Entrepreneurship

6 Pages 1580 Words

“Know yourself and know your product … be true to both.”


I decided to look up each one of the entrepreneurs and see who was the most interesting to me. I decided that Lillian Vernon was an interesting lady. I was so impressed that this lady became an entrepreneur when women didn’t even work. I was impressed with her, because she had a vision and she ran with it. Lillian’s story was very inspiring to me. The fact that she was young, pregnant, an immigrant, and a newlywed was what caught my eye the most. She wanted to help her husband pay the bills. This is exactly the same reason I want to become an entrepreneur.

Lillian Vernon was born Lilly Menasche in Leipzig, Germany, moved with her family to Amsterdam because of the dangerous climate for Jews, and finally fled to the United States in 1937 as the Nazi threat escalated. Her family was desperately trying to escape the perils of World War II. She came to this country as a young girl at the age of 10; she knew perhaps more than others how special freedom and opportunity were. She grew up in America believing in her ideals, a land of opportunity. At age 14 Lillian’s first jobs were working in a candy store and as a movie theater usherette. She attended New York University for two years, but like many women at the time, left after two years to get married. In 1951, she was 4-month pregnant with her first child. Lillian Vernon started her Mail Order business. She used $2,000 of wedding money to advertise a leather bag and belt she had designed. She placed a $495 sixth-of-a-page ad for a personalized handbag and belt in!
Seventeen magazine and filled orders from her suburban Mount Vernon, New York apartment using her kitchen table as her office. The ad was a tremendous success, bringing in more than $32,000 in orders--and her business was launched. With two mail-order items, a belt and a purse personalized with the customer’s in...