5 Lessons You Can Learn From Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos is the wealthiest man alive. In 2017, he surpassed Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and the like to claim this number 1 spot. According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, he, as of April, was the only one of the world’s top 5 wealthiest to not have lost money in 2020. 

Bezos is most known for being the founder of Amazon, which started as an e-commerce site to sell used books out of a garage in Seattle. In just 25 years, it grew to be the multinational technology and retail distribution empire that it is now. All this success was made possible by some very smart moves on Bezos’ part. 

So with all of his accomplishments in mind, let’s take a look at 5 lessons you can learn from Jeff Bezos. 

1. Don’t go seeking a title

The richest person in the world. It’s a defining character of Bezos but was never a title he set out to collect. Instead, he focused on making a difference as an entrepreneur and inventor, according to The Wall Street Journal. When Amazon first came into existence, Bezos set out to find out what it was his customers wanted. He started small and directly asked his customers not how he could make Amazon better, but what it was that they needed. Listening to them allowed him to make smart business decisions and turn Amazon into the success it is now. By simply setting out to seek a title, it’s difficult to identify the real motive of your business.

2. Make 3 good decisions a day

What’s better, 3 ground-breaking decisions or 100 little ones of no real impact? It’s no question that many decisions have been made at Amazon. For Bezos, he makes 3 good decisions a day. As the CEO, a lot of important things are put on his plate. He could make dozens of decisions a day and hope that some of them were the right thing to do or he could make 3 of them with careful details that take Amazon to the next level. 

3. Set aside time to rest

Anyone who starts their own business knows how easy it is to fall into the trap of overworking. After all, the more time that you spend working, the faster you’re able to grow your company. The more hours that are spent on your business, the more things that can be done. However, according to The Wall Street Journal, one thing that Bezos makes sure of is to get 8 hours of sleep a day. I’m sure that 8 hours is a lot more than what most of us get a night. But as Bezos puts it, “I think better, I have more energy, my mood’s better” and that’s why he sticks to his schedule. 

4. Diversify your portfolio

Amazon isn’t the only thing that Bezos owns. In fact, he founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup in 2000, bought the Washington Post in 2013, and has his own venture capital firm. More well known diversifying done by Bezos is within Amazon itself. Amazon is no longer just a platform to sell used books online (though you could still do that on Amazon.com). They offer retail goods and 2 day Prime shipping. They have become one of the leaders in the tech industry with Amazon Web Services and have their own publishing sector for all types of media.

5. Failing means being self-reliant and resourceful

According to CNBC, Bezos stated that being self-reliant and resourceful is a big contributor to Amazon’s success. Just because a venture failed does not mean that it was a bad thing to attempt. For example, Amazon Auction was something that never made it to the mainstream, but this failure led to Amazon Marketplace, a place where third parties can sell their products. Amazon Marketplace now has over 5 million sellers using the platform, making it a huge success. When trying new things, it’s inevitable for some to fail. You can learn from what works and what doesn’t. Rebounding from something that didn’t work means you’re using your resourcefulness and are being self-reliant.

These 5 lessons can be learned from Bezos and applied to a wide scope of things. After all, Amazon was at one point, just an idea by a man living in Seattle and has now made a global impact.