Henry Ford died on April 7 1947. He was the businessman who created modern industry thanks to his revolutionary assembly line technique.

The entrepreneur was 40 years old when he opened the Ford Motor Company with the idea of creating an inexpensive car that could be bought by common people. By introducing Model T, his iconic car, he made a revolution in transport, created assembly line production and gave shape to several labour policies of the 20^th century.

Nowadays, the dream of this American engineer is real and Ford still is one of the best known brands in the automotive industry.

Regardless of his quality as a human being (some of his political ideas have made him a controversial figure), nobody can deny that the business world was transformed with Ford. 68 years after his death, what can we learn from his success?

Here we show you 5 lessons this businessman left us in phrases.

The key to success is innovation
“Vision without execution is just hallucination”. – Henry Ford.

Ford was not an inventor, but an innovator. Thanks to his assembly line model mass production was possible in a level that had never been expected. However, we must remember that Ford did not invent the car. He took a product that already existed, improved it and sold it as a new product for a market that had never expected to have that product.

If necessary, create your own market
“If I had asked people what they wanted they would have said faster horses”. -Henry Ford.

Ford achieved success by offering a solution for a problem that people did not know they had. As an engineer, he wanted to develop a personalized form of transportation. But before doing it, he conducted a strong market research to figure out what people needed and how much they were willing to pay for it.

The Model T assembly production was developed in order to reach a wider market with a low cost car. Ford knew what the market needed, even though the market was still not aware of it.

Quality’s importance
“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking”.- Henry Ford.

Despite the great success Ford had with his Model T by the beginning of the 20th century, his work ethic never changed. He knew that, in time, mass production could lower the quality of his product, but his reputation was so important to him that he never allowed it to happen.

He had another phrase that explained why he was so strict about the quality of his cars: “you can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do”. Ford knew that in the world of businesses, having a good name related to a quality product is a must to be successful.

Efficiency is the key for success
“It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste”.- Henry Ford.

The Ford company was based on the efficiency of it’s’ production line. Assembly line allowed producing cars in a fast and low cost way, but also gave the possibility of paying better wages to employees. This also allowed the company to retain employees for a longer time and train them to be prepared for the company’s growth.

When Ford introduced this production model in Michigan in 1913, he doubled the production of his Model T without needing to hire more employees or sacrificing the quality of his product. Cars’ prices went down from USD 800 to USD 350 and employees’ wages went up from USD 2.34 a day to USD 5. And this was all made without sacrificing profit.

One step at a time
“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs”.- Henry Ford.

Ford never thought his name would be an icon of the automotive industry 68 years after he was gone. He started his company developing a product, then designing a production model that allowed him to have competitive prices, then studying the market and finally launching a strong publicity campaign.

Source: www.soyentrepreneur.com