Monday, June 30, 2025

Creating liberating content

Bones are made only of minerals. Bones are alive, part

New Delhi: Russian energy major Rosneft’s quest for a buyer

New Delhi: The finance ministry has asked public sector banks

Bengaluru: Ola has introduced a nationwide flat fee model for

Related News

Bones are made only of minerals. Bones are alive, part mineral, part living tissue. And collagen is the inner scaffolding of that tissue. Without collagen, bones become hard but brittle,

New Delhi: Russian energy major Rosneft’s quest for a buyer for its stake in Nayara Energy seems to have ended up at Reliance Industries’ doors after lukewarm response from other

New Delhi: The finance ministry has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to look at monetising their investment in subsidiaries by listing them at bourses after further scaling up operations so

Bengaluru: Ola has introduced a nationwide flat fee model for its cab-hailing business, allowing drivers to retain 100% of their earnings after paying a fixed daily access charge of Rs

India’s trade team has extended its stay in Washington to iron out differences as the two sides look to clinch a deal before a July 9 deadline when higher US

New Delhi: Tata Steel said it has received a show cause-cum-demand (SCN) notice from tax authorities over an “alleged irregular availment of input tax credit” amounting to over Rs 1,000

Trending News

New Delhi: The finance ministry has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to look at monetising their investment in subsidiaries by listing them at bourses after further scaling up operations so

India’s trade team has extended its stay in Washington to iron out differences as the two sides look to clinch a deal before a July 9 deadline when higher US

Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) is set to undergo a digital transformation in FY26, led by the launch of a revamped Yono platform. Dubbed ‘Only Yono’, the new app

BENGALURU: The global artificial intelligence (AI) innovation race is intensifying, but so are internal gaps between business ambition and technological execution. According to NetApp’s 2025 AI Space Race report, while

Gold rate outlook: Gold prices are expected to remain subdued next week as investors await crucial US macroeconomic data, which may offer fresh signals on the Federal Reserve’s stance on

Just 21 out of the 42 manufacturers eligible under the telecom production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme have received incentives till March 31, 2025, with total disbursements reaching Rs 1,162 crore, according

LEGO’s success story: How the company survived a debt of $800M and made one of the greatest comebacks in history

Word Count: 687 | Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes


LEGO's success story: How the company survived a debt of $800M and made one of the greatest comebacks in history

LEGO, a Danish construction toy production company based in Denmark, is known for its interlocking toys. The company has collaborated with some of the biggest brands in the industry, from Star Wars to Harry Potter. However, did you know that in 2003, LEGO was once in debt to the tune of $800 million, losing $1 million each day and just weeks away from collapse? How did the company maintain its life and, at the same time, succeed to unimaginable levels? Let’s find out!
Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, LEGO was the ‘IT’ toy in the 90s, with every kid wanting a LEGO set and being obsessed with creating something with the renowned bricks. Thus, just like every other brand, LEGO expanded its territory to clothes, watches, TV shows, theme parks and whatnot.
But with so much to do, the company was not excelling at any one task. The toy sales were decreasing, and behind the scenes, the company was struggling with finances. The company was facing a debt of $800M and was on the verge of collapse.
Then came the knight in shining armour, the new CEO, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, a Danish businessman who succeeded Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen as president and CEO of the company in October 2004. He presented a unique question: “What if the problem…is LEGO itself?
One of his first moves was to slash the product lines by 30% and to lay off about 1,000 people. Then, deeper research revealed to him that the company was making 7,000+ unique parts, which made the production process slower and expensive. Thus, he and his team simplified certain brick types and focused on sets that were popular in the market.
Additionally, LEGO started focusing on what the fans and buyers actually wanted. They partnered with big brands such as Star Wars and Harry Potter to develop sets with storylines. The result was instant and quite visible, with the Star Wars set alone boosting the company revenue by 35%. Their lesson from this sale was that every creation has a story and to create, people need bricks!
By 2015, LEGO passed Mattel to become the world’s greatest toy company with $2.03B sales in the first half of 2014.





Source link

Most Popular Articles

Sign In

Welcome ! Log into Your Account