustin (born and died 1891). In 1895, when she was 12 years old, Chanel's mother died of tuberculosis and her father left the family. Because of this, the young Chanel spent six years in the orphanage of the Roman Catholic monastery of Aubazine, where she learned the trade of a seamstress. School vacations were spent with relatives in the provincial capital, where female relatives taught her to sew with more flourish than the nuns at the monastery were able to demonstrate.

When Coco turned eighteen, she was obliged to leave the orphanage, and affiliated with the circus of Moulins as a cabaret singer. During this time, Chanel performed in bars in Vichy and Moulins where she was called "Coco." Some say that the name comes from one of the songs she used to sing, and Chanel herself said that it was a "shortened version of cocotte, the French word for 'kept woman'," according to an article in The Atlantic.

According to Chandler Burr's The Emperor of Scent, Luca Turin was told that Chanel was "called Coco because she threw the most fabulous cocaine parties in Paris".

 

How the product got its name?

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel is her full name. She was the second daughter of Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle. The product of 'Chanel' come from her father family's name.

Business Philosophy & Business Strategies used

Posted by norhafiza mohamed ali

Coco Chanel's humble beginnings were also a blessing in disguise. Most of us are aware of the rags to riches story of Chanel's life. Born in lowly circumstances and raised in an orphanage, Chanel changed her name from Gabrielle to Coco supposedly in honour of a song she performed in cabarets. In time, she raised the capital to start her own fashion business. Her circumstances forced Chanel to literally create the story and the philosophy of the brand from scratch. She was perhaps the first celebrity designer; the first person to turn herself into a living embodiment of her philosophy in order to highlight her work. She was one of those rare people who understood how and why what appealed to her would also work for others. She drew on her instincts, talent and preferences to create lines that were timeless, intriguing, daring and aspirational. Her personality bestrode her work, and yet it avoided being self-indulgent. That story is still very much part of the way that Chanel conducts its business.

Coco Chanel’s marketing strategy can be summed up in her belief that ‘a girl should always be two things: Classy and fabulous’.

When Chanel began to make her mark in the world of fashion, one of the first things she did was challenge the conventions of the clothing world by cutting her hair short and wearing baggy shapeless clothes, as opposed to the trend of long hair and tight corsets. Chanel was always changing and was also a little different - so too was her marketing strategy.

Chanel wanted to create an image for her brand and did so by using six strategies, ensuring:

1 Excellent quality

2 High prices

3 Scarcity and uniqueness

4 Attractive Aesthetics

5 They had an ancestral heritage and personal history

6 Her garments were superfluous and spectacular.

Chanel has always ensured that its creator’s persona is very evident in the brand and the logo for Chanel has not changed since its inception and so has created a world recognised brand. Chanel’s marketing strategy has always been one of innovation, in spite of her unchanging label; Coco Chanel has regularly re-invented herself to align her fashion with current trends. Upon her first foray of success, Coco Chanel introduced a selection of different items. Her three piece suit, which is still modern today, was the first of its kind. Chanel’s innovation and penchant for re-invention and moving into new markets saw her release perfumes and move into the area of dress jewellery. This expansion into new markets helped the Chanel brand to grow and prosper. Another fine example of Chanel’s marketing strategy and constant determination to keep up can be seen in how she handled her return to limelight after a hiatus during the 1940s.

Upon her return, fashion had seen a new star in its firmament, Christian Dior. Chanel accepted this challenge by one again re-inventing her clothing lines and re-designing her haute couture clothing, three piece suits, and perfume and costume jewellery in line to meet to meet modern to meet wants. In fact she even introduced men’s fragrances and aftershaves, unheard of for a woman designer to do at the time. It is this constant reinvention and fearless ability to change with the times that saw Chanel and her marketing strategy succeed. Chanel’s personal ability to keep up with the times while maintaining an individualism and recognition of her brand along with her drive, have ensured that the Chanel brand is still at the fore today.

Achievements attained in terms of products

The classic designs she left behind include No.5 perfume， tweed, two-color shoes, little black dress, etc. The classic assesory is the leather tote bag with metal chain, designed to set free women’s hands. Her beloved camellias is still blooming in the relief pattern in satin evening bag.

Although Chanel began from designing costumes, she started to produce, early in 1925, a small amount of blusher, lipstick and skin care products for herself and her guests, only displayed in Chanel boutique. But as these products are marked with CHANEL name, No.5 perfume appeared on the market in 1921, and began to develop in the area of perfumes and cosmetics.

Picture of Product(s)

 

Product Concepts

Today, Chanel stands out in just about every category—couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry, shoes, and fragrances. What began as a no-nonsense approach to fashion, designed to let women be comfortable while looking dignified, has been translated into classic, tailored style, especially in ready-to-wear, where the traditional tweed Chanel suit with a nipped-at-the-waist cardigan jacket remains one of the most popular—and most copied—fashion staples. Evening gowns tend to have an understated sex appeal and a bit of whimsy, and appear in luxurious fabrics with lots of embellishments. Yet, there is always an undeniable element of the house's founder. "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous," Coco Chanel once said. Fitting, since that's the absolute embodiment of the label even a century after it was founded.

 

How the business started?

Coco Chanel didn’t have much money but many of her friends were rich and successful. She borrowed money from a rich friend and started her first hat shop in Paris in 1910. Women were happy to buy her stylish hats and asked her to design clothes for them. In 1913, Coco borrowed money to open a second shop in the French seaside town of Deauville. Women from all over Europe were soon buying her clothes.

With the arrival of the First World War in 1914, women were doing various jobs and Coco designed clothes for them. In 1915, Coco opened another shop in Biarritz in the south of France. Rich people went there to escape from the worries of war and women were looking for beautiful clothes that allowed them to enjoy themselves. In the 1920s, Coco expanded her clothing business around the world. She also began dealing with jewellery and cosmetics.

Coco’s Chanel No. 5 became the most successful perfume of the past hundred years. While many people suffered from the stock market crash of 1929, Coco continued to design expensive products. In the mid 1930s, some of the workers in her factories stopped work and demanded better treatment. In 1939, with the start of the Second World War, Coco closed her factories. After the war, she moved to Switzerland. However, in 1953, she returned to the fashion business. By the late 1950s, she was back at the top. She designed clothing until her death in 1971 at the age of 87.

 

How the business gained success?

Chanel is one of today’s best known and most highly sought-after fashion brands, and has been one practically since it was founded by Coco (Gabrielle) Chanel in 1909. Her big break hit when she opened a small shop in Paris in 1910 where she sold her hats. And by 1913, after asserting disdain for resort wear, she launched sportswear: Her take was simpler—flannel blazers, jersey sweaters, and women in trousers, all of which were decidedly against twentieth-century culture memes. Chanel was trendsetting before there were trends. 

Her post–World War I look gained attention, as she brought on modernism in fashion through beaded dresses in the twenties, the infamous little black dress, as well as a two- or thee-piece suit, which is still a signature Chanel look. By 1921 she introduced Chanel No. 5, and was once quoted as saying "A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future." No. 5 went on to become one of the best-selling fragrances of all time. After a period away from Paris, Chanel returned after the Second World War in the fifties, a time when Christian Dior was touted as Paris's premiere couturier. 

However, Chanel rose again with the launch of her chain-link belt and quilted leather bags—today with the interlocking C's—reestablishing Chanel as the definition of classy glamour with an edge. Coco passed in 1971, but the brand continued, even launching their first ready-to-wear collection in 1978. Yet without a lead designer to be the face of the brand, the house struggled to maintain its enchanting reputation for luxury. That is, until Karl Lagerfeld joined in 1983 to revive it to its elite status, which he did with added glamour and sexiness.

 

The ups/downs of the entrepreneur & her business.

In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, Chanel closed her shops. She believed that it was not a time for fashion.During the German occupation Chanel resided at the Hotel Ritz, which was also noteworthy for being the preferred place of residence for upper echelon German military staff. She also maintained an apartment above her couture house at 31 rue Cambon. During that time she was criticized for having an affair with Hans Günther von Dincklage, a German military intelligence officer who arranged for her to remain in the hotel. Chanel was herself a Nazi intelligence operative, Abwehr Agent 7124, code name “Westminster".

World War II, specifically the Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain the full monetary fortune generated by "Parfums Chanel" and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of "Parfums Chanel," the Wertheimers, were Jewish, and Chanel used her position as an “Aryan” to petition German officials to legalize her claim to sole ownership. On 5 May 1941, she wrote to the government administrator charged with ruling on the disposition of Jewish financial assets. Her grounds for proprietary ownership were based on the claim that “Parfums Chanel “is still the property of Jews”…and had been legally “abandoned” by the owners.“I have,” she wrote, “an indisputable right of priority…the profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business…are disproportionate…[and] you can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years.”Chanel was not aware that the Wertheimers, anticipating the forthcoming Nazi mandates against Jews had, in May 1940, legally turned control of “Parfums Chanel” over to a Christian, French businessman and industrialist, Felix Amiot.

Ultimately, the Wertheimers and Chanel came to a mutual accommodation, re-negotiating the original 1924 contract. On May 17, 1947, Chanel received wartime profits of nine million dollars from the sale of Chanel No. 5, an amount equivalent to some nine million dollars in twenty-first century valuation. Further, her future share would be two percent of all Chanel No. 5 sales worldwide. The financial benefit to her would be enormous. Her earnings would be in the vicinity of twenty-five million dollars a year, making her at the time one of the richest women in the world. Chanel’s friend and biographer Marcel Haedrich provided a telling estimation of her wartime interaction with the Nazi regime: “If one took seriously the few disclosures that Mademoiselle Chanel allowed herself to make about those black years of the occupation, one’s teeth would be set on edge".

In 1943, after four years of professional separation, Chanel contacted Lombardi, who was living in Rome. She invited Lombardi to come to Paris and renew their work together. This was actually a cover for "Operation Modellhut," an attempt by Nazi spymaster Walter Schellenberg to make secret contact with Lombardi's relative Winston Churchill. When Lombardi refused, she was arrested as a British spy by the Gestapo. Chanel was later charged as a collaborator, but avoided trial due to intervention by the British Royal family.

Haute Couture suit circa 1960, designed by Chanel. Chanel was a very close friend of Walter Schellenberg to the extent that when he died of cancer penniless in Turin, Chanel paid for his funeral. Some references suggest that Coco Chanel had close contact with another Nazi, Walter Kutschmann, who was responsible for the murder of thousands of Poland's Jews early in World War II. He was transferred to France in 1943 where he became Chanel's Paris SS contact. Kutschmann made frequent trips to Spain with Chanel with large sums of money passing between them.

 

Key Factors contributing to the success of the business.

This is the success Lessons from Coco Chanel:

Be Different

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different,” said Chanel. “People laughed at the way I dressed, but that was the secret of my success: I didn’t look like anyone.” Chanel disliked the look of corsets and felt that women were taking on too much discomfort in the name of fashion. “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not a luxury,” she said, and replaced the corset with comfort, casual elegance, and a feeling of hidden luxury. She mixed up the vocabulary of male and female clothes. Her fashion themes included simple suits and dresses, women's trousers, costume jewelry, perfume and textiles.

Be Daring

Chanel was willing to take the risks she needed to in order to reach the top. From day one, her career had been characterized by her willingness to defy convention time after time. When Chanel first introduced her jersey and tweed suits for women, she was rebuked by the European critics. But, Chanel gave no matter. “The most courageous act is still to think for yourself,” she said. “Aloud.” She ignored the critics and continued embodying her bold vision of fashion and femininity. She designed and wore open-necked shirts when everyone else was buttoning theirs up; she wore trousers and created her signature scarlet lipstick. “Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable,” said Chanel.

Leave a Strong Impression

Chanel understood the importance of appearance to getting ahead in the business world. “Dress shabbily and they remember the dress,” said Chanel. “Dress impeccably and they remember the woman... It’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.” It takes 30 seconds to make a first impression. Chanel believed that time must be filled with elegance and class. She wanted women to be beautiful so that they could become someone and to do something important.

Never Give Up

During the World War II Chanel had to shut down her fashion business, but she never lost faith in herself. Despite having to overcome her age and her ruined reputation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Kay Ash

5 Mary Kay Ash Strategies in Business...

1. CLEAR VISION.

The Queen of beauty had a clear vision of what and where she was going to. She started her company with the vision of giving women the chance and opportunity to succeed. This clear vision made her to set goals and strive to reach such goals. This clear vision she had is one of the strategies that made her come tops in a male infested business.

2. PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST.

Looking at Ash's vision above, one will realize that she put people inn front before wealth. She was an apostle of leaders that will add value to people and organization they lead and leaders who work the benefit of others. She instilled the philosophy of operating by the golden rule into her company and her respect for people earned her a loyal and hard working sales team.

3. STRONG MINDED

Success in many cases are failure turned inside out and Mary Kay Ash believes that every failure, obstacle or hardship is and opportunity in disguise. In a male dominated business arena, Ash had her fair share of challenges and refused to back down. Her advice is that you go the extra mile that failure refuses to go.

4. DETERMINATION.

Ash said that she believes that most successful people are ordinary people with extra ordinary determination. She said that many times she failed, many times she was disappointed and she did not quit. It is the setbacks, disappointments and work that her company.She put her best effort with determination into anything.

5. GUT

Mary Kay Ash is full of guts. She stood firm in her beliefs and trusted her guts. She also followed her instincts on her path to success and at time she goes against expert advice. She said that women should change their work to accommodate their beliefs instead of the other way round. Its only guts that made her come tops in the cutthroat business world.

How Mary Kay Ash start her business ??

In 1963, Mary Kay Ash retired from a successful career in direct sales because she was frustrated over being consistently passed over for promotion in favor of men. When the book she sat down to write became a business plan for her ideal company, she and her son Richard Rogers started Mary Kay Cosmetics in a Dallas storefront with an initial investment of $5,000. At the time of her death in 2001, her mult-national company enjoyed annual sales of over $2 billion and her book on management was part of the curriculum at Harvard Business School.

Mary Kay Ash Milestones..

Year 1999

• Named by Lifetime Television the most outstanding woman in business in the 20th century, based on year-long online voting.

Year 1998

• Dedicated the Mary Kay Ash Cancer Research Institute at St. Paul Medical Center, Dallas

Year 1996

• Included in the book Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time as one of 20 and the only woman business leader profiled
• Awarded an “EPAcres” certificate of recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Lights Program for its accomplishment of preventing pollution equivalent to planting 100 acres of trees through the use of energy-efficient lighting
• Awarded a certificate of recognition from the City of Dallas (for July 1, 1994 through June 30, 1995) for its efforts in helping ensure safe drinking water

Year 1995

• Released third book, You Can Have It All, which achieved best-seller status within first week of sales
• National Association of Women Business Owners 1995 Pathfinder Award
• Awarded a certificate of recognition from the City of Dallas (for July 1, 1993 through June 30, 1994) for its efforts in helping ensure safe drinking water

Year 1994

• Received Honorable Mention Award for Awareness and Achievement from the Board of Sponsors of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• Awarded a certificate of recognition from the City of Dallas (for July 1, 1992 through June 30, 1993) for its efforts in helping ensure safe drinking water

Year 1993

• Dedicated the Mary Kay Museum, a 3,000-square-foot tribute to 30 years of direct selling success
• Dedicated the Mary Kay Ash Center for Cancer Immunotherapy Research at St. Paul Medical Center, Dallas
• Dedicated the Mary Kay Ash/St. Paul Medical Center Mobile Cancer Screening Unit, Dallas
• First female recipient of the Kupfer Distinguished Executive Award, Texas A&M University
• Dallas Mother of the Year Award, Dallas Can! Academy
• Outstanding Texas Citizen Award, Texas Exchange Clubs

Year 1992

• Living Legend Award, Direct Selling Education Foundation

Year 1991

• Outstanding Woman of the Year, Les Femmes du Monde

Year 1990

• Outstanding Business Leader Award, Northwood Institute
• National Family Business Award, Baylor University
• Women of Achievement Award, General Federation of Women's Clubs
• Business Leader of the '90s Award, Association of Woman Business Owners
• Individual Komen Award for Philanthropy, Komen Foundation for the Advancement of Breast Cancer Research

Year 1989

• Sovereign Fund Award
• First Annual National Sales Hall of Fame Award
• Circle of Honor Award, Direct Selling Education Foundation
• Honorary chairperson yearlong Texas Breast Screening Project
• Featured in "Great American Entrepreneur" series at the Smithsonian Institute

Year 1987

• Christian Excellence Award in Business, International Association of Women in Leadership
• Churchwoman of the Year Award, Religious Heritage of America

Year 1986

• Woman of the Year, Crystal Cathedral Christian Executive Women
• Distinguished Woman Award, Northwood Institute
• Honored by President Reagan as one of the women entrepreneurs featured in the National Federation of Independent Businesses Report

Year 1985

• Outstanding Women in Business in Dallas Award, The Dallas Chamber of Commerce

Year 1984

• Featured in the book The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America
• Women's Award of Achievement, Women's City Club of Cleveland, Ohio
• Mary Kay on People Management published by Warner Books; featured on The New York Times best seller list for 11 weeks

Year 1983

Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Edwin L. Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas

Featured as one of the "100 Most Important Women in America" by Ladies Home Journal

Year 1982

• Distinguished Business Leadership Award, University of Texas at Arlington College of Business Administration and Advisory Council
• Golden Achievement Award from Incentive Manufacturers Representatives Association

Year 1981

• Business Award for Excellence in Community Service, Dallas Historical Society
• Free Enterprise Award, San Fernando Valley Business and Professional Association and the Free Enterprise Award Committee
• Mary Kay by Mary Kay, published by Harper and Row

Year 1980

• Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement

Year 1979

• Profiled on "60 Minutes"
• Horatio Alger Distinguished American Citizen Award, Horatio Alger Association
• Cosmetic Career Woman of the Year Award
• Dale Carnegie Leadership Award

How the business gained success ??

Charming. Spirited. A one-of-a-kind success story. Over the years, there have been many successful business leaders but none as unique as Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Inc. Her accomplishments left an unforgettable mark on American business and opened the door for women around the world to experience success on their own terms.

“You can do it!”

These words embody the very spirit of Mary Kay Ash and the Company she created. It’s the spirit she learned as a child growing up in Hot Wells, Texas. When facing new and daunting tasks, her mother encouraged her with, “You can do it, Mary Kay. You can do it.” Mary Kay Ash did more than embrace this empowering spirit – she passed it on through a remarkable company that would inspire millions in generations to come.

That company story didn’t begin until Mary Kay Ash faced a situation all too familiar to women. After 25 years in the direct selling business, Mary Kay Ash resigned her position as a national training director when yet another man she had trained was promoted above her – at twice her salary. Her response was visionary. At first, she started writing a book that would help women gain the opportunities she had been denied. But soon she realized she was creating a plan that would do much more than give advice. It formed the foundation for a new opportunity where women could develop their talents and achieve unlimited success.

Picture Of Product

Mary Kay Ash Achievements

	A dynamic speaker, motivator and entrepreneur, Mary Kay was recognized for her achievements through numerous awards and honors including:
		A&E Television Networks aired “Mary Kay” on the Biography Channel.
		Named one of the 25 Most Influential Business Leaders of the Last 25 Years by PBS and the Wharton School of Business in 2004
		Greatest Female Entrepreneur in American History by Baylor University in 2003
		2002 Dallas Business Hall of Fame Laureate in recognition of her lifetime achievements as well as demonstrating inspiring business and community leadership, industry vision and service as a business and civic role model in the community
		2002 National Conference on Medical Care and Domestic Violence Community Service Award, now known as the Mary Kay Ash Award
		Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century by Lifetime Television in 1999
		Texas Woman of the Century in 1999 by the Texas Women’s Chamber of Commerce
		National Business Hall of Fame election in 1996 by Fortune
		Pathfinder Award in 1995 by the National Association of Women Business Owners
		Business Leader of the ’90s Award by the Association of Women Business Owners
		Circle of Honor Award in 1989 and Living Legend Award in 1992 by the Direct Selling Education Foundation
		First Annual National Sales Hall of Fame Award in 1989 by the Sales and Marketing Executives of New York
		One of “America’s 25 Most Influential Women” in the 1985 The World Almanac and Book of Facts
		Horatio Alger Distinguished American Citizen Award in 1978, an award given to distinguished Americans who have succeeded in spite of adversity

Entrepreneur Profile

+ Mary Kay Ash +

Mary Kay Ash, born Mary Kathlyn Wagner in Hot Wells,Harris Country, Texas, was the daughter of Edward Alexander and Lula Vember Hastings Wagner. She attended Reagan High School in Houston, and graduated in 1934.

Ash married Ben Rogers at age 17. While her husband served in World War II, she sold books door-to-door. After her husband's return in 1948, they divorced. Ash went to work for Stanley Home Products.Frustrated when passed over for a promotion in favor of a man that she had trained, Ash retired in 1963 and intended to write a book to assist women in business. The book turned into a business plan for her ideal company, and in September 1963, Mary Kay Ash and her second husband began Mary Kay Cosmetics with a $5,000 investment. Before the company could open its original storefront operation in Dallas, her second husband died, and her son, Richard Rogers, took his place. The store opened in 1963, but grew rapidly, particularly after Ash was interviewed for CBS's 60 Minutes in 1979.

Ash was widely respected. She considered the Golden Rule the founding principle of Mary Kay Cosmetics and the company's marketing plan was designed to allow women to advance by helping others to succeed. She advocated "praising people to success" and her slogan "God first, family second, career third" expressed her insistence that the women in her company keep their lives in balance.