Successful business catered to the masses at affordable price

TV Discovery Travel and Living, Europe Richest People, feature a number of rich people and how they started their business. Some of them have really humble beginning. The series also followed briefly their current lifestyle. Normally, one would have marvelled at the kind of life they are living now. I was thinking more intently how these people become successful. These people seems to come from a very diverse background and were in very different businesses. But still, there is a common denominator other they are very rich.

Their businesses focus on catering to the need of masses at affordable prices. So who are they? They are EasyJet started by Stelios Haji-Ioannou , Maxim magazine owned by Dennis Publishing, a major liquor mart in Europe and a men's tailor suit empire in Europe. (My apologies for not able to get the names of the last 2 business).

Lets take a look individually at their common denominator.

EasyJet marketing strategy was 'making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans' and allowing the
masses to afford travelling by air in Europe.

Maxim magazine became so successful because they catered to the most commonly spoken language, English and to all the men in lots of countries. They are able to go where no men's magazine has gone before as there are no nude pictures in the publication and therefore mostly allowed by authorities in different countries on the magazine stands. In short, they are able reach and satisfy the need of the masses (men) with affordable prices (price of a magazine) and with local preference.

The major liquor store in Europe started by selling liquor cheaply. Therefore, making it affordable to the masses to consume liquor like beer, wine, etc.

A major Men's tailor suit store sells affordable quality suits made in India. By having the suits made in India, they are able to lower the cost of a suit. This made tailored suits affordable to lots of people.

The 2 important lesson learned here is;
1. Make the prices affordable to the masses and they will keep coming back to you.,
2. Scale up the business so that your business is able to reach the intended masses and therefore larger customer base.

Other notably examples are Wal-Mart and Carrefour. Wal-Mart 2007 is currently the largest company in the world. At present, they are still scaling up and trying to reach to an even larger customer base in Europe.

There are also other things I have learned while watching the program.

Felix Dennis from Dennis Publishing has a simple strategy in his business. It is able to spot need of the people and cater to it before it became apparent.

The liquor empire owner has a simple but effective mindset in in doing things and in his business. It is ok to fail sometimes, but he will get back stronger and more determine to succeed.

EasyJet Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou travel using his own airline and did whatever a regular customer will do. Book a ticket, check in himself and fly in the common class. This way, he is able to check if the system if it is running properly at the customer level and also able to interact with other passenger so he will know and understand them better.