Shoe Dog by Phil Knight Book Review

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Shoe Dog by Phil Knight Book Review

Table of Contents

Introduction
Summary and Broad Overview
Themes
Evaluation and Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

Shoe Dog is a true story about the founder of Nike, Phil Knight, and his struggle to come up with a strong shoe brand. The title shoe dog is symbolic of the struggles involved in the shoe industrys manufacturing and distribution aspects. Phil explains how his dream of building a shoe company started in school and transformed as he met various people in his life. Bill Bowerman inspired Phil to continue with his dream and even became his partner in the business. Bills genuine desire to create shoes was a big reason for the brands success in future years.

Summary and Broad Overview

Shoe dogs were people who were obsessed with developing shoes. In the book, Phil Knight came up with the idea of selling shoes in America. At first, he did not know how he would get the shoes, but he knew that there was an opportunity in the shoe market. There were no running shoes in the 60s and 70s because companies had not ventured into the market. Also, the perception of people was that running was not an interesting activity. Phil had a mentor, Bill Bowerman, a shoe dog, and trained athletes running for the Olympics. Their relationship with Bill would be cemented when Phil arrived from his international trip. The global tour had taken Phil to many interesting places such as Greece and Egypt. Japan was his last destination, and it became his most significant one. In Japan, he managed to meet with the CEO of Onitsuka, a Japanese shoe company (Knight 78). The CEO agreed to sign a deal with Phil that saw the creation of a new Blue Ribbon company.

Blue Ribbon struggled to fulfill orders in time because they relied on imports from Japan which were always delayed. Also, the company struggled with cash because banks did not want to provide loans to the company. Only the Japanese trading company Nissho provide the company with funding. Bill helped popularize the brand to the athletes he was training which helped improve the sales. Phil mentions how they worked from storage rooms and maintained a lean workforce to ensure that funds would keep the company running. The company always reinvested all the profits back into the company for many years. Phill and Bill secretly started producing a new line of shoes and called them Nike. One of the senior management members suggested the Nike brand name, who claimed he had a dream about the name (Knight 107). The development of Nike into the brand it is currently was full of challenges. Lawsuits and challenges with distribution affected the company and threatened to end Phils dream. However, due to Phils leadership skills and the determination of the workforce, the brand was able to pull through all the challenges.

Themes

One of the major themes in the book is resilience. Phil conceived the idea of a shoe company when he was in school. Phil presented a paper on how Japanese sports shoes would be a profitable venture in America. However, his peers did not ask him any questions and only stared. He mentions how he had worked on the paper for a long time, studying the import and export data and starting a company (Knight 52). Phil continued to pursue his vision even after graduating because he believed that the only way of knowing if he was right was to try. As an entrepreneur, he believed that he had an idea that could be actualized into a big company with time. Phil underwent various challenges that threatened to derail his business and venture. One of the challenges was monetary because Phil had to talk to Bill to become his partner to raise enough capital to import shoes from Japan. He points out how the company always had challenges getting the imports on time during the first years.

Phil maintained a lean workforce to solve the monetary challenge, and they often worked in storage rooms. The challenge of importation was solved by the company starting to manufacture their products which led to them developing a unique brand called Nike. Without resilience, it would have been impossible for Phil to fulfill the business idea he had conceived while at Stanford. Two key themes are courage and determination, and they help develop the narrative. Courage can be seen when Phil requested a meeting with the CEO of Onitsuka and pitched the idea of selling their products in the U.S market. Phil was asked the companys name and came up with the name Blue Ribbon, which was not a real company at that time. Phil displayed a determination to get what he wants which is an important trait for entrepreneurs. Phil undertook many risks, which were instrumental in helping him build a successful brand.

Evaluation and Conclusion

The narrative by Phil on how he came up with the Nike brand provides insight to potential entrepreneurs on the road to establishing a successful business. The story illustrates the importance of having a plan on how to actualize your idea. Phil had a plan and made a risk in Japan that worked in the long run. The book is well written, with the concepts arranged in a way a reader can understand. The author uses his own experience, which improves the quality of the content. Successful founders of companies can perceive their journey, which can provide other people with essential lessons. The book garnered a positive reaction from the audience, who understood how an important brand was started. Critics indicate that the book provides an honest outlook of what it takes to succeed in any business venture.

In summary, the story by Phil Knight shows how courage and determination can help you succeed. It also indicates that an entrepreneur needs the courage to fulfill the idea in their mind. Courage helped Phil pitch an idea to a CEO, yet he did not have a company. Phil believed in his idea and was sure that he had made the first step towards achieving his overall vision with that deal. The story also teaches new entrepreneurs that they should be ready to start somewhere as they pursue their main dream. Phil worked for the Onitsuka company while still researching and developing a new type of shoe for his company. This helped him gain important insight into the shoe industry, which may have assisted him in the future years. The book can be essential reading for an individual with a plan to be an entrepreneur.

Reference

Knight, Philip H. Shoe Dog: A Memoir By The Creator Of Nike. New York: Scribner, 2016.