RICARDO MAKYN PHOTO: Dwight Moore, managing director of Worldtron.
Barbara Ellington, Senior Gleaner Writer
HE WAS smelling transmission oil, hearing the sound of engines,
tasting the rewards of his father's labour, grasping the concept of profit and loss, and feeling the power of a car before he could spell 'automobile'.
It is, therefore, no surprise that businessman Dwight Moore, the chief executive officer and chairman of Worldtron, has pursued his passion through a company that provides automobiles and a host of related services.
Although being a lawyer was his first career choice, Mr. Moore's interest in entrepreneurship was further honed as a 13-year-old student at Priory High School. Today, he's a 40-year-old self-made businessman.
Guided by strong family values, deep spiritual commitment and a determination to provide the best service to customers, Mr. Moore, who is the father of two sons and a daughter, told The Gleaner about the journey, the hurdles and the vision for his company.
BE: You have been in business over 20 years, take us back to the beginning, how did you start?
DM: My father, Charles Moore, is the owner of Moore's Transport Service. He was a Gleaner contractor for over 50 years, a garment manufacturer, a franchise holder in the Kingston Metropo-litan Transport Region. He was also the president of the Mail Contractors Association and he is still active in business. I was in the business with him for a while but I branched out, forming my own company Worldtron under which I established the Falken tyre franchise in Jamaica and distributed to service stations islandwide.
My major feat at the time was supplying the 'quarter-million' buses with a heavy-duty sought-after tyre not available here. I made money from that. I also formalised one of the businesses I had started in school, selling automobile electronics and car accessories.
BE: What did you sell in school?
DM: I sold gym gear for inter-house sports. I borrowed $50 from my father, made an 80 per cent profit after paying him back. That was in 1975, and I sold amplifiers, equalisers and tape decks to people in and out of school. Metry Seaga, Michael Matalon and Saleem Lazarus, who are all in business today, were in school with me. I went to Priory when it was still the school of predominantly wealthy, white and rich children; so as one of few black students there at the time, it was a great training ground for me to aim for the unconquerable. I was in the environment that nurtured the entrepreneurial spirit.
After school, I continued to be excited about making money, joined my father in the negotiations for a public transport system and garment manufacturing; we supplied many stores with household linen and underwear. I also got involved in real estate development doing consultancy for housing and townhouse development.
BE; Why did you leave your father's business?
DM: He wasn't listening to me. He's from the old school but over the years he had prepared me. I was his understudy and wanted to venture into the unknown. His fears caused him to be scared but when I identified a number of backers for my business idea, he quickly put up the venture capital for me to start but he wanted too much control and I bought him out.
BE: Explain the Worldtron composition.
DW:Over the years, I represented Turtlewax as the local distributor, Pioneer and Alpine Electronics, American Racing wheels, car care chemicals and lubricants. I introduced Federal tyres to the Jamaican market, going through a number of businesses quite successfully. Today, I am the agent for Kia Motors and I also sell the largest range of used cars in Jamaica, every major Japanese and other Asian brands.
BE: These days, almost every street corner has a used car lot, do you see the industry bottoming out any time soon?
DM:If government has its way, the used car industry could collapse because of its policies of the last two years which have practically brought the industry to its knees. This is the same industry that was formalised by the government in the mid-1990s so it must get credit for that.
BE: So in the event of that eventuality, what is the contingency plan, what should dealers be doing now to cushion themselves if that happened?
DM: They should diversify their interests because of slow sales to concentrate on broadening their after-sale service. The talk is now of hike in insurance premiums and I see the industry being further thwarted by such events. Cost of ownership of cars will increase across the board in a fashion where there is no data to support the cause for this.
Another thing that dealers need to do is join the Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association (JUCDA), so we can improve our ability to lobby. I have been a vice-president for two years and our business is important to people. Plus, with so many new ventures coming on stream, transportation will be a value added, allowing the industry to thrive. I hope government consults the industry before taking final decisions. In the last year, they have done so; we hope this continues.
BE: How many persons do you employ and are there any expansion plans?
DM: With my Half-Way Tree Road business, and two petrol stations, I employ roughly 70 persons. As for expansion, I plan to grow the parts business and through Kia, which is the sixth largest importer into America, we will expand and we will be looking to fuel-efficient vehicles. The oil import bill will exceed a billion dollars annually if we do not conserve, so I am looking at trends of car ownership and most Jamaican imports are used cars. I am looking at better prices through cars with
smaller engine displacement, gas or diesel engines coupled with a manual transmission which provides a car with greater control.
BE: But how are you going to convince the motoring public to return to manual cars, especially with so many traffic jams?
DM: Traffic jams will decrease as the highways increase. Car-pooling would be the ideal but Jamaicans love to drive their own cars. But we have to promote fuel economy. I have developed Kia Credit and a product called On Time a payment protection device which helps to regulate payment. I have been blessed with over 40 years of experience so I think I am up to the task in an environment where we have to recognise and respect customers. I believe in the Japanese custom of having a customer for life and building the relationship.
BE: What is the biggest
challenge to your business?
DM: The human capital. Many of the persons we would want to bring into our operation are not people of vision. The marketplace is producing employees and my business is in the development mode, we are in it for the long haul and so we need people of vision but that's hard to come by for small businesses. Everybody wants to work with a major corporation that has already made it so they come and make demands but are not equipped with creativity and spirit of entrepreneurship to take ownership of their future. They simply want fringe benefits and a 9-to-5 situation; so that's my biggest challenge. We also have security concerns but we have excellent support from the police.
BE: So you are seriously saying that you do not find people who use initiative or are capable of taking decisions if you are not there?
DM:The used car industry is a youthful one, it was only libe-ralised in 1993 by the present Government; we are coming out of a situation where customers had to buy a car and be at the mercy of dealers to deliver. That did not lead to a customer-caring industry so coming out of that are persons who through redundancies and other means, simply came in to make quick money.
BE: What do you think about the current problems with crime? We hear that it's everyone's business but what else do you think this new commissioner of police could do?
DM: The relationship with the police and citizens has been strained over the years, so one of the things he needs to do is gather groups of influence such as entertainers who are now being targeted and stand a chance of losing income. The destructive message they promote is harmful to the nation, so my challenge to the commissioner is to get them to endorse an anti-violence message, clean up their messages and do some community work. With what has happened to Bogle, it's affecting businesses such as clubs and sound system operators.
I would love to see more intelligence gathering and I would like to see the commissioner empowered by the political directorate to not telegraph ahead of time what their plans are but rather, having scored some successes, report these to the public. Criminal elements are warned off when they know ahead of time what is coming.
BE: People say a lot of what is wrong with Jamaica stems from the breakdown in the family structure. You have a solid family background with a mother who was a teacher and a father who is a businessman who led by example, you had a tradition to follow and education was important. Do you think we can get back good family values, and if so, how?
DM: Yes I think so, but there has been a major breakdown in family values. It has caused me to think what the future will be. As a single father of three, I recognise that church and Christian values, manners and discipline are significant components. We have to teach our children to be successful and how to develop self-esteem and I have put in place mentors for my own children just to broaden their sphere of influence and get back to the 'village raising a child' concept.
Things like the migration that took place alienated an entire generation of children and denied them of the benefit of the family. There are so many external distractions for children whose sphere of influence is dominated by the number of hours they spend away from you. Parents have to create activities to mould them into who they want them to be. Parents have to know their children and introduce the values they want them to acquire, from nutrition, to exercise, academics, religion and hobbies. That is a challenge and that's where mentors come in.
BE: What is your vision for Worldtron's future?
DM: The future is bright and I am seeking opportunities to broaden our scope with local and overseas partners to fully take advantage of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) opportunities.
There is not enough mentoring of black entrepreneurs. In many instances, a lot of them are first generation and don't benefit from family and fraternal support that smaller ethnic groups have; there are success stories but they stand alone. That needs to change and we have to look to creating more black family dynasties. So starting this summer, I will get my two teenage sons to start their own business projects. They must understand business.
BE: What are your hobbies and how do you give back to the communities in which you operate?
DM: My sons and I are avid go-kart racers. We also fish, fly and do a little hunting and travelling. Worldtron supports the Maxfield Park Children's Home, Kiwanis charities, primary schools and various projects in the communities where we are located.
