What led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? 6 essential reasons

any wish to be more like famous people, whose success impressed and inspired great fulfillment. One such person is Henry Ford. His path to wealth was heavy but fascinating. What led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? How did he overcome from a farmer's son to a world-famous inventor? 

Below you can read six essential tips which helped in becoming Henry Ford an entrepreneur.

Reason #1. The introduction of innovative technologies

Probably you have ever heard or read the statement that Henry Ford is the assembly line's inventor. He actually has used this idea and improved it, but it does not belong to him as an authorship one. 

What led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur if the production line isn't his doing? In fact, he is the founder of volume-production car-building. The assembly line was introduced into production, because of Henry Ford's desire to make the available car for every average American.

How did he get the idea to apply the assembly line in mechanical engineering? In the early 20th century, Ford visited the plant, where he observed how the moving animal carcasses fell under the dividers' knives. He introduced improved technology to his plants by adding belts to the conveyor.

Interesting: Do you want to know else what led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? The assembly line repairmen got their money for doing nothing in each Ford's plant. The hourly pay went to them while they sat in the break room. If the red breakdown light came on, the salary counter would stop. The workers were interested in the problems being removed faster, or troubles did not happen at all.

Reason #2. Favorable working conditions

One of the most crucial principles that Henry Ford followed was caring for employees. It was he who introduced an eight-hour working day instead of ten hours. Thereby, he offered a minimum wage of five dollars per day, it was about double the national average wage, and a 40-hour workweek.

What else led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? He admitted that he needed the labor force and suffered from a staff turnover. A sharp increase in salary gave him the opportunity to provide his plants with a workforce fully. In addition, he won on work's quality due to employees who had worked at the plant for more than a year. Such people produced more outputs and better quality than beginners.

Henry Ford was the first one who was giving annual bonus payments not only to managers but also to ordinary workers. Those payments always depended on the company's earnings. Was it an essential reason what led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? Absolutely, because he also gave discounts and installments to his workers when buying cars. It was explained by his wishing to make the best kind of advertising and attract new customers.

He also decided that each employee should be responsible for his own specific case, and not do everything at once. It allows a worker to perform an assignment better because he doesn't need to be distracted by another process.

Must know: At the same time, Ford did not allow the creation of trade unions at his plants. In his opinion, labor unions deprived workers of freedom and independence, instead of cooperation they implanted confrontation.

Reason #3. Democratic prices for people

Henry Ford was the first person, who made the car an object of mass industrial development. In 1908, the production of his people's auto (Ford-T) began.

Off-topic: The Americans called the Ford-T like «Tin Lizzie». Lizzie was the most common name for a farm horse in the USA.

That step was a revolutionary turn in terms of mass production and cost reduction. The average price of a car was about $1000 to $5000 at that time. After Ford's appearance in the global market, the prices of the auto fell to down rapidly. He started selling his Ford-T for $850, and by 1916 the price had dropped to $360. That's the other thing, what led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur.

Many know the famous Henry Ford's phrase concerning the black cars. Actually, it was the one method how to lower auto costs. The reason was not aesthetics, but the fact that self-colored painting made production cheaper. Every day, Ford was looking for where and what to reduce costs even by a cent without sacrificing quality.

Reason #4. Faith in yourself

Henry Ford was guided by the rule that the people who were afraid of failure limit their possibilities. Did you think, what led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? The world wouldn't know about a talented inventor if he was afraid to take risks and didn't believe in himself. 

At the beginning of his career, banks refused him loans not once. Many ideas and lack of money forced him to learn how to negotiate. Due to his perseverance and faith in himself, Henry Ford succeeded in convincing investors to give him 86 thousand dollars (today it is about $2.6 million). It was unbelievable that an unknown inventor was able to assure serious entrepreneurs to believe in his ideas.

At first, Henry's inventions were not in great demand. To attract the attention of potential investors and customers, he drove around the city in his car. It was the same auto that Ford had created in his garage without someone's help. Henry Ford was even ridiculed by the public and called obsessed. Was this case one of the reasons what led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? No doubt because he wasn't going to give up and wasn't afraid to be criticized.

Ford participated in auto racing and became the champion of the United States. The essential aim of the inventor was to advertise the car and demonstrate its dignity. It turned out a powerful marketing campaign.

Reason #5. The service before profit

Also, Ford believed that profit could not be the chief goal of the business. It should be the award for painstaking service and sincere desire to help everyone. According to him, money is just a tool that applies to improve affairs and their further development.

It doesn't mean that the production is only buying low and selling high. For Henry Ford, it was the process of buying materials fairly with the smallest possible monetary addition and ready-for-sale product. The essential enemies of doing business are roguery and speculation, which only slow things down. In his opinion, an excellent businessman is a clever and experienced head. 

From Ford's past: What led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur if he adhered to such strict rules? He had graduated from only elementary school, which seemingly couldn't bring such a brilliant businessman up. But Ford always said that intelligence is the ability to attract and use people more educated than yourself.

Reason #6. The fair fight

Do you want to know the final reason, what led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur? Ford also avoided ardent competition and believed that it's criminal to try to take business away from another person. He declared that any affair needs to be ruled by reason, not by force. Thereby, the time which spending on rivals is better spent on doing business.

The same is true of selecting workers on his plant. Henry Ford maintained only healthy competition, so he hired more productive employees. Thanks to this decision, the firm's productivity increased by 51%. Moreover, absenteeism was halved and absence for valid reasons also dropped sharply. As a result of Ford's fresh views on doing business, his outcomes increased from $30 million to $60 million in two years. 

From history: In 1915 Henry Ford went to Europe and tried to explain to the governments and common people that doing business is more profitable than fighting.

The question «What led to Henry Ford's success as an entrepreneur?» will be popular constantly because everybody is interested in the reasons for Ford's success. The above six ones speak about the possibility of doing business, honestly. Ford's example demonstrates how to achieve a career's top and also be human. I hope, following the lead of such an individual, you can build a prosperous career as an entrepreneur.

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