About American Entrepreneur, Industrialist and Founder Ford Motor Company - Henry Ford. You will discover great lessons from one of American’s greatest entrepreneur.
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Henry Ford is one of the most famous businessmen of all time. American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His foresight revolutionized the transportation industry and enabled many people to purchase their first car. Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle-class Americans could afford.
As the owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers.
Henry Ford was born on a farm just outside of Dearborn, Michigan. He attended the local public schools as well as a private grammar school.
At the age of 13, his father gifted him a pocket watch which he promptly dismantled and reassembled perfectly. By the age of 16, his friends and neighbors had taken note of his ability to fix things and would often request him to fix their timepieces gaining a reputation of watch repair. During Ford`s youthful years, he showed a great interest in mechanics. Unsatisfied with farm work, he left home in 1879 to take part in apprentice machinist in Detroit. He would acquire skills in operating and repairing steam engines. After working there for some time, he went to school in Detroit to be trained as a machinist. He also studied bookkeeping.
With his schooling behind him, Ford went on to become the chief engineer of the Edison Company in 1893. Ford began to experiment with engines in 1890.
But, in 1896, aged 33, after years of work in his back shed, he finishes his first model car, the Quadricycle. But it ‘expensive was to produce, and was prone to break downs.
During the same year, he attended an executive meeting where he presented his work to Thomas Edison who encouraged him to build a better model. He completed the second model in 1898. Soon he left his good-paying job at Edison’s company to work on his dream of building cars. He immediately founded the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899. However, the company was dissolved in 1901. Determined to carry on, Ford raises $28,000, just enough to build his first factory outside Detroit. In 1903, Ford founded the Ford Motor Company with $28,000 cash. And soon, 16 affordable cars a day are rolling off the production line. In 1908, his third model, the Ford Model T goes on sale and demand is such even his new assembly lines can’t keep up and he stops accepting new orders. Crucially, it costs $900 dollars, nearly half the price of its competitors. Until Ford, there were only around 8,000 hand-built cars in America. They were the expensive toys of the wealthy. Ford’s insight was that cars could be an everyday item.
With his new interest in the automotive market, Ford gained national attention and was sued by the owners of the Selden Patent. Those people had monopolized the manufacture of automobiles. They wanted royalties on every car he was made, making each car too expensive for the average consumer. Ford lost the suit in a lower court but appealed to a higher court. There, he was victorious, making auto-building an open industry in 1910. Following his victory in court, Ford decided that every person, rich or poor, should be able to own an automobile. With that decision, the cost of the automobile dropped significantly. Henry Ford was able to position himself as an anti-monopolist. He is a kind of heroic individual entrepreneur, who believed in competition, who believed in developing a product and bringing it to the people.
Henry Ford is credited with revolutionizing the American’s automobile assembly-line of production. He converted automobile from the expensive model to the cheap model T, automobiles that several middle-class Americans could afford. He shared the company’s profit with the workers and ensured that they lived a decent life. Ford was an ardent pacifist who was opposed to World War I and even sponsored a peace ship to Europe. After the war is finally was over, Ford suddenly resigns from his own company and then announces that he’s starting a rival business. Fearing a slide in their shares, Ford stockholders sell all shares. Agents are, was, however, all too happy to buy all shares. It’s later revealed that the agents worked for Ford, and the whole stunt was devised to return sole ownership to the Ford family.
"Innovation without execution is just hallucination." – Henry Ford
At the start of the twentieth century, Henry Ford brought the assembly line technique to the world of automobile production. The technique was so successful it allowed mass production on an unparalleled scale.
However, it is important to remember that Ford was not an inventor; he was an innovator. He did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, but he did revolutionize the way in which they were produced and utilized. He had the vision to take something which already existed, improve it and re-sell it as something new.
This can serve as an important lesson to anyone who is stuck for ideas, as he proved that reinventing the wheel (no pun intended) isn’t necessary when modification and improvement can serve us equally as well. It’s about having a belief in the power of professional vision and understanding how to capitalize on opportunities.
Great entrepreneurs not only put ideas in motion, but they commit to them mentally as well. Having an amazing idea is all well and good but seeing it through to the implementation and execution phase is just as important.
What makes Henry Ford so successful is that he took his business idea and made it bigger. Had he stayed with his original small factory, he wouldn’t be the business icon that we know today. Every time he wanted to improve his company, he invested in a much larger factory to produce more products.
“If I had simply asked people what they wanted, they would have asked me for faster horses!” – Henry Ford
Once he had decided on his product, Henry Ford spent a long time researching his customer base and looking at affordability and likely interest in his initial motor cars before building them. He knew that by understanding his customers he could save time and money by offering them a product that provided a solution to a problem they didn’t even realize they had. He once joked that ‘If I had simply asked people what they wanted, they would have asked me for faster horses!’
Knowing your target market goes much deeper than simply knowing what they want. Ford believed in offering his customers solutions to problems they didn’t even know they had. Henry Ford knew he was going to build an automobile. Before he built it, though, he conducted extensive research on who would buy it, how much they could afford to pay, and what they would want and need in a car.
The overriding lesson is clear: do some research, establish that there is an interest/need for your product or services and learn to listen so you can focus on developing what you have to offer. As well as identifying your target market it is also vital to keep in mind the importance of promotion and how you sell your services or product.
When the Model T Ford was introduced on October 1st, 1908, Ford set about creating a huge publicity campaign that would ensure every available newspaper would want to carry stories and adverts about the new product. A combination of clever marketing and a rapidly growing positive reputation meant that by 1918, half of all cars owned in America were Model T’s.
Having a good website, regularly updating your blog and keeping up a strong presence across social media sites are all ways in which you can self-promote at very little cost. Something as simple as overhauling your company ‘About’ page or writing a guest post for a relevant site can help to give your business a boost.
“ Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. ” – Henry Ford
Ford was big on learning and professional development. Before he started the Ford Motor Company he trained as an apprentice engineer by day and studied bookkeeping at night. He knew which direction he wanted his life to take, and he made long-term, calculated plans to get there. For us, this is a good reminder of the importance of learning and adapting to trends within our chosen industries.
Evolving through learning can spark off new ideas, meaning it is also necessary to adapt and amend your goals. Sometimes this can lead to self-doubt but be reassured that change is a natural by-product of professional growth and doing the work you love will give you the strength to overcome anything.
Just look at Henry Ford. He broke away from the traditional mold and bucked the expectation that society had placed on him so that he could follow his dreams. This is an idea that resonates with many entrepreneurs who have branched out and had the courage to try an alternative career path, even in the face of doubt and criticism from others.
As we’ve discussed before, regardless of the ultimate goal, most self-employed people are united in the fact that they gave up regular employment to pursue a better work-life balance where there’s the opportunity for uncapped earnings as well as more free time for family, hobbies, or other interests. Goal-setting and keeping sight of your dreams is important as it keeps you focused and motivated to drive your business forward.
It can be scary when you’re going it alone, especially if you gave up a secure, relatively well-paid job to do so, but the fact that you’ve already had the determination to make the break should give you the reassurance that you’ve got what it takes to make it.
Henry Ford showed the world that anything is possible. He built an iconic company from the ground up, running it himself, buying out investors, and making it bigger and better every year. He did his research, learned from great business owners who were using assembly lines, and adapted it to fit his product.
If you believe that you can accomplish your goals and dreams, you are more than halfway there. To achieve anything in life you must believe in yourself and what you are capable of. Many people do not even try to accomplish their goals and dreams because they don’t believe in themselves they don’t believe they are capable of achieving their goals. Believe in yourself, your capabilities, and your goals. Anything is possible if you believe it!
“It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.” – Henry Ford
Ford was a huge believer in the power of working efficiently. Today he is credited with the modern concept of Fordism. Fordism is a system based on an efficient, standardized form of mass production. Perhaps Ford’s most famous accomplishment is the assembly line mass production of the Model T. His main mission was to bring an affordable automobile to the masses, one that even his workers could afford. To do so, he knew he had to create the most efficient work place in the country.
He started by recording the assembly time of every step in assembling a single car and optimized each step. He set the height of the work benches to the optimal height, the speed of the conveyor belt to the optimal speed, and every step in between. Ford tested out several different price points to find the one that generated the most sales. He raised his worker’s wage to attract as many of the best as possible from competitors and increase production. Ford Motor Company iterated until they found the best possible way of conducting their business. They had such high demand that they were panicking to find thousands of more workers and more factory; definitely, a good problem to have!
Many successful business people have made their fortune catering to the rich, but Henry Ford created products that appealed to everyone. He even raised the salary of his factory workers to the point where they could actually afford the cars they were making. This led to reducing the turnover rate that plagued the Ford Motor Company in the early years.
Take care of the little things and the big things will follow. As Ford says: “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”
“There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.” – Henry Ford
Over the years, Ford’s consistency and unwavering work ethic were unmatched. He always strongly advocated the value of having a good work ethic and that talent wasn’t what it seemed: “Genius is seldom recognized for what it is, a great capacity for hard work.”
When Ford first began experimenting with building an automobile, he was still working at Edison Illuminating Company. Yet, in his own spare time and home workshop, he worked, testing out his new ideas and building new things. He was never even sure that things would end up working out, but he had the courage to try. When the Ford Motor Company’s business was flourishing, still he sought to make it even more efficient and better as a company, striving to have Ford Motor Company become a global example of what a good business looks like.
Don’t be afraid of hard work. Your work ethic not only effects your success but the success of those around you. Set a good example like Ford did by always being on the working floor. Lead by example. Be the hardest worker at your company, both for your own sake and for those around you. Commit to your craft and mission, even if it means going the extra mile and doing that extra bit of work after your duties are done.
When pursuing your goals and dreams there will be obstacles, challenges, and difficulties. It is part of the journey to success. At times, you WILL fail…but that’s okay! It’s part of the process. Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more wisely. Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
It can be easy to become distracted when pursuing your goals. Challenges and obstacles can make it seem as if you will never achieve your dreams. Stay focused on achieving your goals. By doing so you will remain focused, inspired, and dedicated to achieving your dreams.
The highest use of capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more for the betterment of life.” – Henry Ford
Henry Ford knew his workplace culture was what it was. Factory work is hard to make engaging and sexy. What he did to remedy this was unheard-of in his time. On January 5th, 1914, Ford once again took a bold, unconventional step by announcing five-dollar wages for the 8-hour workday, and 5 days a week policy. While previously, workers were hardly paid about $1 dollar per day which consisted of about 12–15 hours of work in factories. Karl Marx was famous to quote about class warfare when it comes to wages for laborers. Capitalism, through competition, will bring exploitation of workers, will be a ‘race to the bottom’, and will eventually, result in class warfare. Ford’s introductory move towards higher wages and lower work hours basically debunked Karl Marx theory and proved many other industrialist wrongs!
Many regarded his move as reckless, and in fact, leading newspapers criticized him as crazy many times for this step. He shrugged them all, and focused on getting back on track of production and found the personal element in mass production.
Post this, Henry Ford was hailed as a friend of workers and instantly became the talk of the town. In terms of numbers, between 1914 and 1916, his company’s profits doubled from $30 million to $60 million!
And not only that! The five-dollar a day not only encouraged people to work for Ford, but eventually made them from car workers to car owners! This was the start of middle-class family creation, the ripple that Ford created was written in the books of varied field forever.
The lessons we can draw from Henry Ford and the way he ran Ford Motor Company have clearly stood the test of time. No matter what industry or stage of business you’re in, these are important lessons that will help you optimize your business for today’s marketplace!
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