"Opportunites are never lost...
Just found by someone else."
In the late 1950's, Toyota had decided to establish a network of independent distributors throughout the United States. They were looking for local automobile wholesalers, who were familiar with their territories who could recruit their own dealers.
One of the first people Toyota approached was James Moran, who had been the largest Ford dealer in the U.S. before he stepped away from day-to-day responsibility for his operations. Toyota had approached Moran a few years earlier, but he had politely declined.
He was making a good living, and he wasn't even sure what a Toyota was.
Now Toyota asked Moran if he wouldn't at least take a drive in one of their cars, and he agreed.
There was only one Toyota dealer in Miami, and Moran drove over and asked if he could test-drive a car. Moran took the car out on the interstate, and he was amazed by its balance and tightness. Durability, however, was a different matter, so Moran decided to give the car the ultimate test. While driving at fifty five miles per hour, he threw the car into reverse. To Moran's amazement, nothing broke. Moran took the car back to the dealer and told him how impressed he was.
The dealer said the only trouble was getting people to drive the car, that once they drove it they almost always bought it.
James Moran became intrigued with the car and Toyota's business philosophy. Toyota asked him if he thought he could move ten thousand cars if they shipped them to him.
Though there was a perception at the time that Japanese products were inferior, Moran had personally driven the car so he knew that as far as Toyota was concerned, perception was not reality.
It would not be long before the masses learned the truth.
Moran accepted the first shipment of cars and began recruiting dealers to distribute them.
Moran proved himself to be a true entrepreneur. He was an independent thinker with the confidence to take action based on what he knew to be true.
Moran recognized that smart business people make decisions based on facts and before he could make a decision, he would have to drive one of Toyota's cars.
Because of his willingness to drive the car and then take action, James Moran became a multimillionaire.
More importantly he has freedom. He can do what he wants whenever he wants to do it. Moran receives a percentage of every Toyota and Lexus that is sold in the Southeast United States.
