``From Piston Ring Developer In Japan To Employer Of 1,00,000 American Employees..`
Like most other countries, Japan was hit badly by the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1938, Soichiro Honda was still in school, when he started a little workshop, developing the concept of the piston ring. His plan was to sell the idea to Toyota.
Rather than focus on his failure, he continued working towards his goal. Then, after two more years of struggle and redesign, he won a contract with Toyota.
After the war, an extreme gasoline shortage forced people to walk or use bicycles. Honda built a tiny engine and attached it to his bicycle. His neighbours wanted one, and although he tried, materials could not be found and he was unable to supply the demand.
`Was he ready to give up now` No! Soichiro Honda wrote to 18,000 bicycles shop owners and, in an inspiring letter, asked them to help him revitalize Japan, 5000 responded and advanced him what little money they could to build his tiny bicycle engines. Honda began exporting his bicycle engines to Europe and America. End of story` No! In 1970s there was another gas shortage, this time in America and automotive fashion turned to small cars. Honda was quick to pick up on the trend. Expert now in small engine design, the company started making tiny cars, smaller than anyone had seen before, and rode another wave of success.
Today, Honda Corporation employs over 100,000 people in the USA and Japan, and is one of the world`s largest automobile companies. Honda succeeded because one man made a truly committed decision, acted upon it and made adjustments on a continuous basis. Failure was simply not considered a possibility.