Entrepreneurship Lessons From Sara Blakely’s Masterclass

Sara Blakely’s masterclass is nothing short of a colourful journey. From having reinvented and redefined one of the most basic yet crucial aspects of women’s clothing, to dealing with the highs and lows that come in business. She has persevered through it all and come out the other side victorious, successful and happy with her life.

Her progress and ability to remain at the top of her game for over twenty years is what makes her stand out from the crowd. Yet, if you had to point at one particular aspect of what makes her different, that would be her formidable ability to drive change. Not only has she been a problem solver in her business, but also other areas of life. Sara is the first female billionaire to join the ‘Giving Pledge’, an organisation through which some of the wealthiest people in the world promise to donate at least their half their money to charity. The Sara Blakely Foundation today also invests millions of dollars in empowering and educating young women in the field of business and arts.

Her masterclass symbolises everything she stands for and gives you a personalised and detailed lesson on entrepreneurship. Some of those learnings are:

Understanding the market

Before Sara began working on Spanx, she never wondered who was actually making and designing women’s undergarments. As she got more involved in her business and began meeting people from manufacturing plants, she was surprised to know that men ran all manufacturing plants which made women’s clothing.

Around the time she had this revelation, Sara was able to narrow down her purpose for Spanx and understand the market she was going to be involved in. She realised you do not have to be the most experienced person in the field to redefine it. All you need to know is how to operate in a niche most effectively and uniquely, because quite often the people who are already making something similar may not have a unique knowledge required to disrupt that market time and again.

Developing your idea

As cliche, repetitive and naive this statement may sound, Sara believes the one question you must ask yourself when starting your business is,

What are you going to make that will change the world?

While this question can be intimidating, the solution often is not. To change the world does not always mean you need