Henry Ford: The Success Story of the Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford - success story, biography, quotes

The life story of some people is simply amazing. They are trying to imitate, envy, consider the favorites of fortune. But no one thinks that their success is not only luck, but also the result of exhausting mental and physical labor, compliance with certain life principles. Their ups alternated with downs, but perseverance, commitment to the idea and faith did not allow them to give up. The history of Henry Ford - an example worthy of respect for many people seeking to go beyond the circle of their usual existence and trying to achieve certain goals. The principles of life, conduct and organization of business, for which this amazing personality became famous, are very popular and now do not lose their relevance.

The Beginning of Henry Ford's History: Pocket Watches

Engineer, inventor, talented industrialist, container manufacturing pioneer, founder of Ford motor company was born in 1863 near Dearborn, Michigan. Henry's father owned a farm. The life of a rural boy was no different from the life of his peers. Helping parents with housework, attending a rural school foreshadowed a monotonous life and unpromising work. Henry was an opponent of this state of affairs, he could not stand Agriculture and constantly thought about creating another life for himself. The father noticed this and considered the boy an incorrigible lazybones, but he could do nothing, since all the work was done, albeit reluctantly, but irreproachably.

The pocket watch presented by his father completely turned Ford's worldview around. The boy opened their lid in order to look at the device. Before him appeared new world. Each detail, which does not represent any value separately, interacted with the rest. The failure of one screw or spring could lead to the failure of the entire mechanism. And only the coordinated work of all parts ensured the perfect running of the watch.

After that, Henry began to think about the structure of the world. Each person represents just a small detail, and only interaction with the rest gives it significance. Success depends on properly organized management activities, knowing which lever to press at the right time.

Henry Ford Principle 1

If more than one person is involved in the business, it must be a partnership. Even if a businessman hires a messenger, he chooses a partner.

At the same time, the future businessman built himself a small workshop, where he spent all his free time from work. It was in it that he created his steam engine- the first own invention. In addition, the boy was engaged in repairing watches. By doing this, he earned pocket money and continued doing his favorite thing.
One day, returning home, Henry noticed an unusual device from which steam was coming out. The delight knew no bounds. The self-propelled mechanism so struck Ford's imagination that a few minutes spent in the driver's cab seemed to be the meaning of a lifetime.

At the age of 15, the future millionaire came to the final conclusion that he was not interested in agriculture, dropped out of school and left home. When he got to Detroit, he took a job at a horse-drawn carriage factory, where he became an apprentice engineer. Ford's success at work and his ability to find the most difficult breakdowns in a short time began to envy other employees. Together, they achieved the dismissal of a valuable employee in just a week.

The shipyard is Ford's next job. A very small salary made it impossible to live normally, and Henry began to earn extra money by repairing clockwork. Henry went from one job to another. Sometimes it seemed to him that the chain of failures would never end. However, numerous layoffs and lack of money were not an obstacle. During all this time, the passion for cars has not subsided for a minute. Every free moment, experiments were carried out on the creation of their offspring.

Henry Ford Principle 2

Failure is an opportunity. You can start all over again, but given the mistakes made

The father of a talented young man did not give up hope of returning his son to the family. Henry received 40 acres of land in exchange for giving up his favorite business. Since there was no other way out, he agreed to such conditions, built a sawmill and took the position of its manager. The father was deceived. The idea of ​​creating a self-propelled stroller did not subside for a minute.

Henry Ford Principle 3

If you want to achieve something in life, you must learn to lie

The first success came in 1888 with his marriage to Clara Bryant. The wife was three years younger than Ford, they had many common interests. Her faith in her husband knew no bounds. In the most difficult moments, she was exactly the driving force that makes us move forward. Clara never interfered in her husband's affairs, however, she always showed great interest.

Henry Ford on his personal life: An engineer was asked how he would live his life if it was started over. He replied that it does not matter, the main thing is to live it with his wife.

Detroit was the next place where the couple soon moved. Henry took a job as an engineer at a local electrical company. This position was in line with the interests of the young inventor. Five years after his marriage, the young inventor, after several days of non-stop work, completed an experiment in building his car. In the middle of the night, it was reported to his wife that tests would now be carried out to launch it. His appearance the design did not impress Clara.

The design on bicycle tires of about 500 pounds of weight looked rather ridiculous.
Henry climbed in, turned the knob, and the motor started. The engine rumbled, roared, wheezed, the carriage shook pretty badly, but it began to move. By the dim light of a kerosene lamp on the front, the car moved. This story ended in about an hour. In the pouring rain, Ford returned home. He was pushing his invention, because on the way there was mechanical failure, but reached the place to which he aspired. Success was evident. The first step towards realizing the dream has been taken.

Henry Ford Principle 4

If you do what you always do, then you will get what you always got.

To feed his family, he had to work in several automobile companies at once. Ford was a very talented worker. When a big waste of money was noticed on personal experiences, he was offered high positions in return for giving up his favorite activity. The engineer was confused. The dream story ended the moment work began for someone else.

But, as always, the support of his wife played a decisive role. Ford decided to build his business. The engineer began to look for partners and people who would agree to finance the project. He found businessmen who gave him money. However, the project failed. At first there was no demand for cars, then there was no way to find like-minded people. Ford's ignorance of business laws led to one failure after another.

Henry Ford Principle 5

Those who oppose the laws of nature and the laws of business can quickly feel their power.

It seemed that success would never come. However, the third attempt of 40-year-old Henry was successful. History began in 1903 well-known company"Ford Motors Company". All her assets consisted of 28 thousand dollars, modest equipment, tools and a small room. Ford became the manager of the company. The models produced were not popular.

And then the understanding came to Henry that the demand for a car would only be with its simplicity and reasonable price.

A few years later, a car was created that broke all sales records. Affordable, even to people of average income, reliable, easy to use model "T", had a high cross. The company hired only talented people. People who came to work for money preferred talented nuggets who were passionate about their work. After all, Ford's education was not very high, he could not even read the blueprints.

Henry Ford Principle 6

Money in the foreground detracts from the importance of work. Fear of failure, new technologies, competition will not let things move forward

In 1913, Henry Ford pioneered conveyor production. The assembly process began to take a few seconds, even an unskilled employee could perform a separate job.

Henry Ford Principle 7

An enterprise is a community. Those who do their own work do not have enough time for someone else's

And in 1914, the most revolutionary change in labor relations between employees and company administration was adopted. Unprecedented increase in wages, reduction of the working day to 8 hours, and the working week to 6 hours. A wage supplement was introduced for employees without bad habits. People began to value jobs, staff turnover is no longer a problem. In addition, the workers had the opportunity to purchase the Company's car. Success was not long in coming - sales soared instantly.

In 1919, the Ford family buys back all the shares of the company and becomes the sole owner of the Ford Motors Company. Full success came at the beginning of the 20s. The automobile king bypassed all competitors. The company owned factories, iron mines and coal mines. Other enterprises also ensured the full-fledged activity of the Ford Motors Company. The film studio, the publishing house, the airport were part of Ford's empire. The ability to provide their own production led to independence from foreign trade.

However, success was not a constant companion of a businessman. The fall in sales, litigation, unscrupulous competitors did not allow me to calmly enjoy the triumph. But the dream was fulfilled.

Henry Ford Principle 8

Don't want things that money can buy. Improve the world you live in

In 1947, the great man died. A dream, aspiration, faith in success - these are exactly the qualities that many people lack.

Henry Ford Success Story started in the garage where he built his first car at night. Henry Ford is considered to be the founding father of the American automobile industry.

Useful Skills

Henry Ford was born in Dearborn, Michigan. His family was not from the poor, but all her wealth was due to manual labor on the farm. Absolutely everything was done by hand - from equipment repair to inventory production.

Because of this, young Henry able to handle different tools and even mastered watchmaking.

Interest in technology

At the age of 12 young Ford for the first time in his life saw a self-propelled vehicle, without a horse. The boy's delight knew no bounds. He wished to learn more about the structure of this unit.

The driver explained to him that this wagon was powered by chain drive suitable for rear wheels. The chain is set in motion by a steam boiler with a furnace, and coal is used as fuel.

This meeting, as Ford later wrote, turned everything upside down in his mind.

Self-propelled cart seen in youth became Henry's dream and the reason why he later got into car design.

Own car

Ford's interest in invention was so strong that he dropped out of school, farming, and even renounced his inheritance. All this was done in order to go to work at the Thomas Edison factory.

After work, at night, Henry worked in his garage to create own car. In 1986 he completed his first work, the result of which was an analogue of an ATV that ran on gasoline. Henry's neighbors got scared when he started his machine and drove it down the street.

First successes and falls

Success with the construction of the first car prompted Ford to join the automobile company, as he needed money. He was a machine builder.

The owners of the company were interested certain models transport. They were not interested in the invention of the young designer. For this reason, Henry broke off cooperation with them.

In the first 10 years of the twentieth century, a over 500 companies engaged in the production of automobiles. Of this set, several have evolved. Ford during this period also creates its first company, but it turns out to be bankrupt after 1 year.

Perseverance and work

The Irish roots allowed Ford to perceive the first defeat in business as purely a simulator, and he continued his attempts to create an automobile production. As a result Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 which is now a worldwide success.

Ford's idea was to make a car that a worker in his factory could buy. That is, it should be inexpensive. It was he who became the "parent of the image american dream”, instilling in their employees the dream of their own machine.

budget car

In those days, the cost of a car was about one thousand dollars and more. For creating budget option, Ford did not care much about the interior of the cabin of his offspring, and about the prestige of the Ford brands motor.

As a result, the first victory was the Model T car (he began to name all his models in alphabetical order from the first letter of the alphabet), released in 1908, which had a cost of $ 800.

This was achieved, among other implementations and developments, by creating the first industrial conveyor. Throughout the production, each worker was responsible for performing only one operation. Thanks to this, every 10 seconds a new car rolled off the assembly line at the Ford factory.

Model "T"

Model "T" was soon recognized as the most successful, she went off the assembly line first for $800, by 1920 for 600 dollars and later for 345 dollars! Such low prices no one had. At the same time, Ford began to paint all cars in one color - black.

The grins of competitors

Major car manufacturers laughed at the idea budget car and prophesied bankruptcy to Ford. However, he did not listen to these ridicule and continued to develop his business.

An important point was the decision to produce spare parts for machinesFord, no other manufacturer did that back then.

From 1914 he paid workers $5 a day. It was in two times more than the industry average. He shortened the working day up to 8 hours, gave his workers 2 days off!

Innovations in Ford motor

In 1920, Henry Ford reorganized his company. As a result, the "management" staff was reduced. All laid-off managers were offered to go to production shops. Those who did not agree were fired.

Reduced bureaucracy in the company, and reduced the number of unnecessary meetings. All innovations accelerated the work of production and increased the influx of money that Ford again invested in the development of his offspring.

Henry quickly bought back all the shares of the company from his partners and became sole proprietor. Ford owner motor.

By 1927, 15 million Model T cars had been produced and sold. The cost of the company itself was estimated at 700 million dollars. Ford's capital, together with his son, reached 1.2 billion (at present, about 30 billion) dollars.

Do you want to know how to make money online?
Download the free book by Vladislav Chelpachenko
=>> "10 steps to the first million in the infobusiness"

Ford is a brand known all over the world. Probably, there is not a single modern person who, at the word Ford, will not have associations with something reliable and fundamental.

Henry Ford is the man who created from his name a brand that is firmly entrenched in the automotive industry.

Many articles and books have been written about Henry Ford, about the components of his success, but he himself kept silent about himself for a long time.

Henry Ford books

And so, at the age of sixty, he wrote a very lively, interesting book about his business and his success, which he called "My Life, My Achievements".

Surprisingly, the fact is that this book was published in dozens of countries around the world, even in the Soviet Union it underwent several editions, and this was in 1924-1927. He also wrote a book "Today and tomorrow".

Do you want to know what mistakes beginners make?


99% of beginners make these mistakes and fail in business and making money on the Internet! Take care not to repeat these mistakes - “3 + 1 BEGINNER MISTAKES KILLING THE RESULT”.

Do you urgently need money?


Download for free: TOP - 5 ways to make money on the Internet". 5 better ways earnings on the Internet, which are guaranteed to bring you results from 1,000 rubles per day or more.

I want it. So it will be.
Henry Ford.

American engineer, industrialist, inventor, founder of the Ford Motor Company Ford motor Company, the first to organize a flow-conveyor production. Henry was born June 30, 1863 in Michigan. His father William, a farmer who emigrated from Ireland, was dissatisfied with his son, considering him a sissy and lazy. Because the guy was reluctant to carry out all the tasks of his father on the farm. He did not like pets, fresh milk.

He believed that it was possible to do a more useful thing than farming. At the age of 12, his father gave him a watch. The guy could not resist and opened the cover of the mechanism. He considered the structure of the clock for a long time, then assembled and disassembled them and came to the conclusion that the whole world is big mechanism, just like . Everything in life has its levers, and in order to succeed, you need to know which levers you need to press in time.

Another shock for Ford was the meeting with the locomobile, which was like a smoking and hissing monster for him. A boy at that moment would have given half his life to ride a locomobile. When Henry was 15 years old, he dropped out of school and secretly went to Detroit at night, with only one thought - he would never be a farmer.

First job or the beginning of the path to success

He got a job at a factory for the manufacture of horse-drawn carriages. But he didn't last long here. Henry was very knowledgeable about the mechanics of the plant and was quick to fix the cause. This aroused envy among the other workers, and they drove the young man out of the factory. After a while, he gets a job at the shipyard of the Flower brothers. At night, he worked part-time repairing watches. But the money was barely enough to pay for the room he rented.

At that time, he did not yet know. At this time, his father offers him 40 acres of land on the condition that he will forever forget about cars. Henry agreed, but William did not even suspect that he had been deceived. Since he had a bride, Clara, and he understood that her parents would never give their daughter in marriage to a man who did not have a penny for his soul.

Marriage and childbirth

He married Clara Bryant, who was three years his junior. They met at a village dance. Clara's parents were too. Soon he built a small house on his land and settled in it with his wife.

Henry and Clara moved to Detroit, Ford got a job at the Detroit Electric Company as an engineer. We must pay tribute to the wife, no matter what happens, she was always next to her husband and in good and bad moments. Always understood him and agreed with his decisions.

In November 1893, a boy was born to the family, who was named Edsel. At the same time, Henry completed the construction of his experimental car, which was named "Quadricycle", weighed only 500 pounds and ran on four bicycle tires.

management positions

In the same year he became the chief engineer of the Edison Company, in 1899 the chief engineer of the Detroit car company. But management noticed that Ford did little business and spent most of his time on his car. He is offered a leadership position on the condition that he quit his car. Ford refused and decided to look for those who would buy his ideas. But nobody needed them. In the end, Henry found a Detroit businessman who agreed to work with him.

The Detroit Automobile Company was formed, but it did not last long. Because there was no demand for cars. In 1903, Ford became the manager of Ford Motors.

Opening of car production

In 1905, Ford buys out the company's share from Alexander Malcolmson and becomes the owner of a controlling stake and president of the Ford Motor Company. The production of a new model of the car "T" begins. This model was affordable for almost any American. Model "T" easily conquered the consumer market, and 15 million cars were sold during the years of its production. We think you will also be interested in the success of the Ferrari company.

In the production of Ford cars there was a conveyor production, a clear control and planning system. He first installed minimum level wages, 8-hour working day.

The inventor was completely confident in his genius, so he often ignored the advice of car manufacturing experts. As a result, he lost his flexibility and innovator's flair. Henry did not take into account the changes that took place in the market in the 30s, as a result of which General Motors took the leading position in the automotive industry.

In 1945, in order to avoid, the management of the company was transferred to the grandson of Henry Ford 2 and retires. Henry had no bad habits, he was obsessed with a healthy lifestyle, he loved to study the history of American culture. The famous inventor died when he was 83 on April 7, 1947. This man forever entered the history of mankind, and his cars are popular even now.

Henry Ford - the genius of the automotive industry, who opened the world to the flow-conveyor assembly, was a great master of aphorisms. He is often quoted, and his expressions are precise and original. Ford considered the main condition for success to be individuality - a quality inherent in every person.

Probably in modern world it will be very difficult to find a person who has never heard the name of Henry Ford. The success story of this man is so fascinating that more than one historian and management theorist has written about it.

An American engineer who became an excellent inventor and an unsurpassed manager was able to create an enterprise, which to this day produces one of best cars worldwide. This industrialist became the founder of the Ford Motor Company.

He is considered the father automotive industry United States of America, and is known to everyone as a talented organizer of conveyor production.

The future engineer, Henry Ford, was the son of a Michigan farmer who once emigrated from Ireland. He was born on July 30, 1863, and from childhood he was an unloved father.

He believed that little Henry was not behaving at all the way a small farm dweller should behave. The father considered the boy a sissy and lazy, because Henry behaved like a prince. Of course, the kid followed all the orders, but he did it with obvious reluctance. With a hatred for chickens and cows and everything connected with it, Henry constantly thought about how to organize it all in other ways.

It is known that one event that happened when Henry was only 12 years old changed his whole life. Then his father gave him a beautiful pocket watch. The boy decided to see how they are arranged, and opened the lid with a screwdriver.

A truly amazing sight met his eyes. Parts of the watch mechanism interacted very clearly with each other, and even the smallest cog plays very well here. importance. Ford understood that the lack of just one part of the mechanism would lead to its incorrect operation.

After the clock was dismantled, the boy thought for a very long time about what is our world? After all, this is exactly such a clockwork, which consists of a great many large and small parts, each of which is incredibly important for life around the world.

Probably, it was then that a simple and brilliant idea came into his head - success can only be achieved if you know which control levers to press and how to properly organize activities. Along the way, Henry learned to repair watches quite quickly, and even worked part-time in this way for a certain time.

Ford's second shock came a little later. It was his meeting with the locomobile, which will forever remain in the memory of the future billionaire. Returning with his father on a cart from the city, Henry saw big car, which is shrouded in steam. Ford looked at the car and realized that it was self-propelled. Then Henry had a huge dream - to spend at least 10 minutes in the driver's cab.

When Ford was only 15 years old, he made his own decision, left his school and went to Detroit at night. He was well aware that he would never become a farmer, like his father, which means that he did not belong on the farm at all. Henry arrived at the place and got a job at a factory where they made horse cars, but he did not manage to hold out here for too long.

Ford very quickly found a breakdown in a faulty mechanism, and soon the workers began to envy the gifted novice. It was they who made every effort to ensure that Ford was fired as soon as possible. Then Henry went to another place of work, which was a shipbuilding plant, and at night he repaired any clock mechanism in order to somehow survive in a strange city himself.

Meanwhile, William Ford decided to return his son to the family business. He offered the guy 40 acres of land in return for just one promise - never talk about cars again. Suddenly, Henry agreed, but it was just a way to deceive his father. This was a great lesson for Henry, and he learned forever: wanting to be king, you should be able to lie.

Then a little more time passed, and Ford decided to marry Clara Bryant, who was three years younger than the engineer. The young people had many common interests, but most importantly, Clara always believed in Henry's success even more than he did. This gave young man great desire to move forward in the direction of success. Throughout her life, Ford's wise wife knew how to show interest in her husband's affairs, but she never allowed herself to interfere in them.

One day, Ford's father saw his son's house empty. The fact is that the young couple left for Detroit, where Henry was able to get a job at the Detroit Electric Company. There he became an engineer, and began working in a field that had always been of interest to him.

For Ford, the year 1893 was notable. It was then that Ford's son was born, and a little later, Henry was able to complete the construction of the first experimental car. The clumsy "quad bike" weighed 500 pounds, and bicycle wheels were used for movement.

Henry Ford worked for several other car companies, but over time, everyone began to notice that Ford was spending a lot of money on his own inventions.

Then he was offered a prestigious job in a high-ranking position, but only on the condition that Ford leave all his inventions. The engineer hesitated for a long time, and when his wife said that she would accept any of his decisions, he began to "sell himself."

Henry Ford began a very difficult job of finding partners, and after much ordeal in 1903 he was able to create the Ford Motor Company. This talented self-taught mechanic accepted exactly such nuggets for his production. Throughout his career, Ford did not even learn how to read blueprints, and therefore all car models were cut out of wood for him, and then they were given into his hands.

The main achievement and unique triumph in the life of Ford was the creation of the Model "T". This made it possible to change all the existing concepts of the automotive industry. The success of the Model T exceeded all expectations. The machine was started at mass production, in which Ford insisted on the unification and standardization of all parts. Over time, all his thoughts allowed him to create a conveyor production, which became popular all over the world and glorified Henry Ford in the eyes of many generations.