10 Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs that Changed History

Since 1963, we’ve celebrated the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs &

small business owners during National Small Business Week.

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We wanted to celebrate 10 companies that started as small businesses and have since made a mark in American history

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Henry Ford, The Assembly Line & Ford Motor Company

Founded: 1903Fact: At a time when cars sold for $1,000, Henry Ford revolutionized the industry by selling the Model T for $345State Incorporated: Delaware

Walt Disney and The Walt Disney Company

Founded: 1923Fact: The Walt Disney Company finished 2013 with approximately $45 billion in annual revenueState Incorporated: Delaware

Dick & Mac McDonald Opened The First McDonald’s

Founded: 1940Fact: The first McDonald’s started in San Bernardino, CA and today the chain serves 68 million customers worldwide in 119 countriesState Incorporated: Delaware

The First Dunkin Donuts Opened in 1950

Founded: 1950Fact: William Rosenberg was traveling to factories selling food items. When he noticed coffee & doughnuts were the most popular products, he came up with the idea for Dunkin DonutsState Incorporated: Delaware

Warren Buffet, today the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Founded: 1839 (Warren became CEO in 1962)Fact: One of Warren’s first business ventures was placing 3 pinball machines throughout barbershops in Maryland, collecting money every weekState Incorporated: Delaware

Philip Knight Began Selling Nike Shoes at Track Meets Across the Pacific Northwest

Founded: 1964Fact: Originally called Blue Ribbon Sports, the name officially became Nike in 1971State Incorporated: Oregon

The first Subway was called Pete’s Subway

Founded: 1965Fact: Fred De Luca borrowed $1,000 from Peter Buck, a family friend, to open the first sub shop. Subway is the largest restaurant chain in the world with over 37,000 locations.State Incorporated: Florida

Wayne Huizenga – Founded 3 Fortune 500 Companies

Year Founded: 1971, 1981, 1985 Fact: Huizenga took part in founding Waste Management, AutoNation & Blockbuster Video. One by one, he started and grew each of them into Fortune 500 companies. State Incorporated: Delaware, Florida and Texas

First Starbucks opened in 1971 in Seattle, Washington

Founded: 1971Fact: Starbucks is the largest coffee company in the world with 20,891 stores in 64 countriesState Incorporated: Washington

Chipotle was Founded in 1993

Founded: 1993Fact: Today Chipotle has 37,310 employees and 1,539 locationsState Incorporated: Delaware

As big as these businesses became…

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…let’s remember where they started.

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We want to thank all small business owners and entrepreneurs for their hard work & contributions toward America’s

progress.

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Sources• http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/hall_of_fame/henry_ford• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company• http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/quote-of-the-day-walt-disney-on-nature.html• http://iliketowastemytime.com/2012/07/06/22-rare-historical-photos• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_and_Maurice_McDonald• http://www.panoramio.com/photo/35369555• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkin'_Donuts• http://www.nba.com/video/channels/hall_of_fame/2012/09/07/20120907_hof_philknight_feature.nba/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike,_Inc.• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Knight• http://www.biography.com/people/warren-buffett-9230729#early-life&awesm=~oBCgjeB0xCug3a• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett• http://www.businessinsider.com/what-successful-people-did-in-their-20s-2013-3?op=1• http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/about_us/history.aspx• http://webpage.pace.edu/kl30186n/Starbucks%20Project/Overview%20-%20Page%202.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Huizenga• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Management,_Inc.• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoNation• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_Video• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipotle_Mexican_Grill• http://www.wysk.com/