Since then, Amway has grown into the company of the world's largest direct selling. During the last two decades, Van Andel has led a strategic transformation of the company with a focus on growth through innovation, driving growth in double digits. Prior to being named president, Van Andel served as vice president for business operations Amway North and South America.
He was also vice president of marketing. Recently, Amway acquired the brand of XS Energy, a brand of energy drink that has exhibited positive momentum with the new generation of entrepreneurs from Amway. The agreement extends the geographical scope of the brand and the progress of the strategy of Amway to connect with young entrepreneurs. In addition, Amway launched the "2014 Report Amway Global Entrepreneurship", which was introduced last November.
In this interview, Steve explains the major findings of the report, why acquired the brand XS Energy, and how Amway grew after taking over from his father. Dan Schawbel: How was Amway take over after his father and what strategic decisions did grow in the largest direct selling? Steve Van Andel: I think most people think of their parents as heroes and I'm the same way. In my eyes, he is probably one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history. To take over the business he founded was truly a great honor for me. It's the kind of man who saw an opportunity in almost everywhere. His purpose in life was to help others and that's one of the reasons for starting Amway, a company that helps people to help themselves.
He was many things, everything from an employer to an adventurer. Their commitment and dedication was unbelievable. In fact, as I talk reminds me of a story that captures your approach to life. I'm sitting in a conference room and down the hall there is a ship bell. One of his adventures began when he and his business partner, Rich DeVos, decided to take a boat trip to South America. They did not know exactly how to navigate and find sailing the coast of Cuba when the ship sank. It was an old wooden boat and went to the bottom while they had to stop a freighter. Before going up to him, took a few things and one of the things my dad was taking the ship's bell.
Interestingly, it did not end the trip. You would think they would have gone home, but that did not happen. They jumped on board the ship and made the trip to South America and traveled through several countries. They kept their adventure and destiny despite having a lot of obstacles on the road and the ship's bell is there to remind the commitment and dedication that my father had. When you set a goal, you have to keep trying and follow the path. As for strategic decisions, the biggest change we've had in the past two decades involves significant global expansion. Before that, we were in a few markets, but was driven primarily a US business. However, even if the US business remains strong, 90 percent of our business comes from outside the things we have become more complicated in recent years, but the goal remains to try to help people go into business for themselves. Between 2013 and 2014 which were the major differences in the results of the report Global Entrepreneurship? In 2014, we spoke to people in 38 countries totaling more than 40,000 interviews - so it truly is a global study. Through these nations, 75 percent of people have a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship and the millennial generation is even more positive, with 80 percent of those responding favorably.
Thus we see that we are positioned in a great location in terms of what people are looking for and what they see as positive. You said in reports that entrepreneurship can be taught. Can you explain how the professionals of all ages can educate themselves about entrepreneurship? The reasons why someone wants to be an entrepreneur are pretty consistent - setting their own goals, be your own boss and overall flexibility. But often, people look at business ownership and says I do not know where to start. Not sure exactly where to go. "Simple things like basic business skills, leadership and management skills are topics that people are searching for some kind of fundamental education before taking that first step towards business ownership. These fundamental learning, along with learning more about what it means to be an entrepreneur or rather, what the practice of being an entrepreneur is, are all areas of need in the public eye.
The positive is that much of this training is available through many avenues including online. Take Amway for example, we have provided more than 3 million learning sessions through our online platform and offer business owners the opportunity to learn basic business skills, learn aspects of management, and learn a little about what being an entrepreneur. You have recently acquired XS energy drink. Why did you decide to buy it ?, What opportunities will create for you this market? We have been selling XS for several years. It was a success beyond our initial expectation is, for us, was a very easy decision. Our analysis was simple - we have a great product and have been selling for a while, it seems to work in our market, and really want to expand worldwide. We were in a few markets, but we'd go a little faster and for us, the best way is to buy it. The other thing that is great about XS is that it is truly a brand that promotes lifestyle. I think that is something new for us and something that our entrepreneurs really like.
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