In 1863, a baby boy was born on a farm in Michigan. That infant would abound up to masterfully repair watches, invent 'Fordism' (producing tons of inexpensive goods while paying workers well), and and so build an empire based on assembly lines and mass production.

Henry Ford's success isn't simply a story in a history book. What he did was built on a strong foundation of skillful business organisation practices. Everything from how he treated his customers to his management of employees contributed to the ascent of Ford Motor Company.

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It's been a while since Ford was in business, but his strategies and the lessons fatigued from them are nonetheless super relevant in today's business world.

i. Know Your Market

"If I had but asked people what they wanted, they would have asked me for faster horses!" – Henry Ford

Knowing your target market place goes much deeper than only knowing what they want. Ford believed in offer his customers solutions to bug they didn't even know they had.

Henry Ford knew he was going to build an automobile. Before he built it, though, he conducted extensive enquiry on who would buy information technology, how much they could afford to pay, and what they would desire and demand in a auto.

By the fourth dimension the Model T was introduced, Ford already knew he had a big market of potential buyers, what features would brand the buy, and what to charge them.

How you tin can do it:

  • Research! You tin do a lot of bones, demographic research for gratis online. Zoom Prospector, FreeLunch.com, and the U.South. Demography Agency are chock total of industry trends, financial data, and demographic information that you tin can access for free!

  • Find more than descriptive info through surveys. In that location are a ton of online tools available, like SurveyMonkey and Zoho, that are affordable or even free.

  • Your customers' input is invaluable to your business. Something as elementary and affordable equally taking a scattering of customers out for coffee can yield huge insights. The Dirt-Cheap Reply to Focus Groups can aid you become started!

2. Efficiency Is Male monarch

"It has been my observation that most people become ahead during the time that others waste material." – Henry Ford

From mass production via the assembly line to economical personal effort, Ford and his company were captains of efficiency.

The assembly line allowed Ford Motor Company to produce automobiles quickly. Ford's treatment of his workers allowed the company to retain employees and produce quality. These ii factors combined to create ultimate efficiency.

When Ford introduced his associates line at the kickoff Michigan plant in 1913, his production of the Model T doubled. Without hiring boosted labor or skimping on quality, this feat is huge!

The improved production immune Ford to drastically increase the affordability of his motorcar, dropping the price from $800 to $350, and increment his employees' wages from $2.34 to $v a day without hurting his bottom line.

How you tin can do information technology:

  • Work smarter, non harder! Use whatever hacks you demand in club to be your almost productive self.

  • Good news! We tin help: There'due south No Magic Prepare: Get Organized by Going Back to Basics and Managing Your Growing Pains with Outsourcing

  • Work on finding the right mix of product cost, pricing, and profit for your business.

  • There are lots of tools that can help, similar Producteev for managing tasks, Boomerang for Gmail for CRM, and Google Docs for file sharing. Bonus: They all offer a free package!

3. Focus On Quality

"Quality ways doing it right when no i is looking.' – Henry Ford

When you're excited almost your product, it can be easy to observe yourself in a rush to launch. Merely to exist really passionate involves a lot of due diligence.

Ford insisted that if his name was gonna be on the company, the brand would stand for quality. He wanted to exist 100% confident in his automobiles before they were sold.

Ethics aside, good quality is just plain good business organization, and it shows. Ford Motor Company was the #3 car manufacturer within a few years of its launch.

How you can exercise it:

  • Don't get alee of yourself. Make certain quality is e'er your #1 priority.

  • Don't be afraid to brand an upfront investment in production.

  • Examination, test, exam!

4. Zilch Is Peculiarly Hard

"There are no large problems; there are but a lot of niggling problems."

No affair what it is, zip is truly that hard. There's no chore so big that information technology tin't be broken down into smaller, more manageable parts.

Ford said, "There are no big problems; at that place are merely a lot of niggling problems." And that's the philosophy by which he ran Ford Motor Visitor.

Instead of thinking about launching an entire business, Ford took it one step at a time. First thinking almost developing the production, and so pricing, followed by advert.

How you can do it:

  • On a day to day ground, in that location's no demand to look very far into the future. Keep your focus on what'south in forepart of you correct now. What needs to be washed by tomorrow? Past adjacent week?

  • Take your work piece past slice, and don't let the big motion picture overwhelm you.

  • Don't be afraid to delegate. Many easily make a lot of work seem similar a little. If information technology doesn't absolutely need your touch, give information technology someone else.

5. Keep Employees Happy

'There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: make the all-time quality goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.'

This is a big one. Happy employees will make #2 and #3 seem similar a easy, and there are a lot of ways to become about it. Generally, compensation, workplace culture, and sense of belonging are the huge factors that bear upon employee satisfaction.

Ford knew his workplace civilization was what information technology was. Factory piece of work is hard to make engaging and sexy. What he did to remedy this was unheard of in his time; he doubled the salaries of his workers.

The effect of this was two-fold. Apparently making more money makes employees experience happier near going to work. It also immune nearly Ford employees to actually exist able to afford a Ford automobile, which increased their delivery to their jobs.

How y'all tin can practice it:

  • Invest in your employees! Whether information technology's an increment in salary or additional training, when you put your conviction backside your employees, they'll be more satisfied.

  • Cultivate a positive part culture.

  • Recruit employees who are a practiced fit for your culture.

Take What You Need

The lessons we tin draw from Henry Ford and the mode he ran Ford Motor Company have clearly stood the test of time. No affair what manufacture or stage of business you're in, these are important lessons that will assist yous optimize your business organization for today's market!

**Your Turn_:_ **Which lesson do you remember is most relevant today? Share with us!