Larry Morgan started in the corporate world by spending seven years working for Firestone, but quickly realized that corporate America wasn't for him. So, he acquired Tires Plus.
Flasback: “Entrepreneurship seemed to be something that I had a lot of experience as a young person, put my way through college. So, I took every dime I had, every stock certificate, every title, you name it, laid it on the table, and bought a small 30-store chain in Florida in 1990,” Larry told Daily Dealer Live Hosts Sam D’Arc and Yossi Levi.
Ten years later, Morgan had 630 stores and was Bridgestone Firestone's largest customer in the Americas. Eventually Firestone wanted to buy his business, so it did.
“I hit golf balls for three days, got bored, and basically that's how I got into the car business,” said Morgan. “I'm way beyond retirement age today…and I love what I do.”
For context: Morgan’s first dealership was a Toyota store in Tampa Bay, Florida.
“I was on a bank board with a person that he and his son-in-law wanted to…buy a car dealership,” he explained. “They had some experience, and they needed some money, so I said, ‘sure, I'll, I'll go in.’ I became a minority partner.”
Do-it-yourself: A couple of meetings later (which Morgan describes as “terrible”) Morgan and his son, Brett, realized they could run a store themselves.
“A Toyota store is a pretty lucrative business, and the requirements to be a dealer are pretty high, and we had very little automotive experience,” said Morgan. “So, we had to go sit in front of a guy named Jim Moran, who's a legend in the car business, and convince him that we were capable of doing it, and he rubber stamped our application.”
That was 20 years ago. Today, Morgan Auto Group consists of 76 stores and $11 billion in revenue, making the company one of the biggest auto retail players in Florida.
Of note: Jim Moran was a prolific American car dealer and philanthropist. He also founded JM Family Enterprises, Southeast Toyota Distributors.
Building the dream with family: Throughout his journey in auto retail, Morgan has had a few partners involved in the business. However, he attributes the success and growth of Morgan Auto Group to the working relationship he has with his son, Brett, who serves as CEO of the company.
“Brett and I are shoulder to shoulder every day, and we get along really well,” explained Morgan. “We don't always agree on every issue, but we eventually work it out, and I can truthfully say we've never had a harsh word with one another.”
“We intuitively know each other very well, and if one of us might say something a little bit snappy to the other… I don't think five minutes go by and we realize, maybe we shouldn't have said that. We always talk through the various opinions that we may have. And we come to a common conclusion,” he explained.
The nuts and bolts:: Morgan Auto Group’s approach to management and personnel reflects a family approach to the business as well.
“Our success rate of making a good decision with people that are in-house is much, much, much better than hiring someone on the outside,” said Morgan.
For example, the company’s COO was a manager in a store that the company acquired early on and has grown with Morgan Auto Group over the past 20 years.
The company’s VP of fixed operations was a service manager in the first Toyota store.
And the auto group’s former CFO started with the company as a 17-year-old single mother operating the switchboard at a store and played a major role in helping to grow the business, before deciding to pursue another career.
Dream on: Much like his journey in the business, they are all examples of the American dream, explained Morgan:
“The freedoms that we have in our country, there's nothing like it. And there's no question that anybody can be successful and make money and have a worthwhile career—whether they're highly educated or not. This is the land of opportunity.”
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