When Childen Play In The Street

I was just reading about a kid named Jim - he had an interesting childhood. While a teenager, he and many of his friends were hired by various people to run errands and messages for people and businesses. It wasn't long before he realized that he could run the same errands on his own rather than being hired by someone else. At age 19, he borrowed $100 from a friend and the American Messenger Company was born.

Jim had a business partner and his errands were run by his brother and other neighborhood kids. He rigidly enforced his motto: "Best service and lowest rates." They would deliver anywhere in the city a motorcycle, bicycle, or legs could carry them. Six years after he started his company, he merged with a competitor and changed the company's name to Merchants Parcel Delivery. That year he also purchased the company's first automobile, a Model T, for deliveries. Jim's company focused less on delivering messages and lunches to people and focused more on delivering packages. It wasn't long before large department stores sent local deliveries through him. In 1919, Jim's company expanded from Seattle, WA, to Oakland, CA and he changed the name one last time. It was now known as United Parcel Service, or UPS.

Sometimes we look at large corporations and forget they had humble beginnings and were started by people just like us: People who had a vision and found a way to make it happen. What is your vision for the New Year? Never underestimate what you can accomplish when you follow your dreams.