The video, part of Evan Carmichael’s “Modeling the Masters” series, tells the story of Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, tracing his journey from a farm‑boy in rural Sweden (the transcript mistakenly says Switzerland) to one of the world’s richest people. After a school‑year cash reward from his father, Kamprad started a small business named IKEA (his initials plus the letters of his hometown farm). The narrative highlights three core lessons drawn from Kamprad’s life: (1) Build around your customers – IKEA’s low‑price, functional design philosophy and in‑house design team serve the many; (2) Lead by example – Kamprad’s personal frugality (driving an old Volvo, flying economy, avoiding private offices) models the behavior he expects from employees; (3) Never waste your time – a relentless focus on efficiency, flat hierarchies, and time‑boxing work into ten‑minute units. The video also shares the famous flat‑pack anecdote of 1956, when an employee’s improvised solution to fit a table in a car sparked IKEA’s flat‑pack revolution. Throughout, Carmichael reinforces the lessons with direct Kamprad quotes and calls to action for entrepreneurs, ending with a request for likes, comments, and a preview of the next episode.
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Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael, and welcome to another edition of Modeling the Masters. Today we're going to look at how a farm boy whose father told him he'd never make anything of himself used money that his parents gave him for doing well at school to start his own little business. This is the story of Ingvar Kamprad from IKEA and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from his success.
Ingvar Kamprad was born in a small farming village in Switzerland where his grandfather had killed himself with a gun when he realized that he couldn't pay the mortgage baggage on their family farm. Kamprad's grandmother, then father, kept the business going, and his father frequently told him that he would never make anything of himself. Determined to prove his father wrong, Kamprad woke up every morning at 5:50 AM by removing the off button on his alarm clock. He then focused his efforts on his schoolwork and was going to achieve until he made his father proud. After a particularly stellar year, his father gave him a cash reward as recognition for a job well done. Kamprad used the money to start his own little business, a company he named IKEA. The name was a combination of Kamprad's initials, I.K., and the first letters of the farm in the village where he had grown up, the E and the A. He started off bidding for contracts to supply pencils and slowly expanded his business. Today IKEA has over 125,000 employees and Kamprad is the 11th wealthiest person in the world according to Forbes. According to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of $23 billion.
By starting small and working hard, Kamprad was able to prove his father wrong and make his parents proud. He was able to go from farm boy to ultra-billionaire and become one of the richest people in the world. To take your business up to the next level, here are 3 action items that you can learn from Ingvar Kamprad.
Action Item #1: Build around your customers. Too many entrepreneurs think that they have a great idea and spend all their money and time developing it, only to find out that customers don't want it. One of the best ways to ensure your success is to talk with potential customers, build your products and services around their problems, and give them practical solutions that they will pay for. From the day he founded IKEA, Kamprad has been dedicated to providing good quality and well-functioning products at low prices. This has been one of the key driving forces behind IKEA's international success, and the company hires its own designers, many of whom have gone on to win design awards over the years. According to Kamprad, "To design a desk which may cost $1,000 is easy for a furniture designer, but to design a functional and good desk which shall cost $50 can only be done by the very best. We have decided once and for all to side with the many. What is good for our customers is also, in the long run, Good for us. Action Item #2: Lead by Example. If you're building your business beyond yourself, then you'll have to think about your leadership style and how you're going to inspire those working for you to give their very best every day. Kamprad believes the best way to encourage hard work and a strong character in others was to exemplify that in his own life. Even though he's worth billions of dollars, He still drives a 13-year-old Volvo, often takes public transportation in Switzerland, doesn't have his own private office, and regularly flies economy class when traveling out of town. According to Kamprad, "I'm a bit tight with money, but so what? I look at the money I'm about to spend on myself and ask myself if IKEA customers can afford it. I could regularly travel first class, but having money in abundance doesn't seem like a good reason to waste it. If there is such a thing as good leadership, It is to give a good example. I have to do so for all the IKEA employees. Action Item #3: Never waste your time. You only have so many hours in a day to get work done and to accomplish your goals. Don't waste them. Every little step that you take to build your business will add up to big movements forward, but you have to put the time in to turn your vision into reality. Kamprad's frugality is matched only by his desire to never waste his time. To that end, he built the IKEA corporate philosophy around efficiency and hard work. IKEA has always kept few layers of management, practically eliminated titles and privileges, and has almost no suits and ties in the office. According to Kamprad, "Time is your most important resource. You can do so much in 10 minutes. 10 minutes, once gone, are gone for good. 10 minutes are not just 1/6 of your hourly pay. 10 minutes are a piece of yourself. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity.
So remember, build around your customers, lead by example, and never waste your time. I wanted to end the video today by sharing one of my favorite true stories about Ingvar Kamprad and some of his best quotes.
Kamprad had always been a fan of turning mistakes into opportunities. In 1956, a new IKEA employee had been standing with a colleague trying to figure out how to get a bulky wooden table into the back of his car. Finally, against company policy, he said, "Oh God, then let's pull off the legs and put them underneath." It was with that simple idea that IKEA would reorient itself towards the flat design production for which it has become famous today.
Thank you for joining me for another edition of Modeling the Masters. If you enjoyed, please give it a thumbs up below. I'd also love to hear your thoughts if you want to leave a comment, and stay tuned for the next episode.
