Here are three inspiring examples of those who managed to make it from humble beginnings and what we can all learn from them.

Jan Koum

Koum was born into poverty in a tiny village in Ukraine. After migrating to America with his family as a teenager, Koum became fascinated with computers and eventually began working for Yahoo!

In 2009, he had the foresight to predict the future success of the embryonic mobile app industry, so he founded WhatsApp. By 2014, he’d sold it to Facebook for $19 billion. Koum’s story shows that intelligent forward planning can be the key to reaching your goals.

John Paul DeJoria

DeJoria began his working life moving from low-paid job to low-paid job, from shifts as a janitor to delivering newspapers. Befriending Paul Mitchell while working in hair care, the pair took out a small loan of $700 and founded John Paul Mitchell Systems, now a global conglomerate.

Since then, he has helped to found Patron Sports and is worth over $3.1 billion, proving that strong drive and good friendships can take you farther than you think.

Kevin Plank

Plank was on the edge of going broke when he decided to put his life savings together with a $40,000 advance on a credit card to fund a company selling clothing under his brand, Under Armor.

After making a $17,000 sale to Georgia Tech University, sales to 24 NFL teams followed, and in a few short years, it turned into a multimillion dollar company. Today the company is worth billions. Plank’s journey shows the power of investing in yourself!

Video content is king. Video content is addictive for a reason: it works! TikTok is pricing itself to be one of the best platforms for video content, and social media users have even admitted they want to see more video content on other apps. Plus, if you want to get into video but you’re not sure where to start, TikTok has a simple interface to get started.

The audience is massive. We’ve already let on that TikTok has a large audience, and we mean global. The app is used in more than 150 countries. If you’re trying to expand your brand into other countries and continents, you could be reaching them with the right content. TikTok’s audience is also growing by the day.

It has a brand-new advertising platform. TikTok for business means the app is becoming even more brand-friendly. The app has a plethora of different advertising options to use, whether that’s infeed videos, brand takeovers, or hashtag challenges.

A new route for advertising. TikTok is still a relatively new platform, and popular users have millions of worldwide followers. Some major brands are now starting to work with them to increase sales and brand awareness.

Be authentic. Just as with other social media websites, make sure whatever content you put out is true to your business. That also means that if your audience isn’t on TikTok, you probably shouldn’t be either.

If used meaningfully, feedback can be the key to helping your business run smoothly. Feedback isn’t just on the back of a customer service form. It can also come from within the team. Here are some good things feedback does for your business.

Helps avoid mistakes. Sharing little points of feedback often can be the key to stopping a team from derailing. When a group is working on a project together, there can be a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication. Not only will regular feedback keep the team on track, it will also save you the time and the trouble of having to correct a larger mistake.

Fosters teamwork. Communication is the key to a good relationship, and that’s the same in business. Being honest can be quite a hard pill to swallow, but the more comfortable your teams become with it, the better they will work with others both inside and outside the office.

Helps to motivate. Your team members may be unsure how to ask for help or may feel a little lost, but not to worry. Receiving feedback motivates people! Keep it friendly. The key to constructive feedback is to offer advice, not judgment. Plus, end with encouragement! Hope and guidance will always be a better motivator than fear.

Boosts morale. It’s not all doom and gloom! You should be applauding your staff as well as pointing out any mistakes or places to improve. This in turn creates a better, more well-rounded team.

You’re still on track

Many of us start businesses with our hearts, but you have to run them with your head. When these two major organs align, you know you’re on the right track. It’s also not about reaching the end-point immediately. Building a business takes a lot of work, and you need to make sure you’re still putting that work in.

You’re making money

It might feel like a crude measure of success, but it’s one of the most accurate. If people are actually buying your products or services, you’re doing something right. The key to long-term business success is longevity. Can you keep making a profit?

Your teamwork is off the charts

We all have that friend who wants to go into business, but the real trick is deciphering whether they’ll be a good business partner. If your team is well glued, that’s great, but will you all be able to learn and grow together? Ask yourself this question, and if the answer is yes, it might be time to grow together.

You have a safety net

Approximately 20% of businesses fail in their first year, and that is due in large part to having no safety net. Put a safety fund aside in case you have to take a step back.

You learn how to be steady

Starting a business can be chaotic, but once you know what you’re doing, it’s good to have a foundation to lean on. Can these processes you’ve created work on a larger scale? If the answer is no, think about how you could change that.