Have you have been rejected and failed many times in life? Do you think your time has passed to do or start something great? Well, there is one man you must know about. Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Yes, he is the man you see on the brand still today. Sanders faced many failures and rejections in life but in the end, made the world a better place. In this issue, we will read about the inspiring story behind one of the most famous fast food brands in the world.
Early Life & Career:
Colonel Harland David Sanders was born in 1890 and was the oldest of three siblings. When he was six years old, his father passed away and his mother would work during the day leaving Sanders to cook and care for his siblings. By the age of 7, Sanders was reportedly skilled with cooking. Later when his mother remarried, he did not enjoy a good relationship with his step-father and in seventh grade at age 13, he dropped out of school and left home to go work on farms and do some odd jobs. At age 16, Sanders faked his age to enlist for the US army but was honourably discharged a year later. He did an odd job before he was hired as a labourer in railways. While working there, he also studied law at night with correspondence. During his time with railways, Sanders also met his wife and they got married when he was around 20 years old. However, he was fired from railways due to fighting with a co-worker. After this, he practised law for three years and even his legal career was ruined after getting into a courtroom fight with his own client. After that, Sanders moved back with his mother and went to work as a labourer in railways again. In 1916, Sanders moved on to a job selling life insurance and again Sanders was fired had to take another job. In 1920, Sanders (age 30) established a ferry boat company which was an instant success. In 1922 he took up another job but resigned after less than a year. Sanders cashed in his ferry boat company shares for about $22,000 and used the money to start a company manufacturing lamps. The business failed very soon and Sanders had to again work as a salesman for a tire company, a job lost soon due to a local unit closer. In 1924, he started a service station for a gas company but again misfortune followed and in 1930, the station had close down during the Great Depression.
The KFC Story:
In 1930, the Shell Oil Company offered Sanders a service station in Kentucky. Sanders also began to serve chicken dishes and other meals, initially at his adjacent living quarters before opening a restaurant. Sanders's restaurant started doing well during this time. His fried chicken recipe was so notable that he was named a Kentucky Colonel in 1935. In 1939, Sanders acquired a motel but very soon misfortune again followed and both his restaurant and motel were destroyed in a fire. Sanders had it rebuild the motel with a 140-seat restaurant. However, due to World War II, Sanders was again forced to close and sell his motel and restaurant. Sanders again had to move on and work odd jobs. However by 1940, after many years of trials and experiments, Sanders had finalized his "Secret Recipe" for frying chicken in a pressure fryer that cooked the chicken faster than pan frying. In 1952 at age 62, Sanders franchised his secret recipe "Kentucky Fried Chicken" for the first time to the operators of one of that city's largest restaurants. Surprisingly, his recipe was rejected many times before anyone accepted it. In the first year itself, the restaurant sales more than tripled due to his chicken recipe. However, his first restaurant franchise on the highway had to close due to the opening of a new interstate highway. Sanders was left with very less saving and being on monthly social security. By now, Sanders was about 65 years old, had lost many jobs, failed at multiple businesses and had no savings in hand. Sanders felt like a failure & had even decided to commit suicide. Sanders sat writing his will, but instead, he wrote what he would have accomplished with his life & thought about how good of a cook he was. It was then, did Sanders decided to sell his chicken and decided to borrow money to do it. Sanders was focussed on franchising his chicken recipe and travelled far and wide, looking for suitable restaurants. He travelled hard, often sleeping in the car, visiting restaurants across US and negotiating the franchise. He used to cook loads of his chicken at multiple restaurants in order to sell his product. While he travelled and did business, his wife used to prepare the secret recipe and shipped it to restaurants. After years of failures and misfortunes, Sanders finally hit it big. Soon, the franchise approach became highly successful and KFC was one of the first fast food chains to expand across US and also internationally, In 1962, Sanders (aged 72), obtained the patent for frying chicken. In 1964, then 73 years old, Sanders finally sold his rights for $2 million and became a salaried brand ambassador. Sanders travelled 200,000 miles a year on the company's behalf and filming many TV commercials and appearances. His bleached moustache and goatee matching his white hair had is still today the face of KFC. By the time of Sander's death in 1980 (aged 90), KFC had over 6,000 outlets in 48 countries and nearly US$ 2 billion in yearly revenues. Colonel Sanders had become a household name in the US, an urban legend and who is still a very popular character in media today. If you're overwhelmed by rejection or discouraged by setbacks, remember the story of Colonel Harland Sanders. After so many jobs and failures in life, he still created one of the largest fast food chains in the world at an age when no one even dares to dream. Sanders wouldn't let anything or anyone defeat him. "I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labour, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me.". He is a true inspiration for millions even today.
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