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Characteristics Of Robert Taylor

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Introduction Roger Taylor was an American businessman who was known as the genius behind Softsoap’s success. In 1981, he ordered 100 million pumps from a manufacturing company to prevent competitors from duplicating his idea: a mass-market liquid soap that comes in a pump, also known as Softsoap. Taylor’s company, Minnetonka, had 36% of the market share in the almost $100 million market for liquid soap for many years. Through his innovative skills, Taylor was able to expand into markets outside soap. He proved his excellence in business further after the success of his fragrance line, Calvin Klein, which generated $50 million in its first year. Taylor sold Softsoap to Colgate-Palmolive for $376.5 million in 1987. In this paper, a …show more content…

Innovative: Businessmen must have the skill to come up with marketing strategies and solve problems. Aside from being ambitious, Taylor was also known for his gift of business innovation. Being “allocentric,” Taylor always placed himself in other people’s shoes. From this perspective, he created products that solved common day-to-day problems such as the mess bar soaps create. Taylor was constantly introducing products and trying new businesses. He quickly expanded his soap businesses into a complete bath line, introducing products like scented candle, lotion, and fruit-scented shampoo before major corporations created their own. When he first introduced Softsoap, Taylor paid for advertising, so people would know about his product.
Confident: A businessman must have faith in their decisions. Robert Taylor was known for his confidence in his ideas. He left Johnson & Johnson despite not knowing if Minnetonka Inc. would be successful. He is also not deterred by his past failures. Despite experiencing a major setback when Clairol and Gillette copied his fruit-scented shampoo line, Taylor believed that he can still take his business to the next level. He went on to create Softsoap, which revolutionized the bathing experience for many Americans.
Ambition, knack for innovation, and confidence helped Robert Taylor to succeed in his

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