There are several names that echo through the ages and ring today as clarion reminders of what a man can create with the right combination of hubris, determination, and luck. Andrew Carnegie was the son of poor Scottish immigrants, and he forged a steel empire vaster than any the world had ever seen. Cornelius Vanderbilt, frequently known as the Commodore, started out with one ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. By the time he died, he presided over the railway industry, owning the largest network in the world. John D. Rockefeller was born to a travelling elixir huckster, and he became the driving force behind a major oil company. At its height, Rockefeller's fortune was a larger percentage of the US GDP than Bill Gates' and Sam Walton's combined.
Fewer people, however, know about the exploits of William C. Durant, a man no less titanic in the early days of American industry than the men listed above. Durant was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1861. His father was a man of respectable yet modest means, but his mother came from a wealthy Michigan family that traced its roots back to early French settlers. Durant dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to go work in a lumberyard owned by his maternal grandfather. He quickly realized that his ambitions extended beyond the humming of band saws and the gentle rain of pine dust. He borrowed $2,000 to begin a cigar and cigarette business, which he operated out of a horse-drawn cart. He used the profits to found the Flint Road Cart Company in Flint, Michigan. Durant's natural magnetism and sales acumen helped swell the profits in the twilight years of the carriage business. His success caught the eye of people selling a brand new product called the horseless carriage or automobile. Durant was originally skeptical of this new invention, thinking it odorous, unsafe, and generally indecorous in comparison to the genteel buggies he was accustomed to. But, like so many who excel in the industry where others falter, he was able to see the potential in the market.
Durant did not merely sell cars. He pioneered the industry to a degree that rivals even Henry Ford's contributions. In fact, while Henry Ford was mass-producing Model T's, each one a carbon copy of the one that rolled off the line before it, Durant took a lesson from the carriage business and developed an umbrella company under which many different brands were organized. The automobile holding company manufactured multiple brands, each tailored to a different lifestyle, budget, and taste. Now this is the predominant model in the industry. Durant also established the dealership model that still exists today. Sadly, Durant lost much of his fortune when the stock market crashed in 1929. He lived out the rest of his days on a modest pension from the company he helped build. He died in relative obscurity, but his innovations live on.
When considering industry, Flint MI residents visit Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce. Learn more at http://www.flintandgenesee.org/.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Andrew_Stratton/83489
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