After many failures this chef glimpsed the success.
The protagonist of this story is not a person who includes the word defeat or failure in his dictionary. This incredible character managed to fulfill his dream thanks to his great perseverance.
Unlike today’s entrepreneurs who are in the prime of their youth, this man failed to see success until he was 65 years old. Today your company has a presence in more than 100 countries and your chicken recipe is sold for millions of dollars daily.
Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders, grew up in a poor family and as the oldest of three siblings. When he was six years old his father died, so his mother had to work almost full time, leaving Sanders in charge of his brothers.
This strong event marked the life of the “Colonel”, who at seven years old was already an expert in the kitchen. When he was 13 he started working and throughout his life he went through different professions. He started as a farmer, then as a tram driver, a railroad fireman, a blacksmith and an insurance salesman. However, his bad temper and lack of interest caused him to lose many of these jobs.
At age 40, Colonel Sanders decided to open a small restaurant outside of Corbin, a city in Kentucky. The business was going well. His service station and his restaurant attracted a lot of customers and fed travelers passing through, so he added a motel shortly after to attract more customers.
His fame and his recipe reached the ears of the Governor, who gave him the title of “Colonel” of the city.
Unfortunately, the construction of a fast highway diverted traffic away from their business, leading to imminent bankruptcy.
When the life of Colonel Sanders changed
For a while he survived with his $105 monthly pension. But not satisfied, he decided to take his chicken recipe out of town and sell it. He traveled all over the country by car, cooking from restaurant to restaurant, making his product known. If the reaction was favourable, it would charge a penny for every chicken sold. Unfortunately more than 1900 restaurants rejected their deal.
In spite of the disappointments, the Colonel did not give up and at 64 years old he managed to install his first franchise. Later, at the age of 74, it already had 600 stores throughout the United States and Canada.
In 1964, Sanders sold the company to a group of investors for two million dollars. His contract included a lifetime salary for Sanders and an agreement that he would be the company’s quality controller and registered trademark.
In 1970 the chain had already reached 3,000 points of sale and 48 different countries.
Colonel Harland David Sanders died in 1980 of leukemia, but his face is still part of the brand.
Today KFC is the second largest food chain in the world. It already has 18,785 branches in more than 118 countries.
The story of the Colonel is a sign that it is never too late to start chasing your dreams.
Many times persistence and effort can transform failure into success.
