Tall glass buildings, top-notch gadgets, smart rooms, and top to bottom polished people - all of this might give off a feel of the business sector being fancy and glamorous. But all that glitters isn’t gold!
Jason Goodman/Unsplash | All that glitters isn’t gold in the world of business. To survive you have to be adaptable, curious, and visionary
To run a business, you need to be an all-rounder. Simply having good knowledge and lots of financial support isn't enough. You have to be adaptable, curious about the things happening near you, and most importantly, visionary, or else you might also end up like these brands listed below.
#1 - Pan Am
Pan American World Airways, aka Pan Am, which was the largest international air carrier in the U.S. in the 20th century, filed for bankruptcy in 1991 due to poor branding. On December 21, 1988, when the company's Flight 103 was knocked down in Lockerbie, Scotland, it failed to make a comeback. Plus, the rising oil prices from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait just complicated things for them, leading to a final shutdown.
UPI/dpa/picture-alliance | Pan American World Airways, aka Pan Am, which was the largest international air carrier in the U.S. in the 20th century, filed for bankruptcy in 1991 due to poor branding
#2 - Chiclets
It's hard to believe that even a candy or gum brand can disappear from the market. But that's how it is with business - no matter which industry you belong to, you have to be alert, or else someone else might take over your firm just like Mondelēz International did. Decades ago, Mondelēz International acquired Chiclets. Though the company doesn't offer gum in the U.S. anymore, people around the world still enjoy the tiny treats every now and then.
#3 - Yahoo!
Ask any 2000s kid, and they'll tell you all about what Yahoo! does. The brand, which originally started as Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web, was created at Stanford University in 1994 by two electrical engineering grad students. Soon after its launch, Yahoo! became a huge hit, with its stock prices soaring as high as over $118. But by 2001, it plummeted to $8 and was later acquired by Verizon in 2017.
#4 - Ask Jeeves
Ask.com, formerly known as Ask Jeeves, was launched in 1996 as a search engine that answered questions naturally. Like the Google Assistant, the platform had a butler named Jeeves who solved people's queries, but eventually, that character retired when IAC/InterActiveCorp took over the platform.
Ask.com | Ask.com, formerly known as Ask Jeeves, was launched in 1996 as a search engine that answered questions naturally. The character retired when IAC/InterActiveCorp took over the platform
#5 - Friendster
Launched ahead of Facebook, Friendster was a social networking platform. Soon after its launch, it garnered a positive response from the public, and Google even tried to buy the company for $30 million, but its offer was rebuffed. In 2011, when Friendster tried to relaunch as a social gaming company, it failed and shut down completely.
So, which of those stories did you find the most interesting?
