Within a year, he was selling 1000 PCs and hired more staff. Customers phoned orders to an 800 number, and then the staff assembled the units. Parts were ordered only as needed, keeping inventory and overhead low. UPS trucks picked up daily that day's production for delivery. It was very efficient-- and very profitable.

 Just when it seemed the sky was the limit(没有任何限制;一切都是可能的<或能达到的>), and sales had topped $3 million, the manager that Dell had hired quit. But, as Dell always told himself, " Every time you have a crisis, something good comes out of it. " From necessity, he learned accounting basics- experience that would prove invaluable in the years ahead. "It's a lot easier to learn something if it's important to you," he says.

 Unlike other manufacturers, Dell gave his customers money-back guarantees. He also realized that when a computer is down, the customer wants it back up and working right away. So Dell guaranteed next- day on site service for his products, and introduced a 24-hour-a-day toll-free(免费电话) line for customers to talk directly with computer technicians. Ninety percent of computer technical problems, according to Dell, can be solved over the phone.

 Constant telephone contact with customers kept the company close to the market. Customers let Dell Computer know directly what they liked or didn't like about a particular model. "My competitors were developing products and then telling customers what they should want, instead of finding out what the market really wanted and then developing products," Dell says.

 By the day Michael Dell would have graduated from college, his company was selling $ 70 million worth of computers a year. Dell quit dealing in souped-up versions of other companies' products, and started designing, assembling and marketing his own.

 Today Dell Computer has wholly owned subsidiaries in 16 countries, including Japan. The company has revenues of over $2 billion, employs some 5 500 persons, and Dell's personal fortune is between $ 250 million and $ 300 million. To encourage even greater productivity, Dell Computer gives its employees awards for ideas worth trying even if they don't pan out. "Our success has forced the giants to become more competitive," Dell says. "That's good for the consumer. "

 Dell, his wife and their two-year-old daughter lead a pretty normal life. His charity is generous but quiet. Recently the couple announced the donation of a parcel of land for a civic center(娱乐大厦) to Austin's Jewish community. Dell also regularly lectures on entrepreneurship to MBA students at the University of Texas Graduate School of Business in Austin.

 What concerns Michael Dell is that our country is losing its competitive edge(竞争优势). "There's too much of an entitlement attitude nowadays," he says. "' I deserve this' needs to he replaced with 'I earned this.' " joozone.com