IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad has died at the age of 91 after a short illness.
Cambrad was one of the greatest businessmen of the 20th century. He died peacefully at his home in Smaland, Sweden, on January 27.
His story
Austerity, economy and common sense are the concepts that pushed Ingvar Kamprad to start his business and launch it to the heights, becoming one of the richest people in the world.
He started his adventure by selling small items - pens, wallets, socks - which he bought at a wholesale price and distributed to local farmers in his native Sweden.
At the age of seventeen he invested an amount given to him by his father to expand his small business, which he christened IKEA (I for his name, K for his surname, E for the farmhouse where he was born and A for the village of origin of).
From the bicycle with which he was distributing his goods, he went to an old truck. Then the idea came to him to make a small list that would include all his items.
His farmers ordered tables and chairs, and so Ingvar Kamprad entered the furniture sector. He bought from local manufacturers and distributed them himself, expanding his business each time.
Almost by accident, while transporting one of his tables, one of his associates decided to take his legs out to fit in the car. This opened a new concept in the sale and storage of furniture and resulted in "assemble it yourself". This type of detachable furniture at a reduced price would soon spread around the world.
In 1953 Ingvar Kamprad organized the first IKEA product exhibition. The success of his initiative was so great that the Swedish furniture dealership began to pressure manufacturers to stop supplying IKEA, the company came to be excluded from the most important national exhibitions in this field.
This climate of hostility, far from driving him away from the space, helped him to make a series of decisions that would mark the future and what the IKEA group is today: he designs and manufactures his own furniture and goes abroad both to buy raw materials - mainly in Asian countries - as well as to launch new points of sale outside Sweden.
Today, IKEA is present in 33 countries, employs 75.000 employees and has a turnover of over 14 million euros. Its catalogs are printed in nine languages and are printed in 45 million copies. In 1986 Ingvar Kamprad left the management of the business to his children. He held the position of advisor.
According to Forbes magazine, he is the seventh richest man in the world and the first in Europe, with 21 billion euros. Despite his fortune, his way of life is simple and austere, he even uses public transport. He does not like luxuries and appreciates humility. This way of life made some people consider him a miser. He defends himself as follows:
"They say I'm stingy, but I'm proud to continue the group's policy."
In addition to austerity, simplicity and common sense, he used tones of optimism to set up his business. Look for a business opportunity. He did something different. Bet on something no one else has done before: on cheap furniture sold sold.
It did not collapse with the first failures. Although his business was shut down by national furniture fairs and stopped supplying raw materials to Sweden, he found an alternative: designing, producing and selling outside his own country.
