He loved fixing things
When Henry was 15 years old, his father gave him a pocket watch which he was so fascinated about. This fascination led to the dismantling and reassembling of the timepieces of friends and neighbours dozens of times, getting him a reputation of being a watch repairman. After working as an apprentice machinist for three years in Detroit, Ford went back to work on their family farm where he became adept at operating a Westinghouse portable steam engine, and later got hired by the Westinghouse company itself to service their steam engines. Henry eventually built a steam wagon or tractor in his farm workshop, after witnessing the operation of a Nichols and Shepard road engine, but didn't think of creating a steam car, thinking a boiler was too dangerous to be put in light vehicles.
He introduced the 5-day workweek
In 1914, Ford astonished the world by offering a $5 per day wage equivalent to $130 today, which doubled the rate of his workers. Henry was considered a pioneer of welfare capitalism, but at the same time looked more into increasing efficiency, hiring and only keeping the best workers in the company. In 1926, Ford introduced the 5-day workweek, where people only worked 5 days for 8 hours per day, rather than the usual six 8-hour days at that time. By reducing the days of work, Henry wanted to boost productivity, expecting his workers to put more effort into their work in exchange for more leisure time, which he believed to be good for business.
He was the architect of mass production and assembly lines
In 1908, Henry introduced the Ford Model T automobile, which revolutionized the transportation and American industry. Henry Ford became one of the wealthiest people in the world, credited with the term "Fordism", a manufacturing technology which now serves as the basis of modern economic and social systems in industrialized, standardized mass production and mass consumption. This idea primarily focused on the mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers at the same time. Henry believed that consumerism was the key to peace, and had an intense commitment to systematically lower costs, resulting in many technical and business innovations which eventually introduced a franchise system that started dealerships throughout North America and major cities on six continents.
He was an innovator, not an inventor
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Henry Ford brought the assembly line strategy to the world of automobile production and paved the way to the success of mass producing vehicles on an unparallel scale. However, it is quite important to note that Ford was not an inventor. He was an innovator, who constantly focused on improving things or systems that already existed, by upgrading and re-selling it. Henry believed that reinventing the wheel wasn't necessary when modification and innovation of present products or systems, leads to better results. Great entrepreneurs like Henry Ford did not only put ideas in motion, but dedicated their entire time seeing through to the implementation and execution phase.
He wanted customer satisfaction and quality
Ford's assembly line operation ensured that hundreds of thousands of cars produced were identical in terms of style, quality and durability. Henry understood the importance of customer satisfaction and product quality, and made sure these standards were at the forefront of the entire Ford automobile business. Ford also instilled the value of maintaining a dependable persona in the business world, as key integral to success. He further mentioned that cutting corners or providing substandard work will eventually catch up with you and could damage hard earned reputation.
He never stopped learning
Henry Ford was also keen on continuing education and professional development, and constantly encouraged his workers to keep learning. Before he started Ford Motors, Henry trained as an apprentice engineer during the day and studied book keeping at night, as he already knew he needed these skills to be able to start his own company in the future. Ford also tried and switched jobs multiple times as he simply didn't want to be contented with learning only a single set of skills. He believed that evolving through learning can spark off new ideas, and that it was also necessary to adapt and constantly amend your goals to be able to keep growing and become successful.
He was a pioneer in Niche Marketing
Ford Motors became very successful because of Henry's understanding of tackling a niche market. Henry first decided that he was making automobiles, and then spent a long time researching his customer base, looking at affordability and interest before building them. Ford believed that he could provide a solution to a problem people didn't even realize they had. When the Model T was introduced in 1908, Henry made sure every available newspaper carried stories and adverts about his new product and by 1918, half of all cars owned in America were Model T's.
He was ambitious enough to create his own company
When Henry was only a boy, he was expected to take over the family farm after his father retired, which he wasn't really keen on. Ford broke away from the traditional setup and worked relentlessly to follow his dreams instead on fixing and innovating engines. By deviating from his father's plan, Henry believed that by creating his own company, there was a lot of opportunity for uncapped earnings as well as more free time to do the things he love the most. He also sensed that people didn't realize that transportation at that time was still their biggest problem, and that he could offer them an affordable solution.
He was well-known for being persistent
Ford is best remembered as the one single person who single-handedly created the US automotive industry. Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 on a farm in Springwells Township, Michigan, to his father William who was originally from Ireland, and mother Mary who was born in Michigan. When Henry decided to produce his famous V-8 motor, he chose to build an engine with the entire eight cylinders cast in one block, which his engineers thought was crazy ridiculous and impossible. Because of Ford's persistence and faith that this would get done, after a year of unproductivity, his engineers finally found a way to make it happen.
He was a humanitarian
Henry Ford was an ardent pacifist and fully opposed World War I to an extent of funding a peace ship that was sailed to Europe. In 1936, Henry and his family created Ford Foundation, which aimed at providing ongoing grants for education, research and development for people in the US. Ford even created a Social Department within the company, which looked at an employee's vices such as drinking and gambling, and determined eligibility for continued participation in the company. The company also offered profit sharing to selected employees who stayed in the company for six months, and those who conducted their lives properly without any vices or bad habits.
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