With the likes of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and other internationally recognised names all coming from the same humble beginnings, it’s no wonder that so many people are rushing to start their own startups in the hopes of being next in line.

These are some billionaires who got rich from startups.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates and his business partner Paul Allen started Microsoft out of a garage in 1970. Quickly taking a hold of computer industry by supplying software to IBM, Microsoft dominated the market. Following this, Microsoft’s success continued to grow, resulting in it having a hand in almost every electronic transaction worldwide.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, started business giant Amazon in a garage. Originally, Amazon was formed to sell books through an online platform. Popularity of the service skyrocketed, with sales up to $20,000 per week within 2 months. Amazon ended up becoming an ‘everything store’, which is now a business giant.

Mark Zuckerberg

Originally starting Facebook as Facemash in his Harvard dorm room, Zuckerberg was heavily criticised for his creation in which you compared photos of students and voted on who was more attractive. Following this, Facebook was born as a social media networking site for Harvard students.

It later expanded to further universities and colleges, then high school students and then anyone could join as long as they were 13 years old or above.

Facebook became one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.

These are some billionaires who made their success through startups with humble beginnings.

Here are some tips for a successful startup from Bill Gates.

Master your skill

With Bill Gates, his startup was to do with programming. So to develop his skills, he programmed. To become an effective startup leader with Microsoft, he had to understand he software development process. Just like with any startup, you must hone your skill which your startup revolves around, and ensure you understand what you are doing in order to be an effective startup leader.

Good startup ideas can come from anywhere

A good startup will be able to have good ideas coming from all sources. There is a common misconception that all good ideas come from the top of the company, when really good startup ideas can come from anywhere, be that the employees or the leader.

Stay frugal

Too many times do startups that enjoy success start to spend big on things that are not necessary to the business. With Microsoft, Gates and other employees flew coach well into the late 1990s. Only when security started to become a concern did he stop. It is important for startups that start to enjoy success to not fall into the trap of big unnecessary spending.

In summary, Bill Gates is one of the best examples of startup success, and as a result has good tips for those starting their own companies. Following these tips will ensure that the startups stay on the right path.

Founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia had moved to San Francisco from New York, and had little cash. They decided to buy some air beds and set up a bed and breakfast. 3 guests stayed the night, being the first ever Airbnb guests.

They launched in 2008, with 600 people booking Airbnb’s for the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

In order to fund their startup, they started selling cereals with election themes. They made $30,000, and raised $20,000 in funding from Y Combinator.

Their platform starts to gain traction, after visiting their users in New York.

By 2009, they have 2500 listings and 10,000 registered users. From there on, Airbnb kept growing and growing and now have over 2 million listings in over 190 countries, and the company is now worth $25.5 billion.

Airbnb is an incredible story of startup success, from having barely enough money to fund their company and having to sell cereal, to being worth over $25.5 billion, Chesky and Gebbia’s journey is something else. Airbnb continues to grow to this day, and is a household name which is globally recognized no matter where you are in the world.

It started when Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick were in Paris and unable to find a cab. When Camp returned to San Francisco, he was fixated on the idea of a ride sharing app and subsequently bought UberCab.com. Camp was the CEO of StumbleUpon (bought out by Ebay for $75 million) and started working on Uber as a side project. Camp persuaded Kalanick to join in on the project. Uber was tested in New York using 3 cars, then officially launched in San Francisco. The ease of access to a ride share gave the app much popularity, using GPS to locate the car and rider then charging the rider.

The company received $1.25 million in funding from First Round Capital.

In 2011, Uber raised $11 million in its Series A round of funding, allowing to expand into New York, Boston, Seattle, Chicago and Washington DC.

The company broadened in 2012 by introducing UberX, provided less expensive hybrid cars in contrast to expensive black car services.

The story of Uber is one of a startup success built on a demand, being ride sharing. Many people were not happy with prices and the service within the Taxi industry, and Uber filled that need for them, ultimately bringing them recognition and large success globally.

Amazon found success almost immediately, and has grown into a business giant making Bezos the richest man in the world.

These are some tips from Bezos for startups.

Set high standards

Bezos holds the belief that high standards must be taught and maintained in a startup. If a company will operate with low standards, new employees that come on board will operate at the same level of standards. Keep the standards high, and they will strive for that high standard in their work. It’s also important to identify employees weaknesses, and aim for them to improve these.

Dell started his business out of his dorm room whilst attending the University of Texas in Austin. With a $1000 investment from his parents, Dell had sold computers for a combined value of $80,000. By age 19, he left college in order to pursue his computer business, which ended up going public by 1988.

His business philosophy in this time was to gain market share by reducing delivery times, cutting down on costs and providing the customer with a high level of customer service. Hiring experienced executives to act as personal mentors as well as to fill in job roles within the company, he aimed to emphasize sales outside of retail outlets.

By 1992, Dell entered the Fortune 500 list, with Dell being the youngest CEO of a firm to achieve this.

In 2016, Dell oversaw what is considered the largest tech acquisition deal at the time, in which Dell acquired EMC, a computer-storage corporation, for around $67 billion. As a result, the public parent company Dell Technologies was formed, with Dell heading the company as CEO.

Michael Dell was able to build a technological empire by running his business initially out of his dorm room. Through business strategies and a philosophy focusing on the reduction of costs, high level of customer service and reduced delivery time, he was able to increase the company’s market share, to the point where the company grew in size and success.

Dell’s success continues to this day, and is a current billionaire.

Boosts Driver Morale 

When employees thrive within a company, the company thrives as a whole. We value our drivers at Ziphawk. We know that many people are driving to earn a living for themselves and to support their families. Earning a flat rate for each trip motivates drivers to provide excellent service on every trip.

Our drivers feel valued and are paid fairly for their work. This is a modern business model that many companies in all industries are picking up on. Employee morale is one of the most important aspects of any company.

Keeps the Workplace Equal

Not all ridesharing trips are created equal. When drivers are paid on a commission basis, they are losing money by accepting shorter trips. With Ziphawk’s fair pay model, drivers strive to help out riders with varying trip needs, no matter what the distance may be. This keeps compensation equal among Ziphawk drivers as well.

We want every driver to feel like their time is valued in our company. That is why we pay a standard fare for trips instead of basing pay on miles driven. Shorter trips, more complex trips in inner cities, and rural trips are all compensated fairly at Ziphawk.

Creating a Driver-Centered Model

By keeping drivers at the forefront of our ridesharing services, we can continue to focus on what really matters. Drivers are excellent workers who keep our services reliable, fast, and high-quality. Without drivers, we wouldn’t be able to share transportation with passengers nationwide.

Our revolutionary driver-centered pay model ensures that drivers stay where they belong – in the driver’s seat of their lives. Instead of scraping a hefty percentage off the top, Ziphawk curates each fare with complex algorithms that compensate drivers generously.

When drivers are satisfied, riders and drivers alike can enjoy their trips enthusiastically.

Return to the Road

Many drivers for commercial transportation companies were affected by COVID-19. Ziphawk aims to provide these drivers with another career option that has competitive pay and benefits.

When you drive for Ziphawk, you can return to your passion using your own vehicle. We offer opportunities to take charge of your schedule and accept rides that you enjoy. As a result, our riders have a better experience.

Valuing Drivers: About Ziphawk 

At Ziphawk, we offer high and consistent pay rates for our drivers. If your background checks clear and your vehicle passes our inspection, you are on board to drive for us. We value our drivers and set them up for success with superior support services and extensive benefits. Fair fare is what we do best at Ziphawk.

One of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face in this regard is knowing exactly when to sell. Timing is essential if you want to maximize the return on your investment and/or minimize your long-term risk.

Luckily, there are many signs that can help you make the right decision. Here are five signs that it might be time to consider selling your business.

1. It’s No Longer Fun

Startup companies are so much work. They take up so much of your day, whether you’re actively working or thinking about it when you’re not.

Running a startup should be fun. Not every part of the day should feel like a vacation, of course, but it should bring you consistent enjoyment.

If it doesn’t anymore, then it’s time to make a change. That change could be hiring more help to take annoying administrative tasks off your plate. Or, if you’ve just grown tired of running the startup, it could be time to sell.

2. You’ve Grown Too Much

Business growth is a good thing; it’s something that every entrepreneur aspires to achieve. At the same time, it’s possible that your startup could eventually outgrow your own skillset.

Maybe you’re really great at taking a business from the idea stage to launch, but you’re not great at significant expansion. Or, maybe you’ve already experienced massive growth and you’re not suited to handle what needs to be done.

This stage could be an opportune time to sell to someone else who is more capable of building a sustainable business.

3. There’s Another Opportunity

Many entrepreneurs keep their eyes peeled for new opportunities at all times. Sometimes, opportunities arise seemingly out of nowhere. In many cases, these outside opportunities could take capital that you don’t have on hand or that’s tied up in other assets.

If that’s the case, then it might be a good time for you to sell your current company so you can capitalize on that opportunity. In this way, you’ll be potentially benefitting from profits from the sale of one company and then re-investing a part of that in another endeavor.

4. You’re Ready for a New Challenge

Entrepreneurs love a challenge. They love to start businesses from the ground up and accomplish things that most people would consider impossible.

After your startup is fully established, you may lose some passion for it — only because it’s not as challenging as it once was. This isn’t a bad thing. It just means you’ve created a stable business.

But, if you thrive off new challenges and feel you’re ready for that next one, it could be time to sell your startup.

5. Threats Have Emerged

Not all industries last forever, and not all businesses last forever within all industries. New threats emerge all the time, as Corey Shader explains, and some of these threats can spell doom for startups — or at least foreshadow difficult times ahead.

If you’ve identified a looming threat on the horizon, it’s prudent to decide whether you’re prepared to take the challenge head-on, or whether you’d rather step aside while you still can. Know that deciding not to take on a threat doesn’t mean you failed. In fact, getting out while the “getting is still good” is a savvy business decision to make. Also short selling is an option.

About Corey Shader

Corey Shader is a self-made entrepreneur, consultant, investor, real estate developer, and founder of several companies, notably Insurance Pipeline. Operating primarily out of Ft. Lauderdale, Corey’s endeavors span across the nation, consulting for start-ups, and sitting on the board of digital media and senior healthcare agencies. As a consultant, Corey helps young businesses develop sales funnels and maximize profitability. Shader takes pride in challenging others to push themselves to be their very best — he believes in constant self-improvement, inspiring others through sharing his own life experiences.

If you are a business and still using traditional phone systems, then you are definitely behind on the times. You should be considering moving to a virtual phone system if you are reading this article.

Here are some of the different functionalities that virtual phone systems can bring to businesses which make them valuable.

Daytime and after hours greetings and automated messages

Daytime and after hours greetings and automated messages are a great feature of virtual phone systems. This can be argued to be one of the most important aspects of the virtual phone system. Day and night greetings ensure that your business will never miss out on any calls and ensures customers will get the service that they want. If a customer calls after business hours, then it looks much more professional for an automated message to let them know or refer them to a bot which will help with their enquiries. This is such a simple functionality, but it is so effective in its purpose. It makes such a big difference to have an automated message, regardless of whether the business is within or out of hours. Some of these virtual phone systems can even handle multiple callers at once, which makes staffing easier as you do not need to hire as many staff to handle the same amount of work. Regardless of the situation, you will never miss an opportunity when it comes to answering customer calls.

Call redirection

Call redirection is important for any business, especially one that will need to be able to face customers and clients. Customers will often call to enquire about topics that may concern other departments, and as such, they will need to be transferred. Being transferred using traditional phone systems means you will need to remember individual extension numbers, and because of this it can be difficult to do within a large corporation. As such, a virtual phone system can be used to differentiate users and contact them, while being able to transfer calls and add people to calls. This also makes its easy to have meetings with clients where multiple callers are on one line, rather than using multiple different platforms.

Call recording

Analytics and reporting is one of the most important things to do in any business in the modern age. Big data reigns supreme over the business world, and as such, it is important for any business to be recording, analyzing and reporting on any and all data. For that reason, you should be recording your calls and the data associated with it, such as how many calls you do, how many your receive, how many people call back as a conversion and so on. This data can then be analyzed and reported on in order for the marketing team to be able to make strategic decisions based on this data that will then bring in more clients or customers.

Increased communication

Increased communication is a key benefit of having virtual phone systems within your business operation. Increased communication is the crucial aspect for any customer facing business and having virtual phone systems is the way to go when it comes to increasing communication. Being able to make outgoing calls is important and being able to receive them whilst also adding people and transferring calls is also equally important. A customer facing business will do a lot of this, and as such, a virtual phone system can help. They can add features which can help users to be able to call and message between departments, as well as share data that is needed for decision making. Many businesses have the issue of ‘data silos’, where departments do not communicate with each other enough, resulting in silos where data is not transmitted enough, and poor decisions are being made. This is because there is no real time communication between departments, and they do not know what is going on with each other.

Decreased costs

Decreased costs are a big part of why people use virtual phone systems. Traditional phone systems involve using new hardware and installing it into a building for users to access. This means you have to buy new hardware and pay someone to install it into a building with wiring and such. As the business grows, so does the need to do this over and over. With virtual phone systems, you cans imply just buy the software, then install it onto existing hardware devices. It is usable on a variety of different types of devices, and any user who wants to access it can do so by accessing the software. Accounts just need to be bought by the business, which is usually priced into tiers. Tiers determine how many users can access the software and what functionality may be required. As a result, smaller businesses can opt for lower tiers and only pay for what they actually need, whereas bigger corporations can opt for the higher tiers to access more user space and increased functionality. Decreased costs is something that every business is trying to achieve, as it means that they can use their income for a variety of other reasons, including an increased profit. With virtual phone systems, they are cutting out the costs of buying hardware and installing it into a system and are there decreasing costs significantly in the long run.

Scalable for business

A business must be scalable, especially in the beginning stages. In the early stages of development, a business will experience a large movement of growth if it is successful. As such, a business must be scalable according to the growth. With traditional phone systems, scalability is hard to do and expensive as it means you need to buy new phones and pays someone to wire them in and install them. With virtual phone systems, you are able to just add more users, and they can then access the software.

In summary, virtual phone systems are perfect for any business, but especially those which are customer facing. They have many benefits and functionalities that come with them that make them ideal for these situations, and should be heavily considered.