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How to Become a Successful Industrialist

Who are the top richest industrialist billionaires in the world? What’s the success secret of the industrialist billionaires and how can you replicate it? How can you become a billionaire industrialist? Industrialists all over the world are known to be very wealthy people simply because of the multiple businesses that are in their control.

Without a doubt, becoming an industrialist is not a day’s job; it takes consistent effort to grow from just being an entrepreneur with an interest in a particular business to becoming a well-respected business mogul in an industry. To start with, let us consider who an industrialist truly is.

What is an Industrialist?

Simply put, an industrialist is an entrepreneur who has great influence in a particular industry; it could be the automobile industry or general manufacturing industry.

The bottom line is that an industrialist is a very wealthy entrepreneur who controls a large share of the available market in the industry; they are known to either directly or indirectly control a substantial financial interest in a successful financial enterprise.

In this article, I will be publishing the list of richest industrialist billionaires but my message is not on the list. The main lesson I intend to pass across to you with this article is the success secret of the industrialist billionaires and how you can replicate it. Now, who are the top billionaire industrialists?

I want to state categorically that there are tens of billionaire industrialists but this list will focus on those billionaires who cut their teeth as industrialists starting from scratch. I am not including those who divested into the industry; I am only listing those who became billionaires by being industrialists. If you’ve gotten my point, then below are my top richest industrialist billionaires.

The Top Richest Industrialist Billionaires in the World

  • Andrew Carnegie – Carnegie Steel

Andrew Carnegie was a steel tycoon and one of the richest men of all time. He started Carnegie steel from scratch and grew it into a company that later metamorphosed into the united states Steel Corporation.

  • Henry Ford – Ford Motor Company

One of the richest men in the world during his time and he still stands as one of the richest men in history. This industrialist billionaire is the founder of the automobile giant; Ford Motors, a company he started from scratch.

  • Lakshmi Mittal – Mittal Steel

Lakshmi Mittal is one of the richest men in the world according to Forbes ranking. His company Mittal steel is the largest producer of steel in the world.

  • Vladmir Lisin – Novolipetsk Steel

This Russian Steel mogul controls the country’s largest steel plant.

  • Aliko Dangote – Dangote Group

Aliko Dangote is not only the richest black man in the world but also the richest black person in the world since 2011. This industrialist billionaire cut his teeth as a commodity manufacturer and he has stuck to that line ever since.

  • George Eastman – Kodak
  • David Koch – Koch Industries

The Secret to the Success of the Richest Industrialist Billionaires in the World

a. They started small

The industrialists listed above are rich by all standards; in fact, they are billionaires. But they were not born that way and they didn’t start out as billionaires; they started small. Andrew Carnegie came from a poverty-stricken family, and so also did Henry Ford but these men were humble enough to start small and risked failure.

That’s why they are billionaire industrialists. This should ring a bell in your head that success doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a process that requires hard work.

b. They concentrated

The reason I used these industrialist billionaires as case studies was because they made their mark as industrialists. They started small as industrialists, became billionaire industrialists and still remained true to their course. These industrialist billionaires did not diversify their effort; they concentrated.

Andrew Carnegie, Lakshmi Mittal and Vladmir Lisin concentrated on steel manufacturing; Henry Ford concentrated on automobile production and Aliko Dangote concentrated on commodity manufacturing.

Once again I emphasize the point that these men did not diversify; they concentrated. So if you want to become a billionaire, if you want to become a successful entrepreneur; then you must concentrate your resources, time and your effort.

c. They paid their workers well

One key to becoming a successful industrialist is to take care of your workers. Having enthusiastic workers is a key to a smooth production process and these billionaires knew that. Production is a tedious task, so be sure to take care of your workers.

d. Efficiency was their watchword

Another key secret to the success of the billionaire industrialists was their constant effort to improve efficiency and productivity.

Henry Ford was the first individual to mass-produce cars at a faster rate; Aliko Dangote built the largest cement factory with the latest technology just to increase efficiency and Lakshmi Mittal has increased his steel output by constantly improving his steel manufacturing process. Efficiency is the keyword to successfully running not just a manufacturing company; but a successful business.

e. They had a mission

Of all the secrets to the success of the industrialist billionaires listed here; the mission is the most important. Why did you become an entrepreneur? Why do you want to start a business? Why do you want to build a business? Why do you want to become a billionaire industrialist?

If you take a closer observation at the entrepreneurial life of the industrialist billionaires, you will notice that they all had a strong business mission and that mission was the driving force behind their success. If you want to find success as an industrialist or a business owner; then you must have a strong business mission.

Aliko Dangote became the richest black person in the world because he was on a mission to provide the basic need of over 150 million Nigerians. Henry Ford became a famous entrepreneur because he had a mission to democratize the automobile and make it available to the masses. Do you want to join this list of billionaire industrialists? If yes, then you must fashion out a strong business mission for your company and stick with it no matter what.

It is important to state that no lazy entrepreneur becomes an industrialist, before you can grow to become an industrialist, you must be willing to sacrifice your comfort, delay gratification, take calculated risks, and be well equipped with good business skills and ethics amongst others.

Any entrepreneur who looks for immediate reward at the expense of longtime planning can hardly grow to become an industrialist. If you have the desire to become an industrialist, it is not out of place to start your business from your garage, as long as you have a clear vision of what you want to attain. Now let us quickly go through some of the steps you need to follow to become an industrialist;

How to Become an Industrialist – A Step by Step Guide

1. Acquire Business Training

The first step to follow in your quest to become an industrialist is to acquire business training. Acquiring business training involves obtaining a degree in business management or any relevant course and also an MBA.

The truth is that it becomes easier for you to succeed as an entrepreneur if you have taken your time to acquire business training before starting your business and also some business refresher courses whilst running your business.

Statistics show that the reason why businesses fail is that the owners didn’t undergo any formal business training prior to starting the business. As an industrialist, you must have a robust working knowledge of the industry where you operate.

2. Draw Your Business Plan

The aim of starting a business must reflect in your business plan. If you intend to start a business that will grow so big and dominate your industry, then you must clearly state it in your business plan. Key factors like expansion strategies and growth must be critically looked into.

If your goal is to become an industrialist, you are not expected to have the same business plan as someone who wants to run a mom-and-pop business. As a matter of fact, you should engage the services of business consultants to help you write a professional business plan.

3. Be Willing to Delay Gratification

One of the characteristics of an industrialist is the ability to delay gratification. If truly you want to become an industrialist, then you should not be carried away whenever you make a big break with your small business – your focus should be on your overall goal.

The rule is never to spend all your profits if you have not achieved the goal you set for yourself; you must continue to reinvest your profits back into your business until it grows so big as to dominate your industry in your own sphere of influence.

4. Source for Reliable Business Partners

No doubt it will be very difficult and challenging to become an industrialist without the help of reliable business partners.

The truth is that you would need reliable, tested, and trusted business partners to work with if your aim is to grow as an entrepreneur to become a business magnet – No one becomes a successful businessman or woman without the help of others. So, ensure that you source for reliable business partners that will be willing to support your business goal and vision.

5. Be Careful of Who You Hire

The success of any organization to a large extent depends on the quality of employees under its payroll. So, if your vision is to become an industrialist, you should be very much interested in who works for you.

Although some CEO in a bigger organization doesn’t really play a part in the recruitment process for their organization for want of time, if your aim is to become an industrialist, then you must create time to be part of the recruitment process of your organization.

6. Set a Goal and Always Revisit the Goal

Before dreaming of becoming an industrialist, you must have seen or heard of great industrialists in our world; industrialists like Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Richard Branson, and Aliko Dangote, et al. All these people didn’t just become great industrialists overnight; they set goals and work towards achieving the goals.

So also, if your dream is to become an industrialist, then you must set goals along that line. It is one thing to set a goal, it is entirely another thing to work towards achieving the goal. Don’t just stop at setting goals, you must revisit your goal from time to time to evaluate your performance and get refocused.

7. Stay Motivated

There are numerous challenges within the business world; some will be within your control and some others totally out of your control.

The truth is that you can’t control the global economy, but you can position your business not to be greatly affected by economic recession. As a result, in order to become an industrialist, you must be willing to stay motivated because, at different stages of your business growth, you will be confronted with challenges.

Over and above, these are the business success secrets of the richest industrialist billionaires in the world. Becoming an industrialist is all about producing quality goods and services that will be generally accepted by a larger chunk of the existing market.

If you want to replicate their success in any industry/niche, all you have to do is simply put these success formulas to work and I will see you at the top.