Do you frequently experience rejection or disappointment? In fact, the company’s founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, did. However, he didn’t merely make lemonade out of his misfortunes; instead, he improved the world.
Inspiring memoir of Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC
Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana, in 1890. Sanders’ father died when he was six years old, leaving Sanders to take care of his siblings and cook. He left home and quit school in the seventh grade to work as a farmhand. Already becoming a hard cookie.
He misrepresented his age to join the American army at the age of 16. A year later, after receiving an honorable discharge, he was hired as a laborer by the railway.
But he lost his job because of a confrontation with a coworker. He studied law while working for the railway, but his legal career was destroyed when he got into another altercation. Sanders was compelled to return to living with his mother and find work as a life insurance salesman. And what’s this? He was let loose for disobedience. However, this man resisted giving up.
He established a ferry boat business in 1920. Later, he tried to start a lamp manufacturing company by cashing in on his ferry boat business, only to discover that another company was already selling a better version of his lamp. The poor guy was unable to get a break.
He didn’t start serving chicken meals in a gas station until he was 40 years old. An dispute with a rival led to a fatal shootout when he started to market his meals. Four years later, he purchased a motel, which, along with his restaurant, was destroyed in a fire. Nevertheless, this tenacious man constructed and operated a new motel until World War II compelled him to close it.
He attempted to franchise his eatery after the war. Before anyone accepted his dish, it had been rejected 1,009 times. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Sander’s “secret recipe,” immediately gained popularity. Sanders sold the successful restaurant to pursue his aim of expanding KFC franchises and hiring KFC employees after the neighboring freeway damaged the thriving eatery.
Sanders ultimately achieved success after experiencing years of setbacks and bad luck. When KFC went global, he sold the business for $2 million (equivalent to $15.3 million today). Even now, Sanders is still a key component of KFC’s branding, and their logo still features his face. The world continues to associate wonderful country fried chicken with his beard, white suit, and western string tie.
Sanders went dead from pneumonia at the age of 90. There were roughly 6,000 KFC restaurants in 48 nations at that time. There were 118 countries with an estimated 18,000 KFC restaurants as of 2013. WOW.
Keep Colonel Harland Sanders’ tale in mind whenever you’re feeling discouraged or overwhelmed by rejection. Despite being fired from several jobs, having his law career destroyed, suffering setbacks from the Great Depression, fires, and World War II, he nevertheless managed to build one of the biggest fast food chains in the world. Nothing or nobody could ever beat Sanders. We ought to emulate Colonel Sanders more (besides the fighting and getting fired part).
Here is the video version of this inspiring guy in Nepali created by Dakchyata Media Team :
