Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American Christian businessman and entrepreneur best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam’s Club.
In 1945, Walton used a $25,000 loan from his father-in-law to acquire his first store, a Ben Franklin franchise in Newport, Arkansas.
In 1962 Walton opened his first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas. The company experienced swift success. By the early 1990s, Walmart’s stock worth had jumped to $45 billion. In 1991 Walmart surpassed Sears, Roebuck & Company to become the country’s largest retailer.
The discount chain expanded internationally over the next decades, growing into the world’s largest company by 2010. It is said that 90% of the US population live within 10 miles of a Walmart store.
Even in the grips of a recession, Walton’s stores proved successful. In 1991, as the country was mired in an economic downturn, Walmart increased sales by more than 40%. In 1985 Forbes magazine named Walton the wealthiest man in the United States.
In 2019, Fortune Global 500 rated Walmart as the world’s largest company by revenue – $514.405 billion in sales. Today, Walmart has over 2 million employees worldwide.
What a life worth studying! What intrigues me the most is that Sam Walton was a Christian believer. Who says Christians can’t dominate the economy?
In Sam Walton’s autobiography, “Made in America” the following were itemized as his top 10 rules for running a successful business:
(1) Commit to your business: If you run a business, you need to believe in it more than anyone else.
(2) Share your profits: Treat your associates as partners and get them personally invested in the business.
(3) Motivate your partners: Money isn’t enough. Set goals, encourage competition and have fun!
(4) Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners: The more they know, the more they’ll understand. The more they understand, the more they’ll care.
(5) Appreciate everything your associates do for your business: Words often speak louder than money and they’re free. So instead of just handing out bonuses, make sure to tell people when they’re doing a good job.
(6) Celebrate your successes: Find some creative ways to have fun and celebrate your successes in an enthusiastic way and don’t forget to find some humor in your failures.
(7) Listen to everyone in your company: The people on the front lines (i.e. your sales team, customer service reps, etc.) know what’s going on with your business, and sometimes better than you do. Make sure you’re finding ways to get them to talk, and that you’re listening!
(8) Exceed your customers’ expectations: Do this and you’ll have repeat customers for life.
(9) Control your expenses better than your competition: Efficiency is the cornerstone of WalMart’s business. They were able overcome a lot of hurdles just by keeping expenses low.
(10) Swim upstream: Ignore conventional wisdom and look for ways to do things differently.
For example, WalMart focused on rural locations one region at a time, while everyone else was starting discount chains in big cities spread across the country. Find a niche that will set you apart from the competition.
I am particularly inspired by Sam Walton’s story because he is a Christian believer. It goes to tell that one can be a spirit-filled believer and yet extremely enterprising and prosperous.
What were your learning points from this story? Feel free to share with me in the comments below.
Talk to you soon!
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