What led to Henry Ford’s success as an entrepreneur?
Henry Ford’s success story seems to be incredible. A young man without a higher education from a simple farmer’s family became a famous inventor, who built an automobile empire. Thanks to Ford’s efforts, the car turned from a luxury item into an affordable means of transportation.
Young Henry had an inventive streak, which manifested itself in everything – he invented a clock with a double dial, then tried to design a steam-powered plow. Any mechanism he came into contact with started working. That is why, suffering from the envy of detractors, he had to resign from the factory where they produced cars for horse-drawn cars. In 1893, two very significant events occurred in the life of Henry Ford – his son was born and he assembled a motor for a car in a small workshop behind his house. Later, he installed it on a small cart and tested his brainchild – this was the beginning of the success story of Henry Ford!
Elated and full of hopes to turn the car into an accessible means of transportation for everyone, Henry left the service. He said: “If you have enthusiasm, you can do anything.”
Behind the wheel of his car, he drives around potential buyers: “When it seems that the whole world is against you, remember that the plane takes off against the wind!” In 1902, he made a great advertisement for himself, beating the American champion at the competitions, and soon after that he began to have clients. A year later, Ford founded the Ford Motor Company and threw all his efforts into creating a simple and reliable universal car. It brought mechanisms and parts to a single standard, simplified the design and put the production of machines on the conveyor for the first time in the world.
This innovation was a real breakthrough that left all competitors behind and brought him to a leading position in the production of cars! Although the conveyor was used earlier, it was Ford who achieved stunning success with it. In 1908, the famous Ford-T model came off the assembly line – a practical and inexpensive car, not distinguished by a luxurious finish, the sales of which brought the company a huge profit.