Where did Sam Walton get funding?

Answer 1

How funny, I just finished reading the biography of Sam Walton the entrepreneur , of the famous stores called "Walmart" the most successful retailer. Walmarts philosophy even beat out Kmarts and and other discount chains.

Sam started out by buying into a small chain store retailer similar to Woolworth's of the day. He got a loan from his father-in law if I can remember the story correctly. I believe the amount was about 100,000. Sam was able to make make a profit on the store by pricing everything low and selling in massive volume. He eventually started the first Walmarts

The first Walmarts store was actually a risky investment as told by Sam Walton, he borrowed some money from his brother Bud and also invested some of his wife's money but ,had to put in 95 percent of the money himself which was nearly all the money he had. I remember reading in the book that one of the reasons he called the store Walmarts was because it had less letters in the name than some of the other choices so the store signs wound -up being cheaper.

Walmarts is a fascinating business-model that studied by many business schools including myself.

Another great point Sam made in the book was to give a part of your business to someone in your family early before it becomes really profitable so you can avoid paying ridiculous taxes on it if it becomes a million dollar business.