Daymond Johns Life - Role of Family and Socio-Cultural Background, Essay

Daymond John's Life - Role of Family and Socio-Cultural Background, Essay Daymond John's Life - Role of Family and Socio-Cultural Background, Type of Business and Competitive Advantage â€" Essay Example > The paper “ Daymond John’ s Life - Role of Family and Socio-Cultural Background, Type of Business and Competitive Advantage”   is an intriguing variant of an essay on biographies. 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 growthJohn was born in the Queens neighborhood 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 program that gave him the freedom to attend school and study simultaneously (John 15). John credits this program 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 neighborhood 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 the business that put him on the global b usiness 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 realized 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. On 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 ord er 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 than 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 to 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 create a multi-million dollar business empire from humble beginnings.