As children, we often foster the dream of being an astronaut. The idea of exploring space fascinates us. Well, with technological advancement and giant steps taken in the field of science, marching into space and discovering the unknown, has been made possible.
Cut to the year 2000, when Elon Musk had just stepped down from the position of CEO at PayPal and was wondering what he should do next. Just like any other kid his passion for space led him to one obvious path- the establishment of SpaceX as we know it today.
Elon started the private company in the hopes of revolutionizing the aerospace industry and making affordable spacecraft a reality. Although the idea of starting a private aerospace company was noble but without proper planning, things could take a turn for the worst. High stakes were at play. And to be honest, there were several bumps in the road.
In the initial days, Musk and his advisers travelled to Russia (twice) to buy refurbished materials. The problem was that Russians had no respect for an American businessman looking for spare parts for missiles. So, they charged Elon with ridiculous markup. Often Elon wondered if SpaceX could make it in the market.
Despite countless struggles and internal conflicts, Elon persevered. And in return, SpaceX emerge victoriously. Today, SpaceX is valued at a whopping $100 billion, making the company even more of a rich rarity in a fast-growing industry.
With all that success, you must be wondering how SpaceX managed to reach the pinnacle of success in such a short period.
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Well, don’t worry! To answer this question, popular business development expert Hirav Shah brings you 3 major reasons behind SpaceX flight to success:
1- Don’t be afraid of challenges
Conquering space is no easy feat. Even the thought of investing time and money on something that we have barely any knowledge of is enough to ward off investors. But imagine if no one took a chance? Imagine if we stop pursuing our dreams because of our fear of failure? That would be a major shame.
“This is the culmination of a dream. This is a dream come true. It feels surreal. If you’d asked me when starting SpaceX if this would happen, I’d be like ‘1 per cent chance, 0.1 per cent chance,'” Musk had once said. He dared to walk into the unknown and gave his dream a chance. And that made all the difference.
2- Focus on the welfare of people
Launching people into space can be a headache, especially when the safety of the travellers lies in your hands. Elon believes that even if the mission goes wrong and he faces major loss, his priority would be the safety of the travellers.
This applies to entrepreneurs with any business. The safety and welfare of the customers should be your top priority. If you don’t get that right, nothing else will matter.
3- Make employees the owners
As SpaceX continued to grow, Musk wanted to leverage employees’ sense of ownership. He wanted them to feel included and involved in the decision-making process.
“Because they were spending his money, Musk gave employees an incentive to be frugal with it,” explained Eric Berger author of the new book Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX. This way, employees felt responsible for the company’s success or failure. The old staff were given a large share of stocks of SpaceX.
So, when an employee saved money by building a part in-house instead of ordering one from a traditional supplier, everyone benefited instead of Elon alone. This stroke of genius by Elon Musk resulted in increased productivity and yielded better results.
What followed was a team building a culture of doing huge things with as few resources as possible. Although SpaceX’s flight to success can be considered a rarity- a one in a million case- we can’t discount the struggle faced by SpaceX employees to make it to the top. SpaceX is a step towards new beginnings and we as a society should be excited about its progress- concludes Business development expert Hirav Shah.
