Ralph Lauren didn't start out famous or with family money. In 1967, he started his business with a $50,000 loan and a simple idea: a line of neckties that were wider and bolder than anything available in men’s stores at the time. The tiny bet on ties has become a lifestyle and fashion brand that extends from apparel to fragrances and house paint, Lauren told Forbes in an interview. His rise from a small necktie line to a global name decades later remains a useful lesson for anyone trying to build something from very little.
A loan that seemed a huge gamble
Before he became the designer Ralph Lauren, he was a teenager from the Bronx, working a summer job at Alexander's Department Store hanging up returned goods, as he told Forbes. He also worked for the purchasing office of Allied Stores Company and for a glove company. In one story he shared with Forbes, he made a phone call to a recruiting agency asking for a job and was directed to interview at Saks or Tiffany's. He said he was willing to work for free just to prove himself, but he did not get the job. The rejection and the regular jobs were hurdles many young people face today. Lauren has stated that money was never his ultimate aim in life. He once admitted, "I like being rich, but I try not to think about it much." He told Forbes that he wanted to express the things he believed in, not just make a fortune.
