The life of Lilly Pulitzer can teach small business owners the value of catering to a specific market, innovating, and fostering connections. Fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer, who died Sunday at 81, had a success story as flashy and bright as the dresses she designed for Palm Beach society.
The annals of entrepreneurship are strewn with similarly unlikely success tales. Unlike Pulitzer, entrepreneurs who come from less affluent backgrounds, and who bootstrap their own companies, have much more to lose, and less flexibility, Mears says.
Still, defining your market is key, says Daymond John, chief executive and co-founder of the hip hop brand For Us. By Us. And though his own story is similar to Pulitzer’s, John says his success certainly wasn’t immediate. After years of relentless, hard work, “you ask yourself, am I doing this right? It is very, very hard,” John says.
Read all of what Daymond has to say at INC.
