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Federal Express            

What does it take to start a business? A brilliant idea? A great team? Money? Yes. All of those things. But the most important thing is a belief in the significance of the future business. It is really amazing that most large companies, Federal Express for example, have stories of their humble beginnings.

Fred Smith was born in Mississippi, in the United States, in 1944. Fred was named after his father, a successful businessman. In 1948, when Fred was only four years old, his father died. Fortunately, Smith senior had made enough money to provide for his family. However, it would be a long time before the children would see any of their father’s money. Concerned that his children could waste their money, Smith senior had his money placed into a trust fund to be given to the children upon their 21st birthdays.

In 1962, Fred Smith entered Yale University, one of the oldest and most famous universities in the USA. In 1965, as part of his coursework, he wrote an economics paper exploring the process of transportation of goods in the United States. He found that the delivery service used lorries or passenger airplanes to transport large packages across the United States, which was not very convenient. Smith proposed to deliver small parcels by special planes. Smith tried to prove that it could be a good business but did not go into details about how to actually run such acompany. Although Smith received a grade of C for his work, he did not give up on the idea. After graduating from the university, in 1971, he launched the company Federal Express.

Within the first three years of founding the company, Federal Express was very close to bankruptcy. It was losing over $1 million a month because of rising fuel costs. Eventually the company had just $5000 to its name. Smith tried to raise more money but he failed.

Most ordinary people would have stopped at this point and shut down the company. Not Fred Smith. The founder of the young company performed an extraordinary and courageous deed. Smith flew to Las Vegas and played Blackjack that weekend with the remaining company funds. Yes, the whole $5000. He was unbelievably lucky that day! On Monday, the management of the company had a pleasant surprise. Federal Express had $32,000 on its bank account, which was just enough to cover the fuel for their planes and to continue operating.

Soon after, the company was able to strengthen its position and continue to develop. At the root of the company’s success was Smith’s philosophy: people, service, profit (P-S-P). From the company’s earliest beginnings, even when times were tough, Smith tried to provide his workers with a good salary, special bonuses and medical coverage.

In 2000, the company changed its name to the FedEx Corporation. Today FedEx is a global giant with operations in more than 220 countries and territories using over six hundred aircraft and 46,000 vehicles. It provides fast and reliable deliveries to clients worldwide.