Each night I fear the threat of my survival. A policy can wipe out everything.
- I had many a tearful night when I sensed that the very existence of the firm was threatened. That also gave birth to a greater determination to fight and find ways out. Thus came about a paradox that we in the abused name of the market had to go to a communist country to safeguard our supply of goods to sell in a free country.
- Ingvar and his newly appointed colleague for purchasing furniture, the experienced commercial engineer Ragnar Sterte, looked high and low for new capacity. They went to Denmark first and built up a supply network. But in 1960 Ingvar read in newspaper that the Polish foreign minister was to visit the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. Ingvar wrote a letter to him, stating his interest. Months later the reply came: "Welcome to Poland."
On Jan 21, 1961, Ingvar, his father, and Ragnar Sterte landed in Warsaw. Their visit lasted a week.
) only when a man reach an impasse, he has the drive to do something new and risky. In 2006, I need pipe, but the supply is in SG. I message a few supplier in China. I got all the information but I never get far enough to visit and place order. I did not take a risk.
- So, by chance, the furniture trade - which I entered in an attempt to imitate competitors as soon as possible - decided my destiny. No other event in life pleases me more than the fact that I ended up there.
) he wants to help his father by providing mean. I want to help my mother by providing computer. It motivates me to do programming. I try programming, like it and want to use it to help my mother. He tries trading, likes it and want to make money for his father to build a forest route.
) pleasure
*** gardening
*** watch movie
***** play computer game : forget sleep
**** programming
**** drawing : forget lunch
**** thinking
**** bachata
**** music
*** robot
*** animation
) I enter into bus app in sep 2010, 2 years later than my competitors. I like to use it so much that I want to make one myself. It is the best decision that I make and bought myself a Mac. 2010 is a turning point in my life. Am I happy making bus app? It is tough as the income barely make it. Will it be the same in 2015 and 2020? I would be happy if I can make it for a million people in sg, ny and lon! I make beautiful and useful app and distribute freely on app stores, setup a light in the world.
- When I was only about five and began buying and selling things, she became my very special and most faithful customer.
) Jose becomes my faithful user. She uses my app everyday and gives her comment. I would very much want to make it better for her! Joyful.
- Trading was in my blood. My mother came from a leading trading family in Almhult.
) I feel that business is in my blood. My father, mother and sisters are all in business. They are making good income. My best is ahead of me.
- Golden rule: Regard every problem as a possibility. New problem created a dizzying chance. When we were not allowed to buy the same furniture that others were, we were forced to design out own, and that came to provide us with a style of our own, a design of our own. And from the necessity to secure our own deliveries, a chance arose in its turn opened up a whole new world to us. That chance was to be called Europe or, to be more precise, Poland.
- It was a crisis that became a no crisis as we kept finding new solutions.
) greatest crisis is low income. I have to keep finding new income. I am trying my own ads server. I may have to try ads with local agent. Only with good income, I can get great artist, designer and coder. I may have to join competition to get income too. I have to keep finding new solutions. I meet a problem and find a solution. But I did not keep finding. My next crisis is having good people to compensate my weakness. The competition is very strong in London. I am depending on new concept to fight current competitors.
- My first wife and I managed to be reconciled before she passed away. But the whole matter pains me and still hurts. Had I really done all I could or were we perhaps too different from the start?
) as for wife, better choose similar than different in term of ethic, education and drive. As for employee, better choose different to compensate for your weakness.
- Competition in mail order had become almost unendurable. The price war affected the quality of the ironing board, WHICH BECAME SIMPLER AND SIMPLER, but also worse and worse.
- The attempt to sabotage the upstart ended in his becoming even stronger.
- If we don't improve, someone else will.
) it seems that problem causes growth in ikea. It is in the period where there is no investment. When mail order has heavy price competition, he opens a store for customer to touch and compare quality. When a fire burn down a store, it has a fire sale opens another a few. When the trade ban its suppliers, it source oversea and got better price. When competitors ban its suppliers, it starts its own design. When damage during transport, it uses flat design. When transport and assembly is the largest cost, it lets the customer do it and compete on price. Each problem makes ikea better. Why is there no competitor for ikea?
But blackberry has a problem too. The competitors are coming up with touch screen and apps in 2007. It only release in 2013. It is too late. Customer taste has change. In 2007, it is email on mobile. But then they starts to change to touch screen and apps. Palm starts fast pen writing in 1999. Customers love it. Then PocketPC starts wifi and Internet in 2004. Customers love it. Nokia has phone and button since 1999. But in 2007, iPhone starts touch. Customers switch to touch. Palm has a dictionary of app, but they are gone overnight. It seems that it is the hardware that matter. I bet on palm, PocketPC and Nokia. They are all gone in a matter of a few years. Now I bet on iPhone and android.
) the useful new will make the old obsolete. Newton is new but useless. Palm is new. Then PocketPC is new with wifi. Palm dies. Then iPhone is new with touch and full web browsing and map, PocketPC and Nokia dies. Nokia tries to have browser but a pathetic button to work as mouse. Android is new with widget. But its software is crappy.
- We shall offer a wide range of home furnishing items of good design and function at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them.
) I shall offer public transport app of good design and function free of charge that all people will not wait in the dark.
- Is it a crime that I was brought up by a German grandmother and a German father?
) Ikea is so zen like. The killer will not want to be a killer if he has the choice of his environment. It is where everyone is connected.
- He is almost allergic to collecting photographs and letters and seems almost maniacally oriented toward the future, toward the next day.
- You really have no king size or queen size beds?
) I feel he wants to make money to help his father built a forest path. He starts in his school days, where friends go dancing, he work. In his army days, when friends go drinking, he goes to his basement office. He makes his Porsche on 30! 15 years later. If I starts 30, it will mean 45 years.
- The strong person is always positive and looks forward. It is always the positive people who win. Is this a natural law? They are always a joy to their colleagues and to themselves. But winning does not mean that someone else has to lose. The finest victories are those without losers.
- if someone steals a model from us. We do not sue them, because a lawsuit is always negative. We solve the problem instead by developing a new and even better model.
- It is one thing to be wealthy, but the driving force is that you dream of being able to do for Father, Mother or someone else who means something to you?
) the driving force to study hard is for my mother.
) is there a need for money? The need to buy a factory for Father. What kind of life Father live?
- I remember walking in the meadows with my father who had had training in forestry. I was ten, and we came to a place at which he said, "I'd like to make a forest track here, but it would cost too much." Then we were soon somewhere else and again it was money that was lacking - to carry out Father's many plan.
I remember thinking: If only I could help Fatger. Supposing I got some money so that I ...
c
