When it comes to business success stories, there are plenty. But there are also many business blunders that we are not so familiar with. Those who were around when these blunders actually happened may remember them making the news, but others will be surprised to learn about some of the massive business blunders that have taken place.
Here are 10 of the top business blunders ever:
1. New Coke. The Coca Cola Company had a popular product for 100 years. People loved Coke! But in 1985 the company decided to change the formula and come out with "New Coke," only to find out that the public wasn't having it. Soon after, the company had to come out with its original version, then deemed "Classic Coke." This was a prime example of how you shouldn't fix what isn't broken.
2. The Aztec. When General Motors debuted the Pontiac Aztec, it was in for a surprise. The company had built it up as being something special, but it turned out the public didn't agree. People didn't like it, and it was actually named one of the ugliest cars of all time. This car, with the tagline of being versatile, turned out to be anything but.
3. Arch Burger Deluxe. Yes, even McDonald's, with all its success, did a number on this one! They put out the Arch Burger Deluxe in 1996, hoping to attract sophisticated adult burger lovers, only to find that no one was willing to pay the price at the fast-food joint. That was $300 million that could have been better spent.
4. IBM. Although IBM liked to bill itself as being a place that likes to think, the company sure didn't think it through when it didn't take a stake in Microsoft, which at the time was developing the operating systems for the company. Who knows what vast amounts of money were left on the table with this one.
5. Schlitz. At one time, Schlitz used to be the second most popular beer company in the country. But increasing profits became the No. 1 goal, and that lead to cost-cutting and ingredient changes. That, in turn, resulted in the beer being recalled, which brought the beer company down, and it never made a full recovery.
6. Ross Perot. Not only did he lose his run for the presidency, he also lost $60 million in 1974 in an attempt to save du Pont-Glore from Wall Street failure. Of course, on the bright side, he did follow that up in 1984 by selling Electronic Data Systems to General Motors for $2.5 billion.
7. Edsel. It is estimated that Ford lost $2.5 billion on the Edsel blunder. Ford came out with the car in the mid-1950s and named it after Henry Ford's son. Problem was, people weren't interested in buying it, put off by the look, size, and price of the vehicle. Over $350 million was spent on trying to get people interested, but to no avail.
8. Motorola. You probably have a cell phone. But, like everyone else, you passed on the satellite phone service that Motorola was offering back in 1998. The company couldn't get enough subscribers and filed for bankruptcy, after losing $8 billion.
9. Enron. No list of business blunders would be complete with the infamous Enron fiasco. The company, once worth $78 billion, became worthless, and some of its top executives are serving time in the big house. It is estimated that the size of the blunder tops $93 billion.
10. Louisiana Territory. Napoleon agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory in 1803 for just $15 million. Today, that land is valued at $750 billion. But that's not the only piece of land that was sold at rock-bottom prices. In 1626, natives traded New Amsterdam, which today is known as Manhattan, for just trinkets. Today, those 23 square miles are valued at a cool $1 trillion.
Thanks to Mike Michalowicz / OpenForum
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