The austere billionaire Ingvar Kamprad

From selling matches to becoming a billionaire with his famous company IKEA, you could still find him now flying coach, or even riding public transportation too.

Did you ever get reward money from your parents for getting excellent grades and thought oh! I should probably use it to start my own company?

Well, this is how Ingvar Kamprad founded the famous IKEA, in 1943 and with only 17 years old, back in his hometown of Agunnaryd, Sweden, where he grew up in a farm called Elmtaryd. IKEA, composed of the letters from his name, farm and hometown, started as a small mail order business, eventually becoming focused mainly on furniture and using mainly local manufacturers, in this way helping to keep costs and prices low.

Kamprad always had a knack for business, while in Stockholm and with barely 7 years old, he used to buy matches in a bulk and sell them to the neighbors, after that he also tried with Christmas decorations, pens, and fish. By the time he was 25 he already had printed his first furniture catalogue for IKEA, and in 1953 the rest of Sweden was already requesting IKEA products to sell.

From 1958 until 1985 the company expanded through Europe, and in 1985 it arrived at the U. S. In Sweden the saying goes that Per-Albin Hansson (one of the country’s most important leaders of the XX century) built a home for the people, and Ingvar Kamprad put the furniture for it.

In spite of being known as one of the richest men alive, he lives a normal live with almost no special luxury added to it.  He prefers flying coach, he still moves around in an old Volvo 240 gl and sometimes uses public transport. He considers that just because he has the money doesn’t mean he has to spend it indiscriminately, giving an example to the rest of employees as to how to manage success and care for the money they make.

He’s also convinced that work is never over, that the feeling of finishing something or reaching an end is like falling asleep, there’s always something to be done, to be improved, to be fulfill, and he wants to stay alert for it for as long as he can.

The two biggest mistakes in his life, according to himself, were his affiliation with the Nazis and his alcoholism, both of which he has put in his past a long time ago, focusing on the lessons these mistakes allowed him to learn and advising other not to get stuck in their past and be flexible to change in ideas and actions, always assuming responsibility for our mistakes and trying our best to always keep improving ourselves.

Along with using the money in smart ways, he also recommends reflecting on the way we use time, it being the most valuable resource there is.